Finances

Marriott International Inc. (MAR), owner and operator of hotels and corporate properties worldwide, reported its quarterly earnings on October 3.

The company reported revenue of $2.73 billion for the quarter. This was a decrease of 4.9% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $2.87 billion.

Marriott reported net income of $143 million. This was an improvement from the same period last year when the company reported a net loss of $179 million.

"Worldwide we opened nearly 5,000 rooms during the quarter and signed 13,000 rooms. We are delighted to welcome the Gaylord brand and its five hotels located in Orlando, Nashville, Dallas and Washington, DC to our system in the fourth quarter. Across 14 lodging brands worldwide, our pipeline of hotels under development, under construction or pending conversion increased to over 120,000 rooms during the quarter. Around the world, we expect to add 28,000 rooms in 2012, 30,000 to 35,000 rooms in 2013 and 90,000 to 105,000 for the three-year period from 2012 to 2014. Our market share of hotels continues to grow around the world."

The Maryland-based company operates and franchises hotels and resorts under various brands including: Marriott Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard, Residence Inn and The Ritz-Carlton. They operate, franchise or license 3,718 lodging properties with 643,196 rooms and provide 2,166 furnished corporate housing rental units.

Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) shares ended the week at $38.29.

International Speedway Reports Quarterly Earnings

International Speedway Corp. (ISCA), a promoter of motorsports themed entertainment activities in the United States, reported its quarterly earnings on October 4.

The company reported quarterly revenue of $150.3 million. This represents an increase of 29.6% from the same period the previous year when the company reported revenue of $115.93 million.

International Speedway reported net income of $9.65 million for the quarter. This represents a significant increase over the same period last year when the company reported a net loss of $1.09 million.

"We remain encouraged with many aspects of our business despite the ongoing effects of the sluggish economy, which continues to impact our attendance-related revenues," stated ISC Chief Executive Officer, Lesa France Kennedy. "Corporate partner support for the industry remains robust. The sports media rights landscape is strong, as evidenced last month by Major League Baseball extending its television contract on favorable terms. And, we are seeing certain consumer trends moving the right direction. These consumer trends need to translate into increased attendance at our events before we can see growth in attendance-related revenues."

International Speedway owns and operates 13 motorsports entertainment facilities. The company's entertainment facilities promote approximately 100 stock car, open wheel, sports car, truck, motorcycle, go-kart and other racing events.

International Speedway Corp. (ISCA) shares ended the week at $25.31.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Reports Quarterly Earnings

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. (RMCF), a dealer of delicious delicacies, reported its quarterly earnings on October 4.

The company reported revenue of $7.73 million for the quarter. This represents an increase of about 2% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $7.58 million.

Rocky Mountain reported $829,000 in net income for the quarter. This is a decrease of over 9% from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $912,000.

"Increased expenses associated with operating Aspen Leaf Yogurt, combined with higher franchise costs related to our international development program resulted in a $0.01 decline in earnings per share for the second quarter of Fiscal 2013," stated Bryan Merryman, the Company's Chief Operating Officer. "Excluding the losses from Aspen Leaf Yogurt, income from operations from our core Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory business segment increased 1.3% in the second quarter and approximately 10.6% in the first half of Fiscal Year 2013. Also, same-store sales at our franchised Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory locations increased 1.1% during the three months ended August 31, 2012, representing the 8th consecutive quarter of same-store sales gains when compared with prior-year periods."

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. operates 369 retail stores in the United States. These stores include: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Cold Stone Creamery and Aspen Leaf Yogurt.

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Inc. (RMCF) shares ended the week at $12.43.

The Dow started the week at 13,575 and closed at 13,610. The S&P 500 started the week at 1,461 and ended at 1,461. The NASDAQ started the week at 3,149 and finished at 3,136

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released the minutes of its September 12-13 meeting on October 4. The Committee recognized that its decision to pursue a third round of quantitative easing carried some risk of disrupting financial markets and spurring inflation.

In addition to the release of the FOMC minutes, the Labor Department released its unemployment figures on October 4. The figures showed the unemployment rate dropping below 8% to 7.8% for September. This is the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009, when the unemployment rate was also 7.8%.

Bond yields rose substantially after the unemployment numbers were released. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose to 2.97% and 10-year Treasury note yields rose to 1.73%. This is significantly higher than last week when the 10-year Treasury note finished at 1.64% and the 30-year Treasury note yield finished at 2.83%.

The break-even rate, which measures how much traders anticipate consumer prices will rise over the life of the debt, for 30-year securities reached 2.57%. This represents the highest rate since September 18, showing an increased concern among traders that the Fed's policy will increase the rate of inflation.

The FOMC minutes state that most Committee members thought the risks of disrupting the financial markets and spurring inflation "could be managed." The Committee suggested that it could "make adjustments to its purchases, as needed, in response to economic developments or to changes in its assessment of their efficacy and costs." Still, some FOMC members were skeptical and questioned whether the policy of buying mortgage-backed securities would spur greater economic recovery.

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 1.73% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 2.97%.

Freddie Mac released its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on October 4, 2012. The results show that average fixed mortgage rates fell to hit a new all-time low for a second consecutive week.

The 30-year FRM averaged 3.36% for the week. This is a decline from the week prior when the 30-year mortgage averaged 3.4%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.94%.

The 15-year FRM averaged 2.69% this week. This is a decline from last week when it averaged 2.73%. Last year at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.26%.

"Fixed mortgage rates fell again this week to all-time record lows due to the mortgage securities purchases by the Federal Reserve and indicators of a weakening economy," stated Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist at Freddie Mac. "The final estimate of growth in Gross Domestic Product was revised down to 1.3% in the second quarter, representing the slowest growth in a year. In addition, personal incomes rose only 0.1% in August, while July's increase was revised downward. And finally, pending home sales in August fell 2.6%, well below the market consensus forecast of a slight increase."

The money market fund finished this week at 0.5%. The 1-year CD finished at 0.7%.