Here’s What’s Pulling Stocks Higher
Bulls
are on the march this Monday as the major indexes are trading nicely
higher midday. Price action has moved straight up off the opening bell, with a
pullback occurring at 11 am ET. Dow component McDonalds is the Dow’s top gainer
after beating its earnings estimates by a penny. We are seeing strong
participation in the rally from networking, and from the semiconductors as
Applied Materials shakes off a downgrade. Volume is extremely light.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) is +1.71% at 8,448.09. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating)
is +1.58% at 912.97. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating) is +1.60% at 1,457.46.
The day’s leaders are in
airlines
(
$XAL.X |
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PowerRating), +3.03%, airlines
(
$XAL.X |
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PowerRating), +2.57%,
insurance
(
$IUX.X |
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PowerRating), +2.37%, and computer hardware
(
$GHA.X |
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PowerRating),
+2.11%.
Weak today are oil service
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), -0.98%, and gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
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PowerRating), -0.38%.
In economic news, personal
income came in at an expected 0.4%, and personal spending came in at
0.4% vs. estimates of 0.6%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -025 at 114 245.
The dollar is +0.23 at
98.85.
Gold is +1.40 at 334.80.
Crude Oil -0.66 at
25.60.
Volume is at 609,556,000
on the NYSE, and at 777,646,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 6.33, and up
volume over down volume by a 2.85 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 3.63, and up volume over down volume is at a 1.77 ratio.
Top Dow stocks are:
McDonalds
(
MCD |
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Chart |
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PowerRating),
+5.57% at 16.69, AT&T
(
T |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +4.04% at 17.00, SBC Communications
(
SBC |
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Chart |
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PowerRating),
+3.80% at 22.96, Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +2.79% at 18.79, Coca-Cola
(
KO |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +2.54% at 40.42, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
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PowerRating), +2.47% at 28.65, and
Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +2.32% at 40.42.
Stocks in the news:
Fast Food giant McDonalds
(
MCD |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +5.57% at 16.69, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with
profits of $0.29 per share.
Personal and household product
maker Procter and Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.67% at 90.63, has reported
third-quarter earnings in line with expectations with profits of $0.96 per
share.
Aerospace and defense company
Boeing
(
BA |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), -0.07% at 27.17, has been downgraded by JP Morgan to
“underweight” from “neutral”.
Conglomerate General
Electric
(
GE |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.27% at 29.48, is the focus of a Wall Street Journal
article which claims the company may face continued exposure to asbestos claims.
Drug maker Shire
Pharmaceuticals
(
SHPGY |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -15.79% at 17.01, and Noven
Pharmaceuticals
(
NOVN |
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PowerRating), -37.16% at 9.08, have been denied FDA approval
for Methylphenidate Transdermal Sys.
Chip maker Applied Materials
(
AMT |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +1.73% at 14.44, has been downgraded by First Albany to “underperform”
from “neutral”.
Also in the drug biz,
Weyerhaeuser Co.
(
WY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.36% at 49.99, has been downgraded by JP Morgan
to “underweight” from “neutral”.
Business services company
Manpower
(
MAN |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +3.01% at 30.81, has been upgraded by UBS Warburg to
“buy” from “neutral”.
Food distributor Sysco Corp.
(
SYY |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +3.15% at 28.50, missed its third-quarter earnings by $0.01 with
profits of $0.26 per share.
Creator and manufacturer of
fragrance products, Â International Flavors
(
IFF |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.76% at 32.44,
missed its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of $0.48 per share.
Electric utilities company
Entergy
(
ETR |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.17% at 47.99, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.07
with profits of $1.12 per share.
Off shore oil driller
Pride International
(
PDE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.50% at 15.70, has been upgraded by Goldman
Sachs to “outperform” from “in line”.
Household product retailer
Bed Bath and Beyond
(
BBBY |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.81% at 38.98, was mentioned in
Barron’s over the weekend as a top growth stock pick by William Blair.