Inflation Lacking; Stocks Launch
An inflation-tame Producer Price Index report has stocks jumping higher at
the open Friday, as traders consider whether the continuing lack of inflationary
pressure may signal that the Federal Reserve rate hikes may just about have run
their course.
The PPI came in flat, which was better than the 0.1% increase analysts
expected, while the core rate showed a 0.2% increase, which was higher than the
expected 0.1%.
The Nasdaq futures are up 80 points, and the Dow futures are up 65 points.
The S&Ps look to open up 9 points while the yield on the 10-year Treasury
note is up slightly to 6.13%.
This Morning
Online music distributor MP3
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PowerRating) announced that it has settled a
copyright infringement suit with Time Warner
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PowerRating) that will allow MP3 to
include some of Time Warner’s music in its database. MP3 closed Thursday at 17
1/4 and is trading up to 22 3/8 in pre-market activity.
SmartServe
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PowerRating) said it will partner with Hewlett Packard to build a
wireless services platform that will allow wireless trading access to the major
stock exchanges. SmartServe closed Thursday down 1 5/16 to 80 13/16 and is
trading at 87 1/16 in pre-market trading.
Biotech company Abgenix
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PowerRating) announced a 2-for-1 stock split that will
be distributed to shareholders on July 7. Abgenix closed Thursday at 112 and is
trading at 114 in pre-market activity.
Last Night
National Semiconductor
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PowerRating) posted fourth quarter earnings of 68 cents
per share, beating First Call/Thomson Financial estimates of 62 cents per share
and greatly improving upon the year-ago quarterly figure of 24 cents per share.
The company attributed the solid quarter to a surge in revenues, particularly
from wireless-related chip sales. National Semi closed Thursday up 1/4 to 64
3/8.
Shares of Navisite
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PowerRating), an Internet application hosting services
provider, posted narrower-than-expected losses of 29 cents per share, topping
the 39 cent per share losses that First Call/Thomson Financial expected.
Navisite closed Thursday at 54 1/8 and is trading at 54 in pre-market activity.