Goldman Sachs: The market has been crushing Goldman Sachs this year, chopping the stock in half from its January high. Interestingly, it is now trading at a lower price to book ratio than it did during 2008-2009. Clearly market participants hate this stock and the price trend is negative, but at this point, I wonder how much more it can fall?
Goldman Sachs (Ten Years)
Cavs and Cleveland: I hadn’t thought about this until I read a story in today’s Plain Dealer, but a basketball lockout would be pretty bad for the city of Cleveland. Cleveland received $4.5 million in admission taxes last year from the Cavs, receives income tax from the team salaries and all the people who work in and around the arena, operates parking lots in the area, and depends on the success of many of the businesses kept afloat from the 42 home basketball games each year. In 2008-09, it was estimated the Cavs pumped $153 million into the local economy. This number is certainly lower post-Lebron, but it is still a significant number.
Today they announced the beginning of the season has already been cancelled. Let’s hope they figure out a solution soon.
On another note, Lebron practiced in full pads last week with his alma mater’s football team. Evidently, they were not allowed to tackle him, though. Afterward, he tweeted, “Just got done practicing with the St.V Varsity football team, full pads and all. Felt great being back on the field. Should I?"
Earnings: Earnings season starts tonight with Alcoa’s release. This is a particularly anticipated earnings season since there is so much uncertainty about the economy. For the S&P 500, analysts are expecting a decline in earnings of six percent from last quarter, which represents year-over-year growth of about seven percent.
Market Today: The market closed roughly flat today after a weak open. Stocks were mixed across the board and no sector stood out as particularly weak or strong. As I type this, Alcoa is trading down five percent on a weak EPS announcement. If the weakness in this stock holds, tomorrow may be a weak day.
Have a good day! Brent
