This week’s top stories…
Dow Hits Record: The Dow Jones jumped 184 points today, hitting a record intraday high of 23,458. The surge was led by 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), both of which climbed more than 5% on earnings.
CAT Attack: Caterpillar beat sales and earnings estimates and raised its forecasts amid surging Chinese construction and new mining activity. The company reported earnings per share of $1.95 on revenue of $11.4 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a profit of $1.27 per share on sales of $10.6 billion. It projected 2017 sales of $44 billion, marking a third-straight increase in annual revenue projections.
Goldman Backs Copper: Copper has been the world’s best-performing commodity over the past year, surging more than 50% to more than $7,000 a tonne. And according to Goldman Sachs, the jump is wholly justified. “We believe the current level of copper prices is largely justified by strong and synchronous global growth, the US Dollar depreciating and repeated disappointments in copper mine supply,” said bank analyst Hui Shan. It’s a huge about-face for Goldman, which has long been a critic of the metal.
New Nintendo Release: On Wednesday Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) will reveal what it hopes will be the next big mobile game — Animal Crossing. It could provide a healthy new revenue stream. It’s a game in which the human player lives in a village inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, performing tasks like fishing, bug catching, and fossil hunting. Its popularity, open-ended gameplay, and real-time clock and calendar make it a perfect fit for mobile gaming.
Gaining Influence: The Communist Party of China has enshrined President Xi Jinping’s ideas for socialism into its constitution, something it hasn’t done since the days of Mao Zedong. The formal title is “Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” It addresses government credibility and conflict with Western democracy.
