FDA Warning At The Close
Stocks are
mixed Wednesday in one of the slowest sessions of the year.
Semiconductor issues helped to boost the Nasdaq higher after Bear Stearns upgraded
Fairchild Semiconductors
(
FCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) from “peer perform” to “outperform.” National
Semiconductor
(
NSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) saw its rating lifted by Lehman Brothers. The
semiconductor index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed at its highs of the day, and at a
16-month high. The Nasdaq also made a 16-month high. Volume was light in front
of Monday’s Labor Day holiday. Bonds are lower today and dollar is slightly higher.
The State of Oklahoma file criminal charges against MCI and former CEO Bernard
Ebbers.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 6.66 to 9333.79. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
added 0.06 to 996.79. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 1.49 to 1782.14.
The day’s leading sectors were
REITs
(
$DJR.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.46%, Gold Bugs
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.11%, Gold & Silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.30%, Networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.75%, Semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.95% and
Weak today were Oil
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.46%, Insurance
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), –0.36%, Banks
(
$BKX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.29%, Utilities
(
$HCX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),-0.23%, and Chemicals
(
$CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.20%.
No economic news for today.
Tomorrow we will have Chain Deflator, Initial Jobless Claims, GDP, and the
Help-Wanted Index.
The 10-year U.S. Note
was -130 at 110 235.
The dollar was +0.10 at
98.86.
Gold was +9.40 at 373Â Â Â
Crude Oil was -0.67 at
31.28.
Volume was
1,055,246,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,335,792,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by 1.67, and up over down
volume by 1.71. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues at 1.65, and up
volume over down volume at 3.17.
Top Dow stocks were:
Altria Group
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.33 at 40.28, ExxonMobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.42 at 37.25, McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.26 at 22.56, Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.61 at 70.17, and
Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.19 at 27.97.
Stocks in the news:
After the close, Chico’s FAS
(
CHS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02; Tech Data
(
TECD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.03; LTX
Corp.
(
LTXX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02; and Coldwater Creek
(
CWTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat
by 0.05, and Micros
(
MCRS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by.0.02. The FDA warned
Genentech
(
DNA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) about misleading advertising about their growth hormone
Nutropin.
Altria Group’s
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) board approved raising its quarterly dividend
from 64 cents to 68 cents a share.
Retailer Dollar Tree Stores
(
DLTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained almost 4% after the company reported second-quarter
results that were better than analysts’ estimates. The discount store operator
reported earnings of 25 cents a share compared to 21 cents a share in the
year-ago quarter. The results beat expectations by a penny. Revenues jumped 22%
to $626 million. Dollar Tree also upped their full-year sales growth target to
19% from 15%.
French drug maker Flamel
Technologies
(
FLML |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 26% after the company
announced that they have entered into a deal with Bristol-Myers Squibb
(
BMY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
The companies have entered into an agreement to develop a controlled-release
insulin for patients with adult-onset or juvenile diabetes. Under the deal,
Bristol-Myers will assume development and manufacturing costs as well as hold
worldwide rights. Flamel will receive $20 million up front and $145 million in
milestone payments. Flamel will also receive royalties.
Tax preparation and financial
services provider H&R Block
(
HRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher by 4.5% after the company
surprisingly posted a first-quarter profit. Thanks to solid results from its
mortgage business, the company reported first-quarter earnings of 6 cents a
share compared to a loss of 5 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. H&R Block
has not posted a first-quarter profit since 1995.
National Semiconductor
(
NSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 6% after Lehman Brothers upgraded the stock from “under weight”
to “equal weight”. The firm based the upgrade on the company’s improving
margins, a “reasonable” valuation, and a general industry recovery.
Semiconductor maker Semtech
(
SMTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded higher by 17%. The company reported second-quarter
earnings of 3 cents a share or 9 cents a share excluding items. Analysts were
expecting 9 cents a share. Looking ahead, the company is forecasting earnings of
11 cents a share for the third quarter.
Corinthian Colleges
(
COCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported fourth-quarter results that topped analysts’
expectations. The for-profit education provider reported earnings of 39 cents a
share compared to 27 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts were
looking for the firm to earn 37 cents. Revenues jumped 47% to $138.9 million.
Looking ahead, the company provided first-quarter and full-year estimates in
line with analysts’ estimates.
If you have any comments or questions, please
feel free to email me.
vincentm@tradingmarkets.com