Thursday, January 21, 2016; Jobs With Huge Miss -- Forecast For A 9,000 Decline; In Fact, Up 10,000 -- Almost A 20K Swing And A Miss

Tweeting now: OPEC emergency meeting? Iraq apparently supports an emergency meeting with some caveats. 

Active rigs:

	1/21/2016	01/21/2015	01/21/2014	01/21/2013	01/21/2012
Active Rigs	48	160	190	186	203

RBN Energy: Gulf of Mexico Production Buoyant Despite Crashing Oil Prices.

Work continues on several major deep- and shallow-water crude oil production projects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM), despite the fact that oil prices are far lower than they were when the commitments to develop these projects were made. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for prompt delivery closed yesterday on the CME/NYMEX futures market at $26.55/Bbl – its lowest level since May 2003 – threatening to strangle resilient domestic onshore shale production. Yet GOM production levels will rise again this year--and likely for at least another couple of years—offsetting some of the expected decline in onshore U.S. crude output.  Today, we continue our examination of steadily rising crude output in the GOM with a look at projects coming online in 2016 and beyond.

Unemployment claims report: forecast for claims to be down 9,000 to 275,000.

• new claims: 293K
• prior revised: 283K
• change: up 10K --- "much higher-than-expected"
• 4-week average: 285K -- also up from prior revised of 278,500 
• Reuters spin here; I don't recall ever seeing this -- Reuters actually expressing concern

Reporting today: tracked here.

• UNP: missed by 11 cents; the biggest miss in at least 10 years; shares slump;  The weakness in rail cargo probably will last this year as coal demand continues to drop and U.S. production lags. CSX Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mike Ward said last week that the industry was in a “freight recession” and his railroad’s earnings are expected to decline. CSX is the largest railroad in the eastern U.S. while Union Pacific operates in the West.
• Verizon comes in stronger than expected.
• Schlumberger reports earnings of $0.65 a share vs. estimates of $0.63 ; revenues of $7.74 billion vs. estimates of $7.78 billion.Schlumberger's fourth-quarter results were hurt by a 39 percent drop in revenue and huge accounting charges. It posted a loss of $1.02 billion, or 81 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring items and asset impairment costs, came to 65 cents per share.
  The results still topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 18 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for adjusted earnings of 63 cents per share.
  Schlumberger posted revenue of $7.74 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Twelve analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $7.79 billion. A year earlier its revenue totaled $12.64 billion.
   
  Schlumberger's shares are down 25 percent in the past year, and the company said its board authorized the repurchase of up to $10 billion in stock. In after-hours trading, the stock added 37 cents to $61.80
• Bank of New York Mellon: profit jumps;

Overall, Bank of New York reported a profit of $693 million, up from $233 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose to 57 cents from 18 cents. The year-earlier period included 53 cents in litigation and restructuring charges, partially offset by a tax benefit.

Excluding a previously disclosed charge stemming from a recent court decision, among other items, earnings per share increased to 68 cents from 58 cents. Revenue inched up 1.5% to $3.72 billion. Analysts predicted 64 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $3.75 billion in revenue.

After working on this for the past month, I have finally "perfected" the pancake. LOL.