This Will Be A Good Sign For The Overall Market
The
major averages are slightly higher midday after mixed earnings
reports from key Dow companies had prices open slightly lower. IBM helped to rev
up tech stocks after announcing better-than-expected revenue results, and
General Motors is under water after giving a cautious tone to its full-year
outlook. Chip stocks are also on the move after Novellus issued a profit warning
for the year. After a lower open, the Semiconductor Index is in positive
territory as it shrugs the news. A positive close for the semis today will be a
good sign for the overall market as it shows a willingness for the market to
look past a negative.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.19% at 8,366.79. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.34% at 888.23. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.31%
at 1,389.30.
Leading today are airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.64%, transportation
(
$TRAN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.17%,
Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.79%, and banks
(
BKX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.46%.
Weakest today are healthcare
providers
(
$RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.51%, oil service
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.41%, and telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.34%.
In economic news, industrial
production fell 0.5% vs. expectations of a 0.2% decline, and capacity
utilization came in at 74.8% vs. a consensus of 75.3%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is +060 at 113 310.
The dollar is -0.18 at
100.37.
Gold is -0.13 at 100.18.
Crude Oil +1.26 at
29.02.
Volume is at 672,050,000
on the NYSE, and at 662,689,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.43, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.73 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 1.01, and up volume over down volume is at a 1.85 ratio.
Biggest Dow gainers are:
Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
3.08% at 32.45, International Business Machines
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.88%
at 82.38, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.30% at 27.15, Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.47% at 26.94, Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.54% at 39.02, and
Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.20% at 54.82%.
Stocks in the news:
In the chip sector, Novellus
(
NVLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.94% at 26.82, beat is first-quarter estimates by $0.01, though
expects its second-quarter to be down from the first. The stock has also been
downgraded by Goldman Sachs to “in-line” from “outperform”.
Car maker General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.19% at 35.33, has beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.30 with profits of
$1.84 per share, though warned that it is uncertain whether or not it will meet
is targets for the year.
Computer hardware giant International
Business Machines
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.88% at 82.38 has missed its first-quarter
earnings by $0.01 with profits of $0.79 per share, though revenue beat
expectations at $20.07 billion vs. a consensus of $19.86 billion.
Tobacco company Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.08% at 32.45,, rallied on news that it will not have to pay a $12 billion
bond after an Illinois judge reversed an earlier decision.
Also in the computer hardware business,
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.58% at 15.48 was downgraded to “neutral” from
“buy”.
Drug maker Johnson and Johnson
(
JNJ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.74% at 56.38, has beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with
profits of $0.69 per share.
Also in the drug making business,
GlaxoSmithKline
(
GSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.46% at 38.53, has announced positive results
for its drug Lamictal used to treat bipolar patients.
Aerospace and defense company Boeing Co.
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.43% at 26.86 has had coverage initiated on it by Goldman
Sachs at “underperform”.
Broadcasting and cable TV company Emmis
Communication Corp.
(
EMMS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.76% at 19.06, has beat its
fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.04 with profits of $0.14 per share.
Technical instrument company Cognex Corp.
(
CGNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +13.58% at 21.41, has been upgraded by Needham to “buy”
from “hold”.
Healthcare facilities company HCA Inc.
(
HCA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -19.85% at 28.91, has issued an earnings warning for the
first-quarter, and now expects to see $0.81-0.83 per share vs. a consensus of
$0.88.
Fabricated product maker Parker-Hannifin
(
PH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.36% at 39.06, has missed its third-quarter earnings by $0.01 with
profits of $0.46 per share.
Bank US Bancorp
(
USB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.02% at
20.94, has been upgraded by UBS Warburg to “buy” from “neutral”.
Oil company Royal Dutch
(
RD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.05% at 42.69, has had coverage initiated on it by Bank of America Securities
at “buy”.
Insurance company MGIC Investment
(
MTG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.70% at 43.46, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.06 with
profits of $1.42 per share.
From TM’s Momentum List,
biotech firm Market Biosciences Corp.
(
MATK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +5.22% at 30.82.