Look Who’s Splitting Their Shares
Stocks were
up Monday, in the lightest full trading
day of the year on the NYSE. After last week’s dominance by Blue Chip issues,
the major indices are displaying a little role reversal. Banks, brokers and
insurance stocks, which were strong last week, were laggards today, and
technology was stronger.
Upgrades in Adobe Systems
(
ADBE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), as well as a favorable Barron’s article on Synopsys
(
SNPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
are helping to boost tech issues. Semiconductor
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are bouncing
back today after hitting a one-month low on Friday. No change in rates is
expected in tomorrow’s FOMC meeting. Bonds slid on speculation that the Fed will
be reporting accelerating economic growth and will have to increase interest
rates in the future. Soundview is hosting a semiconductor conference this week;
the SOX gained just over 2% today.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +24.44 at 9215.53. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is 3.00 at 980.59. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +17.48 at 1661.51.
The day’s leading sectors are
Disk Drives
(
$DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.61%,Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.83%, Semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.25%, Software
(
$GSO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.83%. and Biotechs
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.79%.
Weak today are Homebuilders
(
$HGX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.22%, Broker/Dealers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.48%,
Banks
(
$BKX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.26%,
and Utilities
(
$UTY.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.09%.
In a survey by the Blue Chip
Economic Indicators, economists expect the economy to grow at 3.7% in the
current quarter and 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Last month’s third-quarter
forecast was 3.6%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is -155 at 112 025.
The dollar is -0.45 at
95.91.
Gold is +4.30 at 362.30.
Crude Oil -0.20 at
32.01.
Volume was
997,387,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,165,567,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by 1.49, and up volume over
down volume by 1.77. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues at 1.67, and
up volume over down volume at 3.91.
Top Dow stocks are:
McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.13 at 23.76,
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.12 at 19.96, Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.03 at 32.69, Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.47 at 68.68, and
International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.52 at 39.40.
Stocks in the news:
Minnesota Mining
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is
splitting its shares 2:1; the stock made an all-time high today, closing at
141.90. Martha Stewart Living
(
MSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded down after posting an 86%
drop in 2nd quarter profits.
Software maker Adobe Systems
(
ADBE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose after U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray upgraded the
stock from “outperform” to “strong buy”. The firm based the upgrade on positive
industry data, expectations for a strong August quarter, and evidence of new
products within the next four months. Piper Jaffray also set a $40 price
target.
InterActiveCorp
(
IACI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell slightly after a New York Times article claimed
that the company’s two travel sites Expedia
(
EXPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Hotels.com inflated
profits. The Times article alleged that the company inflated results by
putting the “best spin” and by making them “maddeningly complex”. In addition,
the article questioned the company’s tax accounting. Barry Diller responded by
saying that the article contained “numerous inaccuracies.”
The former head energy trader
for financial services giant Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is being
investigated by the US and Canadian authorities for allegedly embezzling $43
million from Merrill Lynch in 2000. According to the US Justice Department,
Daniel Gordon, disguised the theft as an energy trade and sent the money to a
Caribbean-based shell company.
Insurance and financial
services giant Metlife
(
MET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell after the company
restated its second-quarter results. Due to improperly deferred expenses, the
company earned 79 cents a share compared to its previously reported 84 cents a
share.
Enterprise software maker
Oracle Systems
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose after Merrill Lynch upgraded
the stock from “Neutral” to “Buy”. Merrill based the upgrade on the stock’s
limited downside potential. They also believe that the company is in a position
to benefit from a gradual economic recovery.
Food service giant Sysco
(
SYY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was higher after the company reported better-than-expected
fourth-quarter results. The company reported earnings of 37 cents a share, up
from 31 cents a share during the year ago quarter. Analysts had expected the
company to earn 35 cents a share.
If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.
vincentm@tradingmarkets.com