Here’s Why Retail Is In Focus
Stocks
are taking a breather today after yesterday’s strong showing. First
Call is reporting that 3Q pre-announcements for earnings are coming in less
negative than the same period a year ago. With 747 companies providing estimates
through Sept. 5, 30% are stating they will surpass expectations, 18% are on
target and 52% warned earnings could miss forecasts. This compares to the same
period last year when the respective estimates were 25%, 22% and 53%. With the
pre-announcements picture improving from last year, First Call says profits for
3Q could rise as much as 19%, compared to analysts’ projections of a 14.7% rise.
Retail is weaker after Goldman
Sachs lowered its view on several stocks. Opinions on Dow component Home
Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Federated
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and May Dept. Stores
(
MAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
were all lowered. One retailer, Nordstrom
(
JWN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), was given the thumbs
up by Goldman. Merrill Lynch disagrees, saying the retail group should continue
to be strong. Gold is strong, with the December contract trading up to $384. The
dollar is making a three week low against the euro.
Wachovia upped its rating on JDS Uniphase
(
JDSU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to outperform from market perform. Research In Motion
(
RIMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
has gained 23% on the heels of better-than-expected 2Q earnings yesterday.
Xilinx
(
XLNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was boosted by JP Morgan, to overweight from neutral.
Sun Microsystems
(
SUNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slid on the news that co-founder Bill Joy
is leaving the company after 21 years.
Today’s Market
Indices:
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), 9560.39 -25.90
The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
1027.41 -4.27
The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
1884.22 -4.40
NYSE Advancing
Issues 1,299
NYSE Declining
Issues 1801
NYSE Trading
Volume 713 mln
NASDAQ Advancing
Issues 1,380
NASDAQ Declining
Issues 1,646
NASDAQ Trading
Volume 1255 mln
Today’s Leading
Sectors:
Golf and Silver Sector
Index
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.35%
Computer Hardware Index
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.78%
CBOE Internet Index
(
$INX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.68%
Securities Broker Dealer
Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +.60%
Computer Boxmaker Index
(
$BMX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+.53%.
Today’s Weak
Sectors:
S&P Retail Index
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.44%
Airline Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.37%
Oil Service Sector Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.83%
Economic News:
Economic news is light on the
calendar today. At 10 a.m. EDT, wholesale inventories for July will be reported.
According to a survey by Bloomberg, inventories are expected to rise 0.1%.
Key Futures:
The 10-year U.S. Note:
-100 at 110 155
The dollar: -0.99 at
96.33
Gold: +7.2 at 383.4
Crude Oil +.22 at
29.07
Dow Stocks:
AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.16% at 22.11
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +.76% at 5.01
Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -.68% at
28.99
Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -42% at 44.35
Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.21% at
28.48
If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.
vincentm@tradingmarkets.com