Finances

The Walt Disney Company (DIS), worldwide provider of family entertainment, reported its quarterly earnings on February 5.

Disney reported quarterly revenue of $11.34 billion. This represents an increase of 5.2% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $10.78 billion.

The company reported net income of $1.38 billion for the quarter. This represents a decrease of 5.6% from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $1.46 billion.

"After delivering another record year of growth in 2012, we're off to a solid start in Fiscal 2013," said Robert Iger, Chairmen and CEO of Disney. "Our ongoing success is driven by our long-term strategy, the strength of our brands and businesses, and our high quality family entertainment."

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) shares ended the week at $54.64.

Coca-Cola Reports Annual and Quarterly Earnings

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (CCE), an international seller of beverages, reported its annual and quarterly earnings on February 7.

Coca-Cola reported annual net sales of $8.06 billion. This represents a decrease of 2.7% from fiscal year 2011 when the company reported net sales of $8.28 billion. The company reported net sales of $1.92 billion for the fourth quarter. This represents an increase of 1.2% from the same period last year when the company reported net sales of $1.89 billion.

The company reported net income of $677 million for fiscal year 2012. This represents a decrease of 9.6% from fiscal year 2011 when the company reported net income of $749 million. The company reported net income of $100 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012. This represents a decrease of 11.5% from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $113 million.

"We achieved solid earnings per share growth in 2012 while working through significant marketplace challenges and the ongoing macroeconomic softness that continues to affect our territories," said John F. Brock, Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises. "Going forward, we continue to focus on value-creating opportunities in order to achieve sustained growth and to deliver on our most important goal – creating value for our shareowners."

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (CCE) shares ended the week at $35.37.

Time Warner Reports Annual and Quarterly Earnings

Time Warner, Inc. (TWX), the international media and entertainment company, reported its annual and quarterly earnings on February 6.

Time Warner reported revenue for fiscal year 2012 of $28.73 billion. This represents a decrease of 0.8% from fiscal year 2011 when the company reported revenue of $28.97 billion. The company reported fourth quarter revenue of $8.16 billion, which represents a decrease of 0.03% from the same period last year when the company reported revenue of $8.19 billion.

The company reported net income of $3.02 billion for fiscal year 2012. This represents an increase of 4.6% from fiscal year 2011 when the company reported net income of $2.88 billion. The company reported net income of $1.17 billion for the fourth quarter, which represents an increase of 51.3% from the same period last year when the company reported net income of $772 million.

"In 2012, we had another strong year financially and operationally while we laid the foundation for continued growth," said Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner. "For the year, Adjusted Operating Income grew 4% to a record $6.1 billion, and Adjusted EPS rose 13% to $3.28. And, in the fourth quarter, both our Networks and our Film and TV Entertainment segments achieved record profits, with our overall Adjusted Operating Income up 16% and Adjusted EPS up 24%."

Time Warner, Inc. (TWX) shares ended the week at $52.57.

The Dow started the week at 14,010 and closed at 13,993. The S&P 500 started the week at 1,513 and ended at 1,518. The NASDAQ started the week at 3,162 and finished at 3,194.

On February 8, the Commerce Department announced the U.S trade deficit narrowed 20.7% in December from $48.61 billion to $38.54 billion. This contraction brought the deficit to its lowest level since January 2010 and was the biggest contraction in almost four years.

The drop surprised analysts and beat the expectations of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and Dow Jones Newswires. "This is way off expectations and clearly volatile, but the takeaway is this is a big add to Q4 GDP," said David Ader, economist at CRT Capital Group. According to current numbers, the economy contracted 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012. The Commerce Department will release revised fourth quarter GDP numbers on February 28.

Treasuries dropped and yields rose following the Commerce Department's announcement. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note reached a low of 1.92% on February 1, but rose to 1.98% in early trading on February 8. Also, volatility in treasuries dropped to the lowest level in two weeks according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's MOVE index.

The Federal Reserve plans to sell $32 billion in 3-year notes on February 12, $24 billion in 10-year notes on February 13 and $16 billion in 30-year bonds on February 14.

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 1.95% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 3.17%.

Freddie Mac released the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on February 7. The results showed that mortgage rates were either unchanged or lower than last week.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.53% this week. This represents the same average as last week. One year ago, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.87%.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 2.77% this week. This represents a slight decrease from last week when it averaged 2.81%. Last year at this time, the 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.16%.

"Mortgage rates were either unchanged or lower this week following a mostly positive employment data report for January," said Frank Nothaft, Vice President and Chief Economist at Freddie Mac. "In January, the economy gained 157,000 new jobs and revisions to November and December added another 127,000 workers."

"On top of that, the annual benchmark update showed payrolls grew by an additional 424,000 jobs between April 2011 and March 2012. The only downside to the report was that the unemployment rate ticked up from 7.8% to 7.9% in January, which is still historically high."

The money market fund finished this week at 0.5%. The 1-year CD finished at 0.6%.