Yahoo Finance Get ready for Disney
Wall Street is waddling along. All three major averages (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) started the day slightly higher as investors kept close tabs on oil prices (CL=F).
Economy watch
US productivity fell unexpectedly by 0.5% in the second quarter as workers hours increased faster than output, according to the Labor Department. While unit labor costs at non-farm businesses rose at a 2.0% last quarter after falling at a 0.2% pace in the first quarter.
Foreign firms look to US for growth
Another foreign investor is buying a US company. Monster Worldwide (MWW) shares surged in early trading. The online job search company behind Monsterboard and Jobs.com is being bought by rival Dutch staffing firm Randstad for $429 million, or $3.40 a share. That’s a 23% premium based on Monster Worldwide’s closing price yesterday. The deal will expand Randstand’s online recruiting presence and help it better compete in the US.
Gap (GPS) shares fell sharply this morning. It seems the retailer’s turnaround in June was short lived. Gap posted a steeper than expected 4% drop in same-store sales last month due to declines in its namesake and Banana Republic brands.
Coach (COH) delivered earnings that topped analysts’ estimates, and while revenue slightly missed expectations, sales in its stores in North America increased for the first time in more than three years.
News Corp (NWSA), the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, posted earnings that came in below forecasts, but revenue beat estimates. Sales rose 5% from a year ago, thanks to a jump in its digital real estate business, but newspaper advertising revenue remained weak.
Disney (DIS) is getting ready to report third-quarter results after the bell today. Analysts expect revenue to be over $14 billion. But the company has fallen short of revenue expectations three out of the last four quarters, as its ESPN business has been experiencing a slowdown in subscriber growth.
Not fit to lead
Fifty Republican national security officials are concerned about a potential President Donald Trump. They feel Trump would put the nation’s security at risk. They’ve signed a letter saying, “Mr. Trump lacks the character, values and experience to be president. He [would weaken] US moral authority as the leader of the free world.”
