S&P, Nasdaq Close At 4 1/2 Year Highs
Stocks rallied on Friday, with both
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at 4 1/2 year highs. The market
liked the fact that oil prices closed at a 5-month low and the Dow was boosted
by gains in recent laggard, General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6% on the day.
After the close, Amazon.com
(
AMZN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) joined the
S&P 500 and UPS
(
UPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) joined the S&P 100.
Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02, ex-items. Revenue was
$7.73 billion, slightly less than expected.
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q4 of 0.51 GAAP earnings, beating
by 0.04 and beat on revenues at $22.9 billion. Net income fell63% from a year
ago, however. The company also guided higher. (story)
HPQ is the best performing Dow component this year.
General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) raised its 2006 guidance,
raised its dividend and increased its stock buyback plan. (story)
Strong sectors were:
Semis
(
SOX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.50% Biotech
(
BTK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.12% Telecom
(
XTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.10%
Weak sectors were:
Software
(
GSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.27 Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.96% Gold
(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.69%
|
|
+46.11 | 10,766.33 |
| +6.61 | 2227.07 | |
| 5.47 | 1248.27 |
More stocks on the move:
Starbucks
(
SBUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by a
penny and guided in-line. (story)
H&R Block
(
HRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.08 and lowered
guidance. (story)
Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is buying Scientific Atlanta
(
SFA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for $6.9 billion, or $43/shares
Ann Taylor
(
ANN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.05. (story)
Men’s Wearhouse
(
MW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided lower.
Brice Wightman
Be sure and vote in the
13th Annual Stocks
& Commodities 2006 Readers’ Choice Awards