Finances

Franklin Covey Co. (FC), the company that makes time management and personal effectiveness tools, reported its latest earnings last week. The Salt Lake City based company makes products such as the Franklin Planner.

For the quarter, the company's net sales increased by $4.0 million over the same period last year. This 12.0% growth increased net sales to $39.5 million.

The company also reported that gross profit margins had increased by 6.0% to $26.5 million. This increase was attributed to increased royalty revenues on the international front.

Franklin Covey's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Whitman, said that the company was very pleased that the company was able "to translate the demand for [the company's product] into continued significant growth." Whitman praised the "transformational impact" of Franklin Covey's product line and its applicability for industries across the globe.

Shares of Franklin Covey Co. (FC) closed the week at $8.72.

Families Looking to Spend a Buck Turned to Family Dollar Stores

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) reported its latest quarterly numbers this past week. In a weakened economy, the discount goods store proved to be a good value for consumers.

Family Dollar reported an increase in net sales for the quarter of 7.6%. Sales rose to $2.148 billion from $1.997 billion.

The company saw an even greater increase in its growth rate. Net income rose by 8.1% to $80.4 million compared to $74.3 million in the similar quarter last year. The earnings came to $0.68 on a per share basis, an increase of 17.2%.

"Today, we reported another quarter of record earnings. We opened 101 stores, nearly 20% more than in the first quarter last year and we entered an important new market, California," stated Howard Levine, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Levine also commented that the company delivered improved comparable stores sales for the second year in a row. Levine noted the difficulty of the economy stating, "The environment continues to be challenging for our customers" and that the company looked forward to continuing to deliver value to consumers.

Family Dollar Stores has been in business for more than 50 years. The company has more than 7,100 discount stores located in 45 states. Family Dollar touts its ability to help "families save on the items they need with everyday low prices."

Shares of Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) closed the week at $53.63 per share.

Drive-Thru Restaurant Chain Sonic Reports Quarterly Earnings

Last week, Sonic Corp. (SONC) released its latest quarterly earnings report. Sonic is the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants.

For the quarter, the company reported revenue of $128.3 million. This is a decrease of 0.7% from the same period last year in which the company reported revenue of $129.1 million. The company's net income for the quarter was $5.5 million, or $0.09 on an earnings per share basis. This is a decrease of 25% from the same period in 2011 in which the company reported net income of $7.2 million or $0.12 earnings per share.

"While our fiscal first quarter reflected continued sales volatility, we remain pleased with our long-term initiatives," said Sonic's Chairman and CEO, Cliff Hudson. He also stated the company continues to revise its strategies and utilize creative promotional efforts to raise awareness for the company's "unique carhop" restaurants.

In its earnings report, the company attributed its decrease in restaurant margins to higher commodity costs and higher operating costs. Some of these costs, the company reports, were offset by labor efficiencies.

Shares of Sonic Corp. (SONC) closed the week trading at $6.61 per share.

The Dow started the week at 12,218 and closed at 12,360. The S&P 500 started the week at 1,258 and ended at 1,278. The NASDAQ started the week at 2,605 and finished at 2,674.

In the face of continued concerns over European sovereign debt, members of the European Central Bank are calling for an increase in an emergency fund to help end the region's debt crisis. The emergency fund, which has a debt ceiling of 500 billion-euro (or $640 billion equivalent), is viewed as having insufficient resources to protect against debt default by countries like Italy and Spain.

Klass Knot, a member of the Council, has suggested Germany is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of an increase. "The most important obstacle lies in Germany," Knot has stated. He also suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has opposed efforts to increase the size of the fund. Germany has instead taken the position that the best course of action to address any financial crisis is budget discipline.

The European outlook is weighing down global output and the euro has weakened to a 15-month low versus the dollar. In response, U.S. Treasuries have gained. The 10-year Treasury was up nearly double digit basis points over the previous week.

The 10-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 1.961% while the 30-year Treasury note yield finished the week at 3.016%.

Freddie Mac released its first Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) of the year on January 5, 2012. The survey revealed that mortgage rates, which have been hovering near historic lows for nine consecutive weeks, edged downward slightly to start the year.

The survey reported that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.91% this week. Last week the 30-year FRM averaged 3.95% and last year at this time it averaged 4.77%.

The average for the 15-year FRM, according to PMMS, also ticked down slightly from the previous week. The 15-year mortgage averaged 3.23%, compared to 3.24 in the previous week. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.13%.

"Fixed mortgage rates started the year a little lower this week just as recent data reports indicate the housing market and manufacturing industry are showing signs of improvement," stated Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's Vice President and Chief Economist. Nothaft also noted that pending existing home sales had jumped 7.3% in November and that construction spending rose 1.2% in that month.

The money market fund finished this week at 0.50%. The 1-year CD finished at 0.70%.