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Pizza Hut parent gets one last 'boo' out of Halloween week

The ghosts and ghouls weren't the only ones moaning last week as Halloween week wrapped up the month of October. They had company from the folks at Pizza Hut parent, Yum brands, which closed the week of scares with one of its own -- a drop of nearly $10 in its stock value.

Photo: iStock

November 4, 2019 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Pizza Hut parent, Yum brands, was again the biggest loser on Wall Street of the three largest publicly traded brands, suffering a substantial drop in value over the week in the value of its triple-QSR parent. On the New York Stock Exchange last Friday the brand closed at $99.65, down $9.45 on the week, the second and steeper weekly drop in a row. 

Also on the New York Stock Exchange, competitor Domino's sustained a hit as well, though not nearly as damaging, watching its value creep down $2.49 on the week to close Friday at $269.26. 

In fact, the weeks only winner was Papa John's, which managed to eke out an 89-cent increase over the week's buying and selling on the Nasdaq, to end Friday at $57.98. 

Cheese

Cheese values overall on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week trended upward, with barrels averaging $2.28, up 14 cents, while blocks were 5 cents higher for an average price of $2.16. The closing value of the two purchase quantities was $2.33 for barrels and $2.16 for blocks. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that barrel/process cheese inventories are tighter, due in part to demand from Mexico, with the department's Midwestern contacts reporting that barrels are tight to oversold in some cases.

Some other cheese makers in the Midwest say they are shifting production to cheddars based on demand needs, which are currently mixed. The U.S.D.A., however said that with market prices well over $2, buyers are ordering on a short-term basis.

Wheat

Cash bids for wheat were also mixed last week, ranging from 8 cents lower to 33 1/4 cents higher, the U.S.D.A. said. Kansas City U.S. No. 1 Hard Red Winter, ordinary protein rail bid was 33 1/4 cents higher, from $5.22 3/4-$5.32 3/4 per bushel. Kansas City U.S. No. 2 Soft Red winter rail bid was not quoted.  

St. Louis truck U.S. No. 2 Soft Red Winter terminal bid was 8 cents lower at 5.03 per bushel. Minneapolis and Duluth U.S. No. 1 Dark Northern Spring, 14.0 to 14.5 percent protein rail, was 9 to 14 cents higher, from $6.94-$6.99 per bushel. Portland U.S. Soft White wheat rail was steady to 6 cents lower, from $5.95-$6.05 per bushel.

Vehicle fuel

U.S. Energy Information Administration data shows that demand for gasoline grew from 9.59 million b/d to 9.78 million b/d last week, with that most recent rate approximately 520,000 b/d higher than what Americans were using this time last year. 

That growing demand, combined with tight gas supplies is contributing to a slight increase in the national average of about a cent over the week. The average for a gallon of regular today was put at $2.61, which is still a nickel lower than last month's rate, according to the American Automobile Association. 

The same trend held for mid-grade ($2.95) and premium ($3.21), but diesel has actually remained flat for the past month at $3.01 a gallon. And finally, E85 has fallen slightly over the last month to settle in at $2.31 today, down 3 cents from last month. 

Natural gas

Natural gas spot prices rose at most locations for the report week that ended on Oct. 30 with Henry Hub spot prices rising from $2.28 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $2.67/MMBtu over the seven-day period that ended last Wednesday. 

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the November 2019 contract expired Tuesday at $2.597/MMBtu, up 32 cents/MMBtu from over the seven days. The December 2019 contract increased to $2.691/MMBtu, up 26 cents/MMBtu. The price of the 12-month strip averaging December 2019 through November 2020 futures contracts climbed 14 cents/MMBtu to $2.498/MMBtu.

Net injections to working gas totaled 89 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ending Oct. 25. Working natural gas stocks are 3,695 Bcf, which is 18% more than the year-ago level and 1% more than the five-year (2014-18) average for this week.

The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 2 cents/MMBtu, averaging $5.27/MMBtu for the seven days that ended on Oct. 30. The price of isobutane and butane fell by 7% and 1%, respectively. The price of natural gasoline, ethane, and propane rose by 3%, 2%, and 1%, respectively.

According to Baker Hughes, for the seven days that ended on Oct. 22, the natural gas rig count decreased by four to 133. The number of oil-directed rigs fell by 17 to 696. The total rig count decreased by 21, and it now stands at 830.

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.