This Will Be Today’s Main Event
The
markets are slightly higher at mid-day, after a negative retail
report in the pre-market had stocks opening lower. The indexes are once again
showing strength by rejecting bad numbers, though it’s only halftime. The Dow
and S&P 500 remain range-bound between their 50-day and 200-day moving averages,
while the Nasdaq has established upside leadership above its major averages. The
day’s main event will be the release of Intel’s quarterly earnings announcement
after the bell. The stock has been trading mostly sideways for the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.18% at 8,801.42. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is +0.22% at 928.26. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is +0.64% at 1,455.32.
Leading to the upside are
networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.39%, telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.16%,
and semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.76%.
The day’s laggards are gold
and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.61%, airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.40%,
and oil service
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.16%.
In economic news, retail
sales rose 1.2% for December, just under the 1.5% the market expected.
Retail sales (ex-auto) were unchanged vs. an expected 0.3% rise. Also,
export prices (ex-ag) came in at 0.1%, and import prices (ex-oil)
were at 0.1%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is +105 at 112 270.
The Dollar is -0.19 at
101.64.
Gold is -2.00 at 353.10.
Crude Oil is +0.17
32.43.
Volume is at 641,806,000
on the NYSE, and at 771,850,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.00, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.32 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 1.11, and up volume over down volume is at a 2.20 ratio.
Top Dow gainers are:
SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.01% at 29.34, Citibank
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.73% at 37.68, AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.51% at 27.54, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.21% at 27.61, Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.14% at 22.21, and Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.09% at 17.57.
Stocks in the news:
French telecom company
Alcatel
(
ALA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has its sector nicely in the green this morning as the
company said it expects fourth-quarter numbers to come in ahead of expectations.
In the pharmaceutical sector,
 Abbott Labs
(
ABT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +23.50% at 7.20, has
been downgraded by JP Morgan to “neutral” from “overweight.” Also in the sector,
Shire Pharmaceuticals
(
SHPGY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.30% at 17.77, has been upgraded
by UBS Warburg to “buy” from “hold.” And, Barr Labs
(
BRL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.66% at 76.79, has raised its earnings guidance to $0.92-$0.94 vs.
previous estimates of $0.82-0.87.
Also in the drug making business,
Genzyme
(
GENZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.10% at 33.19, rallied after an FDA panel had
positive comments on its therapy for the Fabry disease.
In the semiconductor sector,
Varian Semiconductor
(
VSEA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.24% at 29.51, has raised its
first-quarter guidance to $0.06-0.09 earnings per share vs. previous guidance of
a break-even performance. Rambus
(
RMBS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.38% at 8.60, beat its
first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01. And, National Semiconductor
(
NSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.80% at 16.96, has been added to Salomon Smith Barney’s
“recommended list.”
Retail giant Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.52% at 51.01, announced that it is considering making a cash offer for the
supermarket company Safeway
(
SFY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Education company Corinthian
Colleges
(
COCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.58% at 36.90, has been upgraded to “overweight”
from “neutral.”
Energy company Duke Energy
(
DUK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.96% at 17.70, has been downgraded by Deutsche Bank to “sell” from
“hold.”
Food processing company Sara
Lee
(
SLE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.44% at 21.92, has been downgraded by Solomon Smith Barney
to “underperform” from “in-line.”
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