Rockwell Automation

NEW! Rockwell Automation Reliance Motor P56H1301H 3/4HP $225.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION M003759098 318787-A03 PLC-3 BOARD $29.99

NEW DODGE ROCKWELL AUTOMATION STK# 123611 F2B-VSC-100 $7.50

NEW DODGE ROCKWELL AUTOMATION STK# 124645 LFT-SC-100 $6.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION BEARING F4BSC200 $50.00

Two DataMyte Data Collectors Rockwell Automation – Used $89.99

Allen-Bradley / Rockwell Automation Proximity Sensor $19.99

Rockwell Automation Dynamic Brake Resistor AKR2120P1K2 $91.19

Rockwell Automation Reliance 57411-2H INPUT MODULE $485.00

New Rockwell Automation AC Drive 2090-UXLF-123 $239.99

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION ALLEN-BRADLEY MICROVIEW ACCESSORY $17.06

USED Rockwell Automation 2090-UXLF-HV323 RFI Filter $50.00

Rockwell Automation 5 hp Reliance Electric motor $275.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RELIANCE ELECTRIC VTAC 7 40HP DRIVE $1,500.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION VTAC 9 HVAC DRIVE 9VT401-027HTAN $1,800.00

Rockwell Automation Control Starter Type1 Enclosure NEW $19.95

NIB DODGE ROCKWELL AUTOMATION P2B-8C-100 $34.50

Dodge Rockwell Automation INS-SC-102 SC Bearing Insert $90.00

Rockwell Automation 355-0495-090 $7.00

Rockwell Automation AK-U0-RJ45-TR1 Lot Sale x 34 NIB $39.00

Allen-Bradley Rockwell Automation #1785-L40BPLC- 5/40 $299.99

Allen-Bradley Rockwell Automation #1771-IBO/B $29.99

Rockwell Automation Reliance .5 HP Electric Motor $363.00

Rockwell Automation AC Drive 2090-UXLF-123 $250.00

DODGE ROCKWELL AUTOMATION F4B-SC-111 SIZE 1-11/16 $10.00

DODGE ROCKWELL AUTOMATION LFT-SC-112 SIZE 3/4 $6.00

Rockwell Automation MultiBus ControlNet Module $1,999.00

Rockwell Automation 800MS-WS00E $3.20

Rockwell Automation 800MS-WS00E $1.99

Rockwell Automation R1901 $8.96

Rockwell Automation DataMyte TPM Sport 550 Scanner $99.99

NIB ROCKWELL AUTOMATION 812.63.00 OUTPUT CONTACT CARD $400.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION 20-VB00601 DPI INTERFACE BOARD, NIB $16.49

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION 164989 NEW PC BOARD/1 YEAR WARRANTY $998.00

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION MULTIBUS CONTRLNET MODULE 0-58820-2 $1,399.99

NEW! Rockwell Automation Reliance Motor C56H1502G 1/2HP $250.00

Rockwell Automation Pneumatic Feed Drill 31LD-806C $450.00

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Rockwell Automation Information

Lots of Earnings, Plus GDP

Earnings Preview 4/23/10

 

Earnings season will be in full gear next week as more than 900 firms report, including 167, or more than a third of the firms in the S&P 500. The list of companies reporting reads like a who’s who list of U.S industry, including  Dow Chemical (DOW), DuPont (DD), Texas Instruments (TXN), Procter & Gamble (PG), 3M (MMM), United Parcel Service (UPS), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon (XOM).

 

The economic data calendar will be light early in the week potentially market moving at the end of the week. We start out the week with the Consumer Confidence on Tuesday. The only numbers coming out on Wednesday are the crude inventory numbers, but we also have a Fed meeting. Thursday will only have the regular weekly data on jobless claims.

 

Friday things get interesting with the release of the first cut on the GDP for the first quarter, along with the other numbers in the same release, like the chain deflator, an imbedded measure of inflation and the Employment Cost Index. We also get the Chicago PMI and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment numbers.

 

Monday

•    No economic data of any significance. The focus will be on the earnings reported that day.

 

Tuesday

•    The Consumer Confidence Index is expected to have risen to 54.0 from 52.5 in March. That would be a good sign, although I am not big fan of the consumer confidence number since what consumers say they are going to do in these surveys does not actually match up all that well with their actual behavior. Still, in theory, consumer confidence is important in how willing people are to spend.

 

Wednesday

•    Inventories of Crude Oil and products will be released. Last week they showed a smaller-than-expected increase of 1.89 million barrels. This should not move the whole market, but may influence energy prices and shares in the energy sector.

•    The Federal Open Market Committee meets. Nobody expects them to change the Fed funds rate from its current range of between 0% and 0.25%. The focus will be on the language in the statement that will be parsed the way that people used to parse the pictures of the Russian leaders on top of Lenin’s tomb during the days of the Soviet Union. The key thing to look for is if the phase “extraordinarily low levels for an extended period of time” stays in the statement. With the economy still weak — but starting to gather some momentum, and no sign whatsoever of inflation — I think it would be a mistake for the Fed to even think of tightening up at this time.

 

Thursday

•    Weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance come out. They fell 24,000 in the last week, to 456,000. After a huge downtrend from mid-April through the end of 2009, initial claims have become very erratic so far in 2010. Look for them to fall again next week. Longer term, we have made good progress, but not good enough. We probably need for weekly claims (and the four-week moving average of them) to get down to closer to 400,000 to signal that the economy is on-balance adding jobs. We are a lot closer now than we were last spring when they were running north of 640,000 on a consistent basis, but still have a ways to go.

•    Continuing claims have also been in a steep downtrend of late. However, that is in part due to people simply exhausting their regular state benefits, which run out after 26 weeks. If one factors in the extended claims paid by the Federal government as part of the Stimulus Program, claims soared last week. Looking at just the regular continuing claims numbers is a serious mistake. They only include a little over half of the unemployed now given the unprecedentedly high duration of unemployment figures. Last week, regular continuing claims were 4.646 million, down 40,000 from the previous week. Extended claims (paid from Federal ARRA funds) were 5.494 million, a plunge of 479,500. That big decline was probably the result of people falling off the rolls due to a hold-up in the Senate on extending the benefits, not because they all found new jobs. Make sure to look at both sets of numbers! Many of the press reports will not, but we will here at Zacks.

 

Friday

•    We get the first of three looks at GDP growth in the first quarter. Consensus expectations are for growth of 3.5%, which is a healthy level but a big slowdown from the 5.6% growth posted in the fourth quarter. However, 2/3 of the growth in the fourth quarter came from a slower pace of inventory liquidation. We will probably still seem some inventory effects raising GDP growth in the first quarter, but not as much. Inventory-fueled growth is generally considered lower-quality growth than growth that comes from real final demand. Given recent revisions in the data, a surprise to the upside is more likely than a disappointment.

•    Imbedded in the GDP report is the Chain Deflator — a very broad and comprehensive measure of inflation. It is expected to rise to a 0.9% rate from 0.5% in the fourth quarter. However, that is still a very low inflation figure.

•    The Employment Cost Index is expected to have risen by 0.5% in the first quarter, the same rate of increase as in the fourth quarter.

•    The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, sort of a regional preview of the ISM manufacturing data for the Midwest, is expected to increase to 60.0 from 58.8. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion, and 60 would be a very healthy level, showing not only growth, but an acceleration in growth.

•    The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index is expected to have increased to 71.8 in April from 69.5 in March. This index is similar to the Consumer Confidence numbers released earlier in the week. Theoretically it is a good thing, but I don’t put too much weight on the numbers.

 

Potential Positive Surprises

 

Historically, the best indicators of firms likely to report positive surprises are a recent history of positive surprises and rising estimates going into the report. The Zacks Rank is also a good indicator of potential surprises. While normally firms that report better-than-expected earnings rise in reaction, which has not been the case so far this quarter. While pickings are getting slim, some of the companies that have these characteristics include:

 

Broadcom (BRCM) is expected to report EPS of $0.30, up from a loss of $0.17 per share a year ago.   1st time out, BRCM posted a positive surprise of 82.6% and over the last month the mean estimate for its first quarter earnings is up 0.36%. BRCM has a Zacks #1 Rank.

 

Rockwell Automation (ROK) is expected to post EPS of $0.51, up from $0.27 a year ago. Last time, ROK beat expectations by 54.3%, and over the last month analysts have shaved their estimates for the about to be reported quarter by 3.05%. ROK is also a Zacks #1 Ranked stock.

 

United Parcel Service (UPS) is expected to post EPS of $0.69, up from $0.54 a year ago. Last time out, the company beat expectations by 21.5%. Over the last month, estimates for the quarter are up 21.5%. UPS is a Zacks #1 Ranked stock.

 

Potential Negative Surprises

 

A.M. Castle (CAS) is expected to post a loss of $0.12 a share, versus EPS of $0.02 a year ago. Last time they reported 148.0% below expectations. For this Zacks #5 Ranked stock, analysts have cut the estimates for this quarter over the last month by 3.11%.

 

Kellogg (K) is expected to earn $0.94 a share this quarter, up from of $0.84 a year ago. They were 4.1% below expectations last time out. Analysts have cut the estimate for this quarter by 1.3% over the last month. The stock holds a Zacks #4 Rank.

 

Ecolab (ECL) is expected to earn $0.39, up from $0.33 a year ago. Last time out, this Zacks #4 Ranked stock disappointed by 1.8% and over the last month analysts have shaved their expectations for the quarter by 0.2%.

About the Author

Dirk van Dijk, CFA is the Chief Equity Strategist for Zacks.com. With more than 25 years investment experience he has become a popular commentator appearing in the Wall Street Journal and on CNBC. Dirk is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Strategic Investor service. For more information, visit http://www.zacks.com.

Rockwell Automation Jargon-Speak