If Honeywell is right it is going to be a workable 2015

The last time I wrote about Honeywell I noted that it is the sort of company where you know the name...but you are not quite sure where or on what product you have seen it.  So here is a quick reminder:  

Interestingly when I passed on the shares early this year it was at about a US$90 share price - a level a little above what is prevailing today.  You see it has been a great couple of years for industrially-focused companies like Honeywell but (akin to what I observed on General Electric earlier, see here) it has not been an easy 2014 to date share price performance wise as shown in the latter half of this two year chart: 

Today's quarter three numbers from Honeywell were noteworthy for a couple of reasons.  First they upped the lower end of their FY14 guidance citing a 'steady' short cycle (including a wonderful comment about the EU: 'slow but stable') and also observed some 'backlog momentum' in their long-cycle businesses.  That sounds quite a bit different from the tone struck by Rolls Royce earlier today in the London market for its collection of short and long-cycle businesses.  

But it does not stop there.  The '2015 preliminary view' talked about either current conditions continuing or a 'continued lift from higher growth region investments'.  That sounds very workable.   

As this was nicely shown by a traffic lights update.  Six green lights, three yellows and, importantly, no reds.   

After a volatile week on the markets that is not a good place to finish.  Either companies are the last to know or, so far, 2015 is going to be a workable investment year.  Macro imponderables and central bank excites remain but the opportunity for the savvy stockpicker to add value remains.