Here Are Today’s Biggest Movers Off Earnings News
The
major averages are modestly higher midday as a flurry of earnings
announcements turns up mostly positive news. Leading the action are insurance
stocks, which are reacting positively to Everest Re’s beating its earnings and
raising guidance for the rest of 2003 and 2004. Broker dealers are near the
unchanged levels after Charles Schwab met its earnings, and semiconductors are
slightly higher as they trade just above their 200-day EMA. Drug stocks are also
performing well as earnings from Eli Lilly and Pfizer have helped Dow component
Merck to another day of impressive gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.54% at 8,374.07. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is +1.04% at 901.28. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.77% at 1,435.36.
Leading today are insurance
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.29%, networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.11%, and
forest and paper
(
$FPP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.58%.
In the losers column are
airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating), -0.71%, and gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.36%.
There are no economic releases
for the day.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is +055 at 114 060.
The dollar is -0.88 at
99.02.
Gold is +0.40 at 333.90.
Crude Oil -0.40 at
30.47.
Volume is at 720,820,000
on the NYSE, and at 717,277,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.03, and up
volume over down volume by a 2.97 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 1.51, and up volume over down volume is at a 5.72 ratio.
Biggest Dow gainers are:
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.37% at 58.88, Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.99% at 27.58, Hewlett Pakard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.34% at 15.76, American Express
(
AXP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.11% at 37.49, General
Motors
(
GM |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.96% at 36.44, International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.80%
at 34.45, and General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.78% at 28.66.Â
Stocks in the news:
Key drug stocks have reported
earnings this morning with Eli Lilly
(
LLY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.50% at 61.01, beating
expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.61, Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.51% at
31.76, beating by $0.01 with profits of $0.45 per share, and Schering-Plough
(
SGP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.39% at 17.56, is also scheduled to announce today.
Also in the drug sector, Drug
maker Forest Labs
(
FRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.70% at 49.73, has missed its
fourth-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of $0.48 per share.
Shipping company United
Parcel Service
(
UPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.94% at 59.57, has beat its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.54 per share. The company has
also guided higher for the second-quarter.
Aerospace and defense company
Lockheed Martin
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.34% at 48.12, has beat its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.13 with profits of $0.55 per share. And Raytheon
(
RTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.29% at 29.49, beat by $0.01 with profits of $0.27 per share.
Also in the aerospace and
defense sector, FLIR Systems
(
FLIR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.64% at 47.29, has lowered
its full year earnings outlook after meeting its first-quarter expectations.
In the financial sector,
Charles Schwab Co.
(
SCH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.81% at 8.70, reported in line with
expectations with a profit of $0.05 per share.
Casino and gaming stocks turned
in positive earnings results with International Game Tech
(
IGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.56% at 83.70, beating by $0.09 with profits of $1.07 per share, Harrah’s
(
HET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.75% at 37.59, beating by $0.07 with profits of $0.74 per share,
and Argosy Gaming
(
AGY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.55% at 20.00, beating by $0.03 with
profits of $0.50 per share.
Conglomerate 3M Co.
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.35% at 128.08, has been downgraded by CSFB to “neutral” from “outperform”.
Video retailer Blockbuster
Entertainment
(
BBI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.03% at 17.58, has beat its first-quarter
earnings by $0.08 with profits of $0.47 per share.
Apparel and accessories maker
Coach
(
COH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +8.78% at 41.88, has beat its third-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.05 with profits of $0.34 per share. The company has also
guided higher for the fourth-quarter.
In the oil and gas sector
Occidental Petro
(
OXY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.20% at 30.54, has missed its first-quarter
earnings by $0.07 with profits of $1.03 per share, Valero Energy
(
VLO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.58% at 37.61, has beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.18 with profits of
$1.51 per share, and Royal Dutch
(
RD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.56% at 43.46, has been
downgraded by Prudential to “hold” from “buy”.
Healthcare facilities company
LifePoint Hospitals
(
LPNT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.52% at 20.55, has been downgraded by
Lehman Brothers to “underweight” from “equal-weight”.