Fed Leaves Rates Unchanged; Plus, Milestone For QQQs
Stocks
rose in volatile trading after the Fed left rates unchanged at 1%. The Fed
reiterated its pledge to remain “patient”
in removing economic stimulus, but also said new hiring
lagged. Regarding inflation, the Fed said that the risk of deflation was “almost
equal” to the risk of higher inflation. After making late-session lows, the
indices rallied into the close. The volatility Index — or VIX –Â closed
at 20.34 today, rising from 14.48 on March 5.
Happy Birthday QQQs!
Yes, it’s been 5 years since the Nasdaq 100 Tracking Stock began trading.
Manpower’s
(
MAN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
second-quarter survey said job prospects are at the strongest level since 2001.
The Wall Street Journal reported 28% of US employers plan to add
workers in the second quarter. February housing starts dropped 4%, to 1.855
million.
Lehman Brothers
(
LEH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported earnings that more than doubled, with net income rising to $670 million
from $301 million a year ago. Net revenue reached $3.14 billion, 84% higher than
a year ago. The company’s equity trading was up 46% from the previous quarter
with 70% of the revenue derived from capital markets operations. Other
investment banks such as Bear Stearns
(
BSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are expected to report within the next week.
After the close, Goodyear
Tire
(
GT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it will delay filing of its 10-K.
Tomorrow before the open look
for earnings from Bear Stearns
(
BSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating); the estimate is $2.04.
| Dow | +81.78 |
10184.67 |
| S&P 500 |
+6.21 | 1110.70 |
| Nasdaq | +3.90 | 1943.10 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Hardware
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.89%, Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.56%,
Drugs PPH|PPH] +1.25%, and Amex Gold Bugs
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.24%.
Weak today were Biotech
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.87%, Oil Services
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.86% and
Networking
(
NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.79%.
Economic news releases today
included lower housing starts at 1.855 million and building permits that rose to
1.903 million.
10-year Notes were -195
at 116 100
The dollar
is -0.21 at 88.60
Gold is +2.89 at 402.02
Crude Oil is -0.06 at
36.68
Volume was 1,480,372,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,961,857,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1925 | Up Vol 1489 |
| Declining | 1357 | Down Vol 1627 |
| Ratio | 1.41 | 1.09 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 948 | Up Vol 1147 |
| Declining | 495 | Down Vol 767 |
| Ratio | 1.91 | 1.49 |
Stocks in the news:
Tenet Healthcare
(
THC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a
loss of $954 million for the fourth-quarter. This includes the previously
announced one-time charge of $1.4 billion to write down the sale of 27
hospitals. Revenue fell 9% to $3.49 billion vs. the same period a year ago.
CSFB downgraded the entire
defense sector: Companies such as Northrop Grumman
(
NOC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), General
Dynamics
(
GD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Lockheed
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are all lower today.
General Mills
(
GIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted
earnings of $242 million that included restructuring and closing costs of $3
million. Net sales rose to $2.7 billion from $2.65 billion a year ago. GIS
attributed the disappointing numbers to higher supply-chain costs and soft unit
volumes.
3M
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) raised its
earnings target for the first quarter to 86 cents from previous estimates of 80
cents and full-year earnings of $3.52 per share. 3M expects revenue to exceed
the 10% with strength in its industrial and graphic-based businesses.