Cautious Optimism From MasterCard By Ben Thomas About this article: For Thomas's preview heading into the MasterCard conference call, please click here. MasterCard reported a slightly disappointing quarter, and management was cautiously optimistic on its outlook for continued improved global economy. The company posted fourth-quarter EPS of $2.43 on revenue of $1.3 billion. Gross dollar volume (the amount of money spent on its cards) was up 5.3% (a little lighter than some predicted). The number of transactions processed increased 6.7%. These growth metrics were tempered by an increase in rebates and incentives (marketing spend). In fact, marketing spend was up 25% year over year in an effort to support new initiatives in other countries. This is a wet towel for this quarter's results but should bear fruit down the road. Operating margins came in at 36.1% (a little lighter than expected). Management stated that there seems to be a new consumer mind-set emerging in which people are... To read the rest of this article and sign up for a FREE trial click here...

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