Green and gold: Procter & Gamble and Facebook have nothing in common. One deals in razors and toothpaste, the other in likes, self-promotion and embarrassing family photos. But this week, The Associated Press reports they shared the same problem: the strong dollar has taken a cut of their quarterly sales. It has been a widespread complaint this first-quarter earnings season. Big companies of all stripes said their quarters would have been much better if it weren’t for the rising dollar. Delta Air Lines said it hurt ticket sales. Johnson & Johnson blamed it for dragging earnings down. “Everybody is talking about the hit from the dollar, especially big multinationals,” says Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial. Read the full story.
Rallying: Crude oil prices settled up nearly 3% today, hitting 2015 highs, while U.S. gasoline reached 5-month peaks after Saudi Arabia and its allies maintained a bombing blitz in Yemen that heightened concerns about the security of Middle East oil supplies. As Reuters reports, oil buyers also stoked the rally with bets that U.S. crude output will shrink further after two straight weeks of declines. A weak day for the dollar also supported oil and other dollar-denominated commodities. The Euro gained more than 1% against the greenback, boosting oil demand from holders of the European currency. U.S. crude settled up $1.58, or 2.8%, at $58.02 a barrel. Its session peak of $58.41 was a 2015 high. Read the full story.
The down low: Mortgage rates continue to hover near all-time lows as the spring home-buying season heats up, according to the latest data released today by Freddie Mac. As The Washington Post reports, the 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 3.65% with an average 0.6 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1% of the loan amount.) It was 3.67% a week ago and 4.33% a year ago. The 30-year fixed rate, which is at its lowest level since Feb. 5, has remained below 4% for more than 20 weeks, dating back to November. It hasn’t been above 5% for more than four years, and it hasn’t reached 6% this decade. Read the full story.
