Barbie Doll Breakout, Confidence Climbs, Hedgie Fisher Optimistic

Stocks climbed to their 6th straight weekly gain as the Consumer Confidence figures climbed and stronger than expected bank earnings triggered buying. Supporting the Consumer Confidence figure, sales of the lovely and boom time eponymous Barbie Doll surged 18% in the first quarter pushing her maker, Mattel shares higher. Adding to the optimistic tone of the session, billionaire investor, Ken Fisher stated that the current rally is too big to simply be a bear market bounce and stocks are the cheapest in anyone’s lifetime. The DJIA snapped higher by +5.90 to 8131.33, the Nasdaq eased ahead by +2.63 to 1673.07 and the S&P 500 advanced +4.30 to 869.60.

Mattel
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– Its famous Barbie Doll toy posted an 18% sales gain in the 1st quarter resulting in shares breaking out 15.20% or $1.98 to $15.01/share.

BB & T
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– The bank made clear statements that it is well capitalized and housing markets in its regions are improving luring buyers to push shares higher by 11.15% or $2.35 to $23.42/share.

Tempur Pedic
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– A maker of luxury mattresses beat analysts earning estimates pushing shares higher by 17.36% or $1.59 to $10.75/share.

Intuitive Surgical
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– Climbed 10.47% or $12.35 to $130.35 after being upgraded by Brean Murray Carret & Co.

Gold continued its losing streak dropping $11.90 to $867.90, Oil eased ahead by 0.35 cents to $50.23 and volatility continues to dry up with the VIX fear index falling another 5.17% to 33.94.

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Market Snapshot

Dow

+5.90 8131.33

NASDAQ

+2.63 1673.07

S&P 500

+4.30 869.60

Economic
News

Core PPI (Mar): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.2%

PPI (Mar): Consensus: 0.0%, Prior: 0.1%

Retail Sales (Mar): Consensus: 0.3%, Prior: -0.1%

Retail Sales ex-auto (Mar): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.7%

Business Inventories (Feb): Consensus: -1.1%, Prior: -1.1%

Core CPI (Mar): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.2%

CPI (Mar): Consensus: 0.2%, Prior: 0.4%

Empire Manufacturing (Apr): Consensus: -35.0, Prior: -38.2

Net Long-Term TIC Flows (Feb): Consensus: NA, Prior: -$43.0B

Capacity Utilization (Mar): Consensus: 69.7%, Prior: 70.9%

Industrial Production (Mar): Consensus: -0.9%, Prior: -1.4%

Crude Inventories (04/10): Consensus: NA, Prior: +1645K

Fed’s Beige Book: Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Building Permits (Mar): Consensus: 550K, Prior: 547K

Housing Starts (Mar): Consensus: 550K, Prior: 583K

Initial Claims (04/11): Consensus: NA, Prior: 654K

Philadelphia Fed (Apr): Consensus: -32.0, Prior: -35.0

Mich Sentiment-Prel (Apr): Consensus: 58.5, Prior: 57.3