Investors were breathing a sigh of relief (although I am not
sure why) on
the results out this morning
from JP Morgan Chase (
JPM
). Some market watchers feared a much larger trading loss than was
actually reported. Today's rally managed to recoup much of the
week's losses, but admittedly volume was abysmally low, considering
today's sizable gains. We'll take it for what it's worth, as it's
better than seeing shares tumble.
Shares of JP Morgan ended higher on that news, as are those of
competitor Wells Fargo (
WFC
), which also
came out with earnings results this morning
. On the flipside, earnings results chased investors out of Lexmark
(
LXK
) shares, as
the printer company's outlook appears to be taking a turn
for the worse
. This development also dragged down shares of Hewlett Packard (
HPQ
). Despite analysts' calls on "deep value" for HPQ, the company's
fundamental picture remains in question. Elsewhere, shares of Yum
Brands (
YUM
), SAP (
SAP
), and Digital Realty Trust (
DLR
) all ended higher on the back of positive Wall Street analyst
calls.
SuperValu Troubles, Municipal Bankruptcies Reinforce Rocky Job
Market
Big headlines this week centered around numerous economic
stories, but there a couple that I want to zero in on. First was
the trouble with supermarket chain SuperValu (
SVU
), suspending its dividend and warning of trouble ahead. My focus
here is more on the potential effect on jobs, and how much harder
things will get for lower-skilled workers. Higher education is
becoming an given, with a college degree today becoming roughly
equivalent to a high school degree 40 years ago.
We can all see a difference between the reported unemployment
numbers and then the actual real numbers (self-employed people
without work, people whose benefits have expired, etc.). Despite
the fact that the retail sector often provides a good number of
jobs (usually the lowest-paying jobs for the most part), there is
much more job risk for employees these days than in years past.
Many establishments are doing "more with less." So what happens to
folks who spent most of their working lives with one company doing
one thing, and that company happens to go belly-up? The retirement
picture is obviously more unclear for more folks than ever.
Now turn to the news in California, with two new municipalities
filing bankruptcy this week. The effect will undoubtedly be a
shaving down of the benefits for those municipal workers, including
health benefits, pensions, and even pension hits to those who are
already retired. This trend will certainly put a hurting on many of
the blue collar workers who are relying totally on those jobs and
the salary/benefit promises they originally banked on.
The job market for unskilled workers is extremely rocky these
days. As I mentioned in yesterday's newsletter, now is the time to
hustle and not take anything for granted. The separation between
those who are able to earn big dollars and those who are struggling
is getting wider by the minute. Thankfully, we all have the power
to ensure the job market shift doesn't leave us unprepared in for a
big financial shock!
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A Look to Next Week and a Weekend Preview
Looking ahead to next week, third quarter earnings will be in
full swing, as we are expecting results from Intel Corp (
INTC
), Johnson & Johnson (
JNJ
), IBM Corp (
IBM
), Altria (
MO
), and Microsoft (
MSFT
), just to name a few. The focus will likely be on the economic
data as well as the latest Wall Street analyst calls.
Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the
Best Dividend Stocks
, as well as a detailed explanation of
our ratings system here
.