Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) was down 16 points, to 15,978, at 1:30 p.m. EST after Procter & Gamble (PG -0.10%) lowered its 2014 earnings guidance due to multiple currency devaluations in emerging markets. The S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) was up two points to 1,821.
Procter & Gamble shares dropped 1.7% to $77.50 on the falling guidance The consumer goods giant now expects core earnings-per-share growth of 3% to 5% for the year, down from a range of 5% to 7%. The company specifically highlighted Venezuela's recent actions to move its official currency exchange rate from 6.3 bolivares fuertes per U.S. dollar to 11.4 bolivares fuertes per U.S. dollar. Procter & Gamble expects to incur a one-time charge to its Venezuelan balance sheet of $230 million to $280 million. This situation is likely to only get worse as Venezuela appears headed into an inflationary spiral. Politicians there do not have the will to end it, instead blaming business owners for raising prices.
A similar situation is playing out in Argentina with the Argentine peso. At the same time, Procter & Gamble's earnings are also taking a hit from the recent devaluations to the Turkish lira, South African rand, Russian ruble, Ukrainian hryvnia, Brazilian real and several other currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. Many U.S. multinationals' earnings have been helped in the last few years by the relative weakness of the dollar against emerging-market currencies. Now that the situation is reversing itself as dollars flow back to the U.S. with the slowing of the Fed taper, expect more companies to lower their guidances based on emerging-market troubles.
