Earnings After The Close…
In a
broad-based rally, stocks rose on higher
volume as oil prices eased and
the Dow had one of its biggest gains in weeks.
General Electric Â
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) spun-off its insurance unit, Genworth
Financial
(
GNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). In the largest IPO this year, the stock debuted at
$19.50, below its original range of $21 to $23. As recently as yesterday, talk
was $20.50. $2.83 billion was generated from the 145 million shares issued,
which was priced comparably to China Life Insurance
(
LFC |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which went
public late last year. GE still retains 70% ownership of the company. GNW closed
at 19.50.
HJ Heinz
(
HNZ |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of $196.5 million with revenue at $2.33
billion. Lower tax rates, a favorable foreign exchange rate and lower interest
costs attributed to the higher earnings. The company expects earnings to reach
$2.32 a share with growth of 2 to 3% for 2005.
In a report, The National
Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes were at a seasonally
adjusted rate of 6.64 million homes last month, 2.5% higher than the previous
month.
Iraqis reacted with skepticism
to Bush’s address, saying the US offer of sovereignty is not enough to restore
their freedom. The US draft of a proposed UN resolution fell short of what
Iraq’s defense minister sought: full control of its troops and oil. The Pentagon
will replace Army Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez with General George Casey as the
top US military officer in Iraq. Officials denied the change was related to the
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
An International Council of
Shopping Centers survey says that higher gas prices is creating more efficient
shoppers, who make fewer trips but spend more per trip.
Former NYSE head Richard
Grasso will fight the lawsuit brought by NY AG Eliot Spitzer. In a 1400-word
op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Grasso stood his ground and said he
would file a counter-suit.
The Defense Department is
scrapping a deal that would have Boeing
(
BA |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) provide 100 aerial
refueling tankers.
After the close, Computer
Associates
(
CA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q4 of 0.18 vs a 0.17 estimate on $850 million
revenue; net income was $89 million. Tivo
(
TIVO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.09,
with subscribers up 264K, above estimates; Agile Software
(
AGIL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat by a penny, ex-items;
| Dow | +159.19 | 10117.62 |
| S&P 500 | +17.67 | 1113.08 |
| Nasdaq | +41.67 | 1964.65 |
Most every sector was green
today; the strongest were Telecoms
(
XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.45%, Amex Gold
Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.11%, Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.16% and Oil
Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.21%.
Economic news releases today:
consumer confidence index that came in below consensus at 93.2 and existing home
sales that also missed expectations at 6.64 million units.
10-year Notes were +045
at 109 085
The dollar
was -0.64 at 89.91
Gold was +2.61 at 388.10
Crude Oil was -0.61 at
41.14
Volume was 1.54 billion
on the NYSE, and 1.37 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2798 | Up Vol 1340 |
| Declining | 568 | Down Vol 162 |
| Ratio | 4.92 | 8.27 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 2273 | Up Vol 1518 |
| Declining | 885 | Down Vol 212 |
| Ratio | 2.56 | 7.16 |
Stocks in the news:
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
(
KKD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is
cutting back new store openings to 100 this year, 17% less than initially
planned. Citing the low-carb fad, the company reported a net-loss of $24.4
million included charges and expects earnings of $1.05 a share for 2005.
Charles Schwab
(
SCH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced
plans to lower commissions for online stock trades. The lower rates are
dependent on the number of trades in a quarter and the amount of assets a client
holds.
Williams-Sonoma
(
WSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted earnings
of $21.4 million with revenue that rose 19% to $641 million. The company expects
EPS of 19 cents for the next quarter and the board approved plans to repurchase
up to 2.5 million shares.
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com
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