Why Shaking Off Bad News Is Positive
The
markets are nicely higher for the second day in a row, as traders
ignored a worse-than-expected consumer sentiment report, and pushed prices
higher. Shaking off the bad news is a positive sign for the bulls, as it
increases the likelihood of a bottom being put in.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) is +2.68% at 7482.28. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating)
is +2.78% at 798.37. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating) is +3.85% at 1157.06.
The biggest advancers are in
semiconductors, airlines, broker/dealers, and software.
There are no losing sectors.
U.S. Treasury Bonds are
-‘110 at 112 ’14.
The Dollar is +2 at
107.62.
In economic news, The
Michigan Sentiment report gave a reading of 80.4, where the market expected
an 85.2. Retail sales fell 1.2% vs. an expected loss of 0.1%. Also PPI
came in at 0.1% as expected, and core PPI was 0.1% as expected.
Leading the Dow higher,
International Business Machines
(
IBM |
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PowerRating), +9.60% at 63.11, has been
upgraded by Lehman Brothers to “overweight” from “equal weight”. JP Morgan
(
JPM |
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PowerRating), +9.09% at 17.40, SBC Communications
(
SBC |
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PowerRating), +6.44% at
22.62, Alcoa
(
AA |
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PowerRating), +6.27% at 19.82, American Express
(
AXP |
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PowerRating),
+6.10% at 31.09.
And, General Electric
(
GE |
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PowerRating),
+6.06% at 23.97, has beat its earnings consensus by a penny, with profits of
$0.41.
Stocks in the news:Â Â Â
Office supply company
International Paper
(
IP |
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PowerRating), +5.53% at 63.11, has been downgraded by Lehman
Brothers to “underweight” from “equal weight”.
Regional bank Doral
Financial
(
DORL |
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PowerRating), +2.82% at 26.37, beat its third-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.07 with profits of $0.74 per share.
Self-service coin counting
company Coinstar
(
CSTR |
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PowerRating), +2.51% at 27.03, increased its revenue
guidance to $41 million vs. previous guidance of between $39 million and $41
million.
Defense stock Lockheed
Martin
(
LNT |
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PowerRating), +1.59% at 62.47, was upgraded by CSFB to “outperform” from
“neutral” . Also from the sector, L-3 Communications
(
LLL |
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PowerRating), +1.07$%
at 47.51, and General Dynamics
(
GD |
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PowerRating), 2.35% at 79.86.
Telecom stock Lucent
Technologies
(
LU |
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PowerRating), +1.42% at 0.71, announced a restructuring program that
will eliminate 10,000 jobs, and said that it expects a larger than expected loss
for the fourth-quarter. The company said it expects to return to profitability
in 2003.