On Wall Street earnings continue to come in better than expected - especially by big media including CBS, News Corp, and Time Warner. Last night Disney reported net income of $1.3 billion for the quarter, better than expected and up 40% versus last year. Movies sales were up 30% on the back of Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, and Iron Man 2. Historically, movie sales have tended to do well in weak economic environments going back to the 1930s. Advertising revenue from ESPN was strong - helped by the World Cup. The weakest sector, and this may be the real economic indicator, was theme parks - revenues up only 3%.
It is encouraging to view the positive results versus a year ago, but keep in mind that last year was the depths of the recession.
Full disclosure: I saw Toy Story 3 and liked it a lot. I don't own the stock but wish I had.
Disney did report better than expected results, but in my neck of the woods the economy still seems to be like that inchworm just creeping forward one small increment at a time.
ReplyDeleteI agree. In fact, cutting back on Defense as Gates is proposing could remove the support the Washington D.C. region typically receives from the government during economic downturns. The inchworm may go in reverse a bit.
ReplyDeleteAnd the fed just signaled their commitment to ongoing stimulus... definitely not a V-shaped recovery. :S
ReplyDeleteYep, it is certainly looking like a U shape to me
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