Finances

DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a company well-known for producing and developing animated films, reported its quarterly earnings on November 1.

DreamWorks reported revenue of $186.3 million for the quarter. This represents an increase of 15.9% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $160.8 million.

The company reported quarterly net income of $24.44 million. This is an improvement from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $19.65 million.

"DreamWorks Animation's third quarter results were driven by the blockbuster international box office success of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which has earned nearly $720 million at the worldwide box office to date, to become the fifth highest-grossing film of the year on a global basis," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. "We are looking forward to the next major event film for the Company during the fourth quarter, the November 21st theatrical release of Rise of the Guardians."

DreamWorks Animation has produced about 23 animated films including Shrek the Third, Shrek 2 and Madagascar.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA) shares ended the week at $21.99.

Exxon Mobile Reports Quarterly Earnings

Exxon Mobile (XOM), an oil industry giant, reported its quarterly earnings on November 1.

Exxon Mobile reported revenue of $115.7 billion for the quarter. This represents a decrease of 7.7% from the same period last year when Exxon reported revenue of $125.33 billion.

The company reported quarterly net income of $9.93 billion. This represents a slight decrease from last year when the company reported net income of $10.67 billion.

"Third quarter results reflect our ongoing commitment to help deliver the energy needed to underpin economic recovery and growth while maintaining our strong focus on safety and environmental performance," said Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil's CEO and Chairman. "Third quarter 2012 earnings were $9.6 billion, down 7% from the third quarter of 2011. Earnings for the first nine months of 2012 were $34.9 billion, up 10% compared to the first nine months of 2011."

Exxon Mobile was incorporated in 1882 in Irving Texas and now operates more than 31,000 wells worldwide.

Exxon Mobile (XOM) shares ended the week at $90.27.

Kellogg Reports Quarterly Earnings

Kellogg Company (K), a company well-known for its branded cereals, reported its quarterly earnings on November 1.

Kellogg reported revenue of $3.72 billion for the quarter. This represents an increase of 12.3% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $3.31 billion.

The company reported quarterly net income of $296 million. This represents a slight increase from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $290 million.

"We're pleased with the improving trends in our underlying performance, which is inline with our expectations and includes strong revenue growth in many of our businesses," said John Bryant, Kellogg Company's President and CEO. "We're also pleased that the Pringles business performed better during the quarter than we had expected. While it's early, we remain optimistic regarding the potential of this iconic brand."

In addition to cereal, Kellogg Company produces other snack foods including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and veggie foods.

Kellogg Company (K) shares ended the week at $53.69.

The Dow started the week at 13,233 and closed at 13,093. The S&P 500 started the week at 1,428 and ended at 1,414. The NASDAQ started the week at 3,020 and finished at 2,982.

Bond sales were up on November 2 following a jobs report that exceeded expectations. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that 171,000 jobs were added in October. They also revised the numbers for both August and September, increasing the number of jobs added in those months to 192,000 and 148,000 respectively.

Microsoft Corp. and Verizon led the way for borrowers. Microsoft is selling $2.25 billion of securities in three parts and Verizon is selling $4.5 billion in securities according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yields on U.S. corporate bonds rose to 3.62% on November 1.

Total bond sales rose to $17.3 billion Friday afternoon, the highest total sales figure of any Friday this year. The daily average this year has been $6.1 billion.

"This is a very one-time, unusual event," said Jody Lurie, a Philadelphia-based corporate credit analyst. "The unemployment figures are giving borrowers a green light to say, 'Okay, go time, don't wait.'"

In addition to the unemployment figures, the coming election is encouraging companies to issue bonds. "Companies are trying to take advantage of the current low-rate environment, in case there is a shift in the yield curve after the elections," said Alan Shepard, an analyst at Madison Investment Holdings, Inc. Firms in need of financing "may be accelerating their funding to get it in now, in an environment that is known, rather than do the funding at a potentially higher cost in a more uncertain environment post-election."

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 1.73% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 2.92%.

Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on November 1, 2012. The results showed average fixed mortgage rates dropping slightly while continuing near record lows.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.39% this week. This represents a decrease from last week when it averaged 3.41%. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 4%.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.7% this week. This is lower than last week when it averaged 2.72%. One year ago at this time the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.31%.

"Mortgage rates remained relatively unchanged this week on signs of a growing economy and low inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist for Freddie Mac. "The economy grew 2% in the third quarter with residential fixed investment contributing 0.3 percentage points to growth. The core price index of personal consumer expenditures grew 1.7% between September 2011 and 2012 and was within the Federal Reserve's preferred target range."

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