Lots Of Good News Here
The
markets turned north today, as low volume moved the major indexes
above their 50-day EMAs. An absence of significant news may have contributed to
much of the day’s choppiness, with price action drifting higher throughout the
session. December is notorious for lower volume, and also when the widely
expected “Santa Claus Rally” comes to town. Not all are bullish
though, as Gary
Kaltbaum lays it out for us in his most recent column.
Dow
Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.19%
at 8,574.26. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed
+1.39%
at 904.41. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.70%
at 1,390.48.
The day’s big winners were Internet
(
$INX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +8.16%, semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.0%, and networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.43%.
The day’s biggest losses were
in gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.12%, biotechnology
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.40%, and REIT’s
(
DJR.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.37%.
In economic news, wholesale
inventories were down 0.3% vs. expectations of a 0.2% rise. Also, an
announcement from the Fed produced the widely expected “unchanged”
rate for overnight lending.
The 10-year U.S. Note
was +010 at 113 315.
The Dollar was +0.13 at
105.40.
Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,227,854,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,468,524,000.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.16, and up
volume over down volume by a 3.49 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.54, and up volume beat down volume by a 4.25 ratio.
The
VIX
was -2.80 at 31.67. The TRIN
was -1.70 at 0.62.
Leading the Dow higher:
Home Depot HD|HD], +4.46% at 26.90, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.82% at 24.15, Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.60% at 18.68, Coca
Cola
(
KO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.10% at 46.50, Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.54% at
18.13, and Phillip Morris
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.37% at 41.01.
Stocks in the news:
In the satellite communications
business, Echostar Communications
(
DISH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +10.70% at 21.09, and Hughes
Electronics
(
GMH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.21% at 11.05, have both agreed to terminate their
proposed merger.
Mobile phone giant Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.27% at 17.43, lowered its sales forecasts for the fourth-quarter,
as network equipment revenues continue to slump.
Drug stocks are in the news, as
Abbott Labs
(
ABT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.56% at 40.58, has been downgraded by Morgan
Stanley to “equal-weight” from “overweight”. Bar Labs
(
BRL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.73% at 66.16, is likely to benefit from an upgrade by Salomon
Smith Barney to the specialty pharmaceutical who now rates it a “market
weight” from a previous “underweight.“
Forest Labs
(
FRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.01% at 93.11, has announced positive Phase III
results for its Alzeimer therapy. Also, Johnson & Johnson
(
JNJ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.53% at 55.86, has announced positive results for its drug Risperdal, used to
treat people diagnosed as bipolar.
Defense contractor Northrop
Grumman
(
NOC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.33% at 96.62, has reached a deal with the Justice
Dept. that will allow it to acquire TRW Inc.
(
TRW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.78% at 51.81,
given the approval of shareholders from both companies.
Broadcasting and cable TV
company Emmis Communications
(
EMMS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.88% at 19.76, has been
downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “underweight” from
“equal-weight”.
Leaders in the semiconductor sector were Teradyne
(
TER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
7.72% at 13.95, Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.81% at 14.77, Advanced
Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +8.75% at 7.95, and National Semiconductor
(
NSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+7.21% at 17.08.