revenue

Weekly Market Pulse: Ukraine Isn’t The Problem

By |2022-02-22T08:38:51-05:00February 21st, 2022|Alhambra Portfolios, Alhambra Research, Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Markets, Stocks|

As I write this, the S&P 500 futures are down over 80 points, apparently in response to some rather harsh comments from Vladimir Putin concerning Ukraine. Russia recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine that border Russia, and is apparently deploying troops in these regions. This is seen by the west as a precursor [...]

Hyping Lean

By |2017-07-31T19:25:08-04:00July 31st, 2017|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Activist hedge fund manager Bill Ackman succeeded in 2013 in ousting Procter & Gamble’s CEO Bob McDonald. It was noteworthy at the time because the company issued a strange memo repeating often verbatim answers to questions it posed to itself. Among them was if Mr. McDonald was fired or, as had been relayed publicly, he voluntarily retired. The memo merely [...]

Even The Adoption of Innovation Is Different

By |2017-01-23T18:34:40-05:00January 23rd, 2017|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

As with all innovation, the roots of any specific trend usually cast back a very long time. In terms of Enterprise computing solutions, Software as a Service (SaaS) dates to the earliest days of the internet. In the middle 1990’s Application Service Providers started popping up, but they were largely erased in the dot-com bust (not without good reason). For [...]

IBM’s Anecdote Of The Hole

By |2016-10-18T17:57:33-04:00October 18th, 2016|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Revenue at IBM fell just barely in Q3 2016, perhaps something of an achievement for beleaguered Big Blue. The company has seen its revenue shrink for an astonishing 18 quarters in a row. During that time, IBM has been written off as no longer important, where once a bellwether for the industry and even the whole global economy now supposedly [...]

IBM Still Provokes More Than Morbid Curiosity

By |2016-07-19T18:16:59-04:00July 19th, 2016|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

At this point, maybe it’s more like a train or car wreck whose shocking carnage compels you to keep staring at it. I still think there is, however, relevant information in IBM’s ongoing crash though I can’t deny the degree of fascination with it as almost theater. The company yesterday reported its 17th consecutive quarter of shriveling. Like a car [...]

There Is Significance In IBM’s Astonishing ‘Achievement’

By |2016-04-21T16:53:26-04:00April 21st, 2016|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

By now most people have given up on IBM. I don’t mean that they have dismissed the company as a dinosaur on its way to extinction but rather it has been pulled down from the Pantheon of bellwethers, no longer important in helping us determine the actual state of the US and global economy derived from actual results (rather than [...]

Earnings and Revenue Following Economic and Market Accounts

By |2016-02-24T18:02:13-05:00February 24th, 2016|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

Back in September 2015, FactSet estimated that EPS for the S&P 500 would grow by almost 5% in Q1 2016. Their latest update is now -6.9%. Energy, of course, gets most of the blame but according to their latest breakdown it is widespread if of a smaller magnitude. For Q4, earnings are on track to contract by about 4%, and [...]

Dollar And The Cloud

By |2015-10-20T12:35:25-04:00October 20th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

IBM reported yesterday yet another disastrous quarter. Revenues declined by nearly 14%, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of at least -12% revenue. That level and accumulation of shrinking has already surpassed the worst of the Great Recession for the company. That comparison holds whether you exclude currency or not, as currency “effects” in 2009 were just as strong and depressive. [...]

The Fuss About Wages Is The Fuss

By |2015-08-03T12:26:49-04:00August 3rd, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

The latest FOMC policy statement was dominated by a single, added word; “some.” As far as actual policy maneuvers I doubt it will make much of a difference, but it certainly adds more flavor to the growing evidence the US economy isn’t anywhere near close to what it should have been by now. In other words, even the mainstream economic [...]

Turns Out The ‘Rising Dollar’ Is Real

By |2015-04-23T11:47:30-04:00April 23rd, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

The purpose of trying to frame revenue and earnings as a figment of dollar calculations is, of course, to make it seem as if these are just numbers that have little meaning. The emphasis on “constant currency” terms is not just a means to alter the figures but the very meaning itself. As IBM has constantly proclaimed, yes, its revenue [...]

Go to Top