This 10-Month Low Is Sending Us A Message
Gains
were made for the day as the major indexes trended higher off the
opening bell and closed the session just off its highs. The buying was
broad-based, with no stocks on the Dow closing negative. The day’s leadership
came from a mixture of tech, chemicals, and insurance, and the losers’ column
was led by oil service stocks reacting to lower oil prices. Standing out today,
the volatility index,
VIX, hit another 10-month low suggesting even more complacency for current
prices. Volume came in below average, while news headlines were on the quiet
side.
The Dow Jones
Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.98%
at 8,471.61. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.78% at 914.84. The
Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed +1.93% at 1,462.24.
The day’s top gainers were in
airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.65%, networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.18%, chemicals
(
$CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.54%, and telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.53%.
Down today were oil service
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.05%, and REITs
(
DJR.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.10%, and gold
and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.03%.
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 Ten Year Note was
-030 at 114 240.
The US dollar was +0.30
at 98.92.
Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,244,241,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,448,348,000.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 3.06, and up
volume over down volume by a 6.84 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 2.01, and up volume beat down volume by a 4.10 ratio.
The
VIX was -0.85 at 23.05. The
TRIN was -1.59 at 0.44.
Strongest in the Dow were:
McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+7.08% at 16.93, SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.20% at 23.05, AT&T
Corp.
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.73% at 16.95, 3M Co.
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.17% at 126.80,
JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.04% at 28.81, and Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.57% at 18.75.
Stocks in the news:
Insurer SAFECO Corp.
(
SAFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.98% at 37.82,
announced earnings $0.04 ahead of expectations with profits of $0.65 per share.
Fast Food giant McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.08% at 16.93, 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), +1.73% at 90.69, reported third-quarter
earnings in line with expectations with profits of $0.96 per share.
Aerospace and defense company
Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.69% at 27.38, was downgraded by JP Morgan to
“underweight” from “neutral”.
Conglomerate General
Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.40 at 29.52, was the focus of a Wall Street Journal
article which claims the company may face continued exposure to asbestos claims.
Drug maker Shire
Pharmaceuticals
(
SHPGY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.64% at 19.06, and Noven Pharmaceuticals
(
NOVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -37.92% at 8.97, have been denied FDA approval for
Methylphenidate Transdermal Sys.
Chip maker Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.90% at 14.46, was downgraded by First Albany to “underperform”
from “neutral”.
Also in the drug biz,
Weyerhaeuser Co.
(
WY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.34% at 50.00, was downgraded by JP Morgan to
“underweight” from “neutral”.
Business services company
Manpower
(
MAN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.51% at 31.56, was upgraded by UBS Warburg to “buy”
from “neutral”.
Food distributor Sysco Corp.
(
SYY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.64% at 28.36, 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 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.75% at 32.77,
missed its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of $0.48 per share.
Electric utilities company
Entergy
(
ETR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.26% at 47.47, 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), +3.23% at 15.66, was upgraded by Goldman Sachs
to “outperform” from “in line”.
Household product retailer
Bed Bath and Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.97% at 39.05, was mentioned in
Barron’s over the weekend as a top growth stock pick by William Blair.
TM’s Momentum
List, Internet company United Online
(
UNTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.96% at 20.96,
biotech firm Hi-Tech Pharmaceutical
(
HITK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.39% at 34.44, and and
also in the Internet biz, Netease.com
(
NTES |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.33% at 20.22.