Does This Mixed Bag Hold Any Surprises?
The
markets have made a nice move higher, as the three major indexes have
taken out yesterday’s highs. The Nasdaq has once again regained its 200-day
moving average, with technology establishing leadership. Retail stocks are
grabbing headlines, as December same-store sales have come in with mixed
results. The retail sector
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.56%, is holding ground in
positive territory.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -1.17% at 8,638.57 The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is
-0.95% at 914.18. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -1.83% at 1,405.41.
Leading to the upside are
networking
(
$GIP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.12%, telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.55%,
and computer hardware
(
$GHA.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.43%.
The day’s laggards are gold
and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.28%, and utilities
(
$UTY.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.72%.
In economic news, initial
claims came in at 389,000 vs. expectations of 392,000, and wholesale
inventories came in at an expected 0.2%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -1045 at 112 220.
The Dollar is +0.04 at
102.28.
Gold is -1.20 at 353.10.
Crude Oil is +0.84 at
31.40.
Volume is at 752,798,000
on the NYSE, and at 934,647,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.24, and up
volume over down volume by a 4.60 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 2.24, and up volume over down volume is at a 8.53 ratio.
Leading the Dow are:
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.56% at 20.39, Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.39% at 17.25, Walt Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.49% at 18.12, Microsoft Corp.
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.69% at 55.69,
International Business Machines
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.63% at 86.40, and
International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.12% at 36.18.
Stocks in the news:
Entertainment giant AOL Time
Warner
(
AOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.07% at 13.89, was reported by the Washington
Post that it will take a $10 billion charge due to its deteriorating America
Online division.
Auto maker General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.09% at 39.01, rallied after the company said it will beat earnings
forecasts with profits of $5 per share, which will neutralize the company’s
pension fund liabilities. Competitor Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), climbed +2.60% to 10.27.
Electronic retailer Best Buy
(
BBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +10.90% t 27.06, raised its fourth-quarter earnings outlook to
$1.05-1.10 per share vs. a consensus of $1.03.
Retail giant Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.82% at 51.40, said its December sales rose 9.5% to $31.6 billion, while its
same-store sales rose 2.3%.
Also in the retail sector,
Michaels Stores
(
MIK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +12.14% at 36.50, was upgraded by Merrill Lynch
to “buy” from “neutral,” and Ross Stores
(
ROST |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.52% at 45.93,
raised its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter to $0.74 per share vs. a
consensus of $0.72 per share. Federated Department Stores
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.35%
at 30.48, reported their same-store sales fell 2.6% for December, which was
slightly ahead of expectations.
Elsewhere in the retail sector,
Talbots
(
TLB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.41% at 27.31, reduced its fourth-quarter outlook to
$0.42-0.47 per share from previous guidance of $0.48-0.53, Limited Too
(
TOO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-8.67% at 18.85, issued an earnings warning for the fourth-quarter with profits
expected to be $0.72-0.74 per share vs. a consensus of $0.87. and Abercrombie
(
ANF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +13.71% at 25.47, raised its fourth-quarter guidance to $0.86-$0.88
per share vs. previous guidance of $0.79.
In the pharmaceutical business,
Shire Pharmaceuticals
(
SHPGY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.51% at 17.33, was downgraded by
Merrill Lynch to “neutral” from “buy.”
Cruise line company Royal
Caribbean
(
RCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.55% at 17.12, sold off after Merrill Lynch
downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy.”
Business services company
Accenture Ltd.
(
ACN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.56% at 18.31, announced that their income for
the fiscal first-quarter increased 55%.
Beer brewer Anheuser-Busch
(
BUD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.58% at 50.08, rose after reporting record sales for 2002.
From TM’s Momentum List,
communications equipment maker ADTRAN Inc
(
ADTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.09% at 37.63,
and electronic instruments and controls company Benchmark Electronics
(
BHE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.04% at 33.97.