And some of the commentary -- I love it.
For example, Ford. Link here.
People have driven a Ford truck lately.
And that — along with progress on a deep cost-cutting initiative by Ford CEO Jim Hackett — will likely leave investors encouraged on Ford’s outlook, finally.
The maker of the popular F-Series line of trucks said Tuesday it gained market share and grew revenue in its pickup truck category in the first quarter.
With F-Series pickups being some of the highest margin products rolling off Ford’s assembly lines, it helped power profits in North America $300 million higher from a year ago. Strength in the equally high margin SUV category also supported Ford’s North American profits.
Ford benefited in the quarter from the introduction of the newly redesigned mid-size Ranger pickup. The momentum for Ford is a kick to the gut of rivals General Motors and Fiat, both of which released new designs for their full-size pickups last year in an effort to dethrone the F-Series. Ford plans to release a new Super Duty pickup truck before year end. An all-new F-150 will debut in 2020 along with a hybrid option.
Much more at the link.
By the way, we've discussed this before: the importance of Ford getting back into other pickup niches. Not everyone can afford a $75,000 pickup. Nissan has every niche covered.
By the way, wasn't the tax depreciation benefit accelerated under Trump? I really don't know. I've long forgotten but I seem to recall that the F-150 bought for work could be expensed (for tax purposes) in one year. I could be very, very wrong on that, but I do know that a mom-and-pop roofer working out of their residential home just down the street have as many as five brightly-colored F-150s in front of their house, in their driveway, and in their garage every so often. Must be holding a business meeting.
Folks may want to compare Ford's execution of their business strategy with that of Musk Melon.
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https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/explaining-the-first-quarter-gdp-3-2-surprise-vipq3rgp2E6m5rnK_IQiWA/
ReplyDeleteApparently they gamed the growth rate with some math.
I have some major concerns. We’ve had a strong economy for half a decade yet we’re pushing our record deficits. Deficit spending steals wealth from future production. In the US, a dollar of debt produces .40 cents of GDP. A decade of pulling every trick to maintain short-term prosperity is not a sustainable illusion. We desperately need some long-term perspective injected into our policies. It would help too if we dissected indicators beyond: its growing therefore all is good. Of course we want it growing, but 90% of growth can go to 5% of people while the median purchasing power decreases. There are a lot of ways to judge these things.
You are correct, a lot of ways to judge these things, and lots to worry about. My reply at this post: https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2019/04/off-net-for-ahile-beautiful-day-going.html.
DeleteBy the way, what did "the market" feel about the GDP reported today, headed into a weekend? All three indices closed higher and not trivial gains. The S&P 500 rose almost 14 points. If the S&P 500 didn't close at a new high, it came very, very close. It's intra-day high was 2,939.88 was very, very close to the all-time intra-day high of 2,940.91.