A Good Sign In Front Of A Big Report
The
markets were mostly down on another round of selling pressure, though
a late session rally lifted the Naz into a just barely positive close. The Dow
and S&P 500 dropped below their two week trading ranges for new three-month
lows. The Nasdaq also hit a new three-month low, with the bellwether
Semiconductor Index remaining within a five-session range. Tomorrow we’ll get a
fresh batch of employment data, an event many traders think twice about stepping
in front of, though today’s afternoon rally was a sign of confidence as it’s
often the smart money that finishes the day.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed -0.69%
at 7929.30. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed
-0.64%
at 838.16. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +0.01%
at 1,301.73.
Topping the gainers list were Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.19%, airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.12%, telecoms
(
$IXTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.06%, and transportation
(
$TRAN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.79%.
Leading to the downside were insurance
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.60%, healthcare providers
(
$RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.78%, oil
(
$OIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.62%, and broker/dealers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.42%.
In economic news was
disappointing today as initial jobless claims came in at 391K vs.
expectations of 380K, and productivity preliminary number came in at
-0.2% at 0.7%.
The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was +135 at 114 110.
The U.S. Dollar
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was -0.21 at 99.69.
Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,369,407,000
and the Nasdaq at 1,220,000,000.
Market breadth was negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.76, and down
volume over up volume by a 2.55 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came in at 1.45, and down volume beat up volume by a 1.04 ratio.
The
VIX
was +1.68 at 38.52. The TRIN
was -0.13 at 1.44.
Leading the Dow down were:
AT&T Corp.
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.94% at 17.82, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.74% at 22.31, McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.70% at 13.68, American
Express
(
AXP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.56% at 33.76, Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.27%
at 30.55, and Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.91% at 19.46.
Stocks in the news:
Trucking companies Roadway
(
ROAD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.61% at 35.50, and Yellow
(
YELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.61% at 24.35, rallied on the heels of a five-year agreement
reached with the Teamsters and other unions.Â
Software giant Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.97% at 47.42, announced that
it has reached an agreement with Nvidia over a price dispute relating to the
Xbox.
Media company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
(
MSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.19% at
8.90, was under pressure after federal prosecutors said they might have enough
evidence to build a criminal case against the CEO, Martha Stewart.
Telecom gear maker Ericsson
(
ERICY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+7.58% at 7.23, announced an new CEO in what hopes to be a new start for the
struggling company.
Retail stocks turned in same store sales today,
with Gap
(
GPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.67% at 15.53, easily toping analysts predictions
with a 16% increase from a year ago, Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.10% at 46.79,
posted a 2.3% rise from a year ago, and Kohl’s
(
KSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.20% at
52.89, reported a 5.5% boost.
Fuel cell stocks are fired up ahead of President
Bush’s 1:40 pm ET speech on energy independence, with Ballard Power
(
BLDP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.18% at 10.48, and Plug Power
(
PLUG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +8.95% at 5.23.
Oil company ConocoPhillips
(
COP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.13% at 48.85, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to “overweight” from
“neutral”.
Electric utilities company TXU Corp.
(
TXU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -7.46% at 16.70, has been downgraded by Morgan Stanley to
“equal-weight” from “overweight”.
Communications services company j2 Global
(
JCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.63% at 21.80, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations
by $0.03 with profits of $0.38 per share.
Online travel company Expedia
(
EXPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.29% at 63.36, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations
by $0.07 with profits of $0.48 per share. The company has also raised its
guidance for the year.
Testing equipment maker Agilent
(
A |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -24.87% at 12.26, has said it will likely take a first-quarter loss for
twice as much as initially anticipated, as customers are buying less.
Beverage giant PepsiCo’s
(
PEP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.09% at 40.22, posted profits inline with expectations at $0.50 per
share
Retailer Michaels Stores
(
MIK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -21.55% at 25.76, has warned that it expects to earn less for the
full year due to unusually cold weather. The company now estimates earnings per
share to come in between $2.05-$2.10 vs. previous expectations of $2.11.
Insurance company Allstate
(
ALL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.89% at 32.05, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings estimates by
$0.12 with profits of $0.89 per share.
Also in the insurance sector, Unumprovident
(
UNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -15.14% at 14.45, has been downgraded by CSFB to
“underperform” from “neutral”.
Biotechnology company Cephalon
(
CEPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.82% at 50.43, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to
“overweight” from “neutral”.
Healthcare facilities company Coventry
Health Care
(
CVH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.31% at 25.47, has been upgraded by Salomon Smith
Barney to “outperform” from “in-line”.
From TM’s Implosion List,
insurer American International Group
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.15% at 48.20.
danielb@tradingmarkets.com
Â