Morning Journal---401k's are replacing home equity loans as the consumer piggy bank

 News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

Expeditors International beats by $0.01, revenue in-line

o    Expeditors International (EXPD): Q1 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.01.

o    Revenue of $1.49B (+5.7% Y/Y) in-line.

AmeriGas Partners misses by $0.50, beats on revenue

·         AmeriGas Partners (APU): FQ2 EPS of $1.71 misses by $0.50.

·         Revenue of $1.49B (+26.3% Y/Y) beats by $200M.

CF Industries Holdings beats by $0.01, misses on revenue

·         CF Industries Holdings (CF): Q1 EPS of $4.51 beats by $0.01.

·         Revenue of $1.13B (-15.7% Y/Y) misses by $60M.

Economics

   This Week’s Data

            Weekly jobless claims fell 26,000 versus expectations of a 15,000 decline.

            http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2014/05/weekly-initial-unemployment-claims_8.html

   Other

            401k’s are replacing home equity loans as the consumer piggy bank (medium, a must read and not good news):

            http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/05/americans-raid-401ks-replacing-home-equity-withdrawals-way-make-ends-meet.html

            Earnings growth masks weak labor market (short):

            http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2014/05/earnings-growth-upturn-masks-labor-market-weakness/

            Update on consumer credit (short):

            http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-07/94-march-consumer-credit-was-student-and-car-loans