New Oil Supplies Ease Prices, Boost Stocks
Stocks
are higher on lower oil prices, good economic data and reduced worries about
China’s economy. The US economy growing at a faster rate than
initially thought, with GDP coming in at a revised rate of 4.4%, up from the
previous 4.2% and with inventory levels at $28.2 billion. Oil prices pulled back
after OPEC’s president said they would consider increasing output. Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham said that he saw signs of extra oil supplies from
Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, as well as Saudi Arabia. Jobless claims for last week
fell 3,000 to 344,000, less than expected. The 4 week moving average rose 1500
to 335,000.
Costco Wholesale
(
COST |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported earnings that beat estimates by 5 cents, earning $198.7 million, with
same-store sales up 11%. Total sales rose 14% to $10.67 billion. Computer
product distributor Tech Data
(
TECD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of $34.7
million, 10 cents better than Wall Street expectations, with net sales up 23% to
$4.8 billion; European net sales also rose 19%. Looking ahead, the company
expects to earn $27.5 million on revenue of $4.4 billion.
Several IPOs are trading today,
including Arcadia Pharma
(
ACAD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Republic Airways
(
RJET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Critical Therapeutics
(
CRTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and AngioDynamic
(
ANGO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
| Dow | +62.57 | 10172.12 |
| S&P 500 | +1.57 | 1116.95 |
| Nasdaq | -1.80 | 1974.17 |
Strong today are Gold and
Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.90%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.90%, Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.68%, Retail
(
RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.99%.
Weak today are Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.27% and Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.41%.
Economic news releases today
include preliminary GDP rate that showed a 4.4% growth rate, chain deflator that
rose by 2.6% and initial claims missed expectations, dropping 3,000 to 344,000.
10-year Notes are +120
at 110 050
The dollar
is -1.15 at 88.66
Gold is +6.20 at 394.50
Crude Oil is -1.28 at
39.42
Volume is 688,000
million on the NYSE, and 816,000 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2048 | Up Vol 440 |
| Declining | 1071 | Down Vol 212 |
| Ratio | 1.91 | 2.08 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1501 | Up Vol 451 |
| Declining | 1448 | Down Vol 347 |
| Ratio | 1.03 | 1.30 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.33% at
46.20, McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.73% at 26.25, Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.62% at 76.01, United Tech
(
UTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.59% at 84.13.
Stocks in the news:
Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was higher
after increasing its quarterly dividend by 25% and approved an additional $1
billion to its stock buyback program.
Aetna
(
AET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) filed an anti-trust lawsuit against
Abbott Laboratories
(
ABT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) accusing them of trying to monopolize the
protease inhibitor AIDS drugs by sharply raising prices on its Norvir drug.
Dollar Tree Stores
(
DLTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of
$35.15 million on revenue of $710.3 million. The company affirmed previous Q2
forecasts of sales of $700 million with $3.2 billion in annual sales.
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com