Cotton Bulls Manage to Sneak Out Gains on Tuesday
Weekly USDA Crop Progress data indicated 75% of the US cotton crop was squaring as of July 20, with 33% setting bolls, matching the average maturity pace. Condition ratings across the Belt improved 3% to 57% gd/ex, with the Brugler500 index up 8 points to 347.
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The Seam showed sales of 95 bales on Monday, with an average price of 65 cents/lb. The world focused Cotlook A Index was down 5 cents at $79.45 on July 21. ICE cotton stocks were steady on 7/18, with the certified stocks level at 22,337 bales. USDA's Adjusted World Price (AWP) was up a tick on Thursday at 54.72 cents/lb. It is in effect through this coming Thursday.
Oct 25 Cotton closed at 66.59, up 5 points,
Dec 25 Cotton closed at 68.25, up 15 points,
Mar 26 Cotton closed at 69.61, up 15 points
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
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Alphabet's AI-Driven Capital Spending Plans Alphabet's Q2 revenue rose 14% YoY, and its operating income was also 14% higher. Moreover, the operating income margin stayed flat at 32% for both periods. But that is all before the company's cash flows and, more importantly, its capital expenditure (capex) activities. The table below from its Q1 and Q2 earnings releases shows that operating cash flow margins fell YoY, and its capex spending exploded. As a result, this table shows that Alphabet's FCF margin imploded to just 5.5% of sales, down from 21% last quarter and 18% over the last year. It's due to capex spending, which is now 40% of sales and 80% of operating cash flow. If this keeps up over the next year, Alphabet's valuation could falter. In fact, Alphabet's CEO, Sundar Pichai, said on the first page of the Q2 earnings release, Alphabet will spend $85 billion this year on capex, all driven by its AI-driven activities. Let's look at that. 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