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U.S. markets are slightly lower to start the day as consumers and nations are on a historic borrowing spree with higher debt levels. Oil prices continue to climb as the demand for energy spikes amid a deep freeze in Texas and the Midwest. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continued its upward trend and topped $52,000 yesterday. The Philly Fed Index indicates manufacturing is still growing and Walmart disappoints shareholders with an earnings miss. 2/ CHART OF THE DAY Still Growing  Manufacturing activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region continued to grow in February and remained positive for the ninth consecutive month, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve. The Philly Fed Index, which tracks manufacturing business outlook, slipped to 23.1 in February after a large jump the prior month. Despite the three-point drop from January's 26.5 reading, the index still remained at an elevated level in February and beat expectations of 19.2.
February's dip was largely due to a retreat in delivery times and new orders. Meanwhile, price pressures continued to pile up and employment increases were more widespread this month.
Economists use the Philadelphia index to gauge the strength of the national ISM Manufacturing Index, which is due to be released March 1. Last month the ISM index fell 1.8 points to a still-healthy 58.7, signaling that manufacturers have been able to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic as activity continues.
Learn more about the Philly Fed Index below. 3/ STOCK OF THE DAY Walmart (WMT)  Image courtesy GettyImages/Justin Sullivan/Staff Shares in Walmart (WMT) fell nearly 6% at 11 a.m. ET after the retailer reported mixed earnings. Walmart reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.39, missing analyst estimates of $1.50. Yet it disclosed that revenue reached a record $152.1 billion, ahead of the $148.3 billion forecasted, as U.S. comparable store sales increased 8.6% and e-commerce sales grew by 69%.
Walmart has benefited tremendously from pandemic trends, as Americans bought more groceries, cleaning supplies, and household items amid stay-at-home orders. However, COVID-19 also came at a cost for the big-box retailer, which said pandemic-related expenses were $1.1. billion. Walmart has been trying to turn pandemic gains into sustainable momentum, but warned that it expects sales to moderate this year.
[Editor's Note: Our stock of the day is by no means a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold a particular security or asset. We will never do that. It's simply a vehicle for us to present a security with interesting price movement and try to analyze what's driving it.]  Chart courtesy TradingView 4/ TODAY IN HISTORY Feb. 18, 1700  Image courtesy ETH Library Daniel Bernoulli, one of the giants of probability theory and the father of modern risk analysis, is born in Basel, Switzerland.
Source: Samuel Kotz and Norman L. Johnson, "Lifelengths of 'Leading Personalities' in Statistics," Chance: The Magazine of the American Statistical Association, vol. 12, no. 4, 1999, p. 32 SPONSORED BY MYND MANAGEMENT Rental property tax deductions have a lot of benefits. These tips can help you find the right deductions and make the most of them. Learn More 5/ WORD OF THE DAY The Philadelphia Federal Index, otherwise known as the Philly Fed Survey, is a survey of around 250 manufacturing businesses in the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district. Also called the Business Outlook Survey, the Philly Fed manufacturing index is released monthly on the third Thursday of every month and is a leading indicator of economic conditions in the region, which also has important implications for the rest of the U.S. February's survey results are scheduled to be released this morning.
Any score above 0.0 on the index indicates manufacturing growth, while a score below 0.0 indicates contraction. PODCAST This Week on The Investopedia Express The cannabis sector was overrun by day traders recently, taking several stocks on wild rides with rough endings. Cannabis investor Todd Harrison of CB1 Capital joins the show with what the political and legislative landscape looks like for cannabis and how long-term investors should value its most popular stocks. Plus, what to expect in the week ahead and the investing term the educated investor needs to know to stay ahead.
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The Geezer'$ Alert ...
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Chugging Along
