A Wild And Crazy Day…
Trading was wild and crazy today as a 50 basis point rate cut by the
Fed whipsawed the markets into what eventually became nice gains for the
indexes. The markets were also helped higher after a Republican victory in the
mid-term elections lifted sentiment. Price levels described by
Dave Landry as overbought, have now become more overbought. While many have
interpreted the Fed’s action as a sign of worry over the economy, the stock
market can be a leading indicator and has yet to yield to any news, good or
bad.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.06% at 8771.01. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed +0.91% at 923.76. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.27% at
1,418.97.
The biggest winners today were
in airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +12.16%, computer hardware
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.20%, Internet
(
$INX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.74%, oil service
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.10%, and healthcare
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.95%.
The big losses were in banks
(
$BIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.13%, and biotechnology
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.40%.
In economic news, the
Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point cut for the prime rate of
borrowing.
The 10-year U.S. Note
was +070 at 113 270.
The Dollar was -0.25 at
105.78.
Volume was above average,
at 1,590,595,000 on the NYSE, and
2,123,571,000 on
the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.02, and up
volume over down volume by a 2.85 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.72, and up volume beat down volume by a 3.75 ratio.
The
VIX was +0.20 at 34.48. The
TRIN was -0.11 at 0.71.
Leading the Dow higher were
Boeing Co.
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.53% at 33.58, General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.75%
at 36.56, Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.35% at 19.15, Merck Co.
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.32% at 56.00, United Tech
(
UTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.29% at 65.83, and
International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.57% at 36.69.
^next^
Stocks in the
news:
Drug maker Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-7.74% at 46.20, is being sued by the Israel Bio-Engineering Project for patent
infringement for its drug Enbrel. The company was also downgraded by UBS Warburg
to “hold” from “buy.”
Healthcare facilities company
Tenet Healthcare
(
THC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.22% at 26.28, rebounded from news that the
company disclosed a federal audit regarding its compliance to Medicare’s
regulations.
Financial services companies
Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.24% at 76.55, and JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.82% at 22.06, were notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it
has recommended civil suits against the firms for market manipulation of
initial public offerings.
Retailer Federated
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.36% at 30.37, was downgraded by UBS Warburg to “hold” from “buy.”
Insurance company MetLife
(
MET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.63% at 26.63, beat its third-quarter earnings estimates by $0.09
with profits of $0.69 per share.
Financial services company
Prudential
(
PRU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.26% at 30.71, beat its third-quarter earnings
estimates by $0.05 with profits of $0.54.
Semiconductor company
Marvell Technology
(
MRVL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.40% at 18.98, was downgraded by Merrill
Lynch to “neutral” from “buy” based on valuation.
Cable TV company Cablevision
(
CVC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +19.70% at 15.55, rose after receiving an upgrade from Salomon Smith
Barney to “outperform” from “in line.”
Entertainment company Fox
Entertainment Group
(
FOX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +8.23% at 27.98, rose after it announced a
fiscal first-quarter profit that easily beat expectations. SoundView Technology
also upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “neutral.”