Diamonds and Dogs

11/14/19

Walmart (WMT) flexing its muscle. The retailer is up 2% to a new high following better-than-expected earnings. Good news for Walmart is good news for the economy. The low-cost retailer is a good read on the health of the U.S. consumer, which is keeping the U.S. economy humming along. Walmart says the U.S. continues to be positive, while internationally it's softer. Still, seven out of 10 foreign geographies posted positive comparable-sales growth. Good news heading into the holiday season.

Bad couple of days for Canadian stocks. Cannibas company, Canopy Growth (CGC) is down 9% after falling 4% yesterday on disappointing earnings. Canopy missed by 72 cents while sales grew, but came in at $76.6 million well below estimates of $105.7 million. Management said the last two quarters have been challenging for the Canadian cannabis sector. Canadian provinces have reduced purchases to lower inventory levels while retail store openings have fallen short of expectations. Cannabis 2.0 products are yet to come to market. Costs remain high since Canada is not the ideal place to grow a tropical plant. Here's a bad stat, Canopy paid more in stock base compensation, then they generated in sales. Not good. Winter coat retailer, Canada Goose (GOOS) dropped 10% yesterday following earnings.