1) Boeing Aircraft, the manufacture of the now grounded 737 MAX, has not ruled out further reductions or even shutting down production of its 737 MAX. Boeing had cut production of its best selling jet from 52 per month to 42, a 20% reduction. For its second quarter, Boeing has expended $1.01 billion dollars in cash as a result of the grounding, compared to the $4.3 billion dollars of free cash it had on hand last year. With deliveries on hold, Boeing isn’t receiving payments while also footing the cost of aircraft being stored waiting for re-certification.
2) With the commodity prices of coffee bottomed out and depressed incomes, coffee growers in Guatemala are facing a crisis. This crisis is made worse with threats of tariffs on Guatemala over undocumented migrants. Additional remittance fees and sanctions could spell disaster for Guatemala’s principle export if implemented, which in turn may actually exacerbate the flow of migration as small growers are forced out of business and head north.
3) The food giant Kraft Heinz, faced with a large corporate debt, has been exploring methods to pay down that debt by selling off some of its brands, so it can focus on its staple brands such as Heinz ketchup. But the sale of Maxwell House coffee, Breakstone’s sour cream and cottage cheese and Plasmon baby food, has glean lukewarm response from potential buyers. For years, the giant has been run by a ‘cost focused’ management team, but now management considers the company should be driven more by growth. The soup giant Campbell soup faced the same problems earlier this year.
4) Stock market closings for – 24 JUL 19:
Dow 27,269.97 down 79.22
Nasdaq 8,321.50 up 70.10
S&P 500 3,019.56 up 14.09
10 Year Yield: down at 2.05%
Oil: up at $55.94