Again! Yet Another Drug Pulled…
Stocks are higher as the Dow tries for four in a
row. Retail is in focus as many companies reported same-store-sales
for March.
Jobless claims for the week of 4/2 fell 19,000 to 334,000, the biggest drop
in two month. The 4-week moving average fell to 336,500.
Alcoa (AA)
beat by a penny; revenues were up 12.5% from a year ago but missed estimates by
a very small margin. The stock is trading higher pre-open.
Dell
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) backed its Q1 outlook–0.37–and will raise its share
buyback program to $2 billion. The company is meeting with analysts today.
Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04.
American Eagle
(
AEOS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) March comps rose +29.2%. Abercrombie
& Fitch
(
ANF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) March comps rose 21%. Ann Taylor
(
ANN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) March
comps fell -1.7%. Gap Inc.
(
GPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) March comps fell -4%. Gap’s Old Navy
line was -9%. Federated
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) March same-store-sales rose +3.4%.
Target
(
TGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) comps rose 14.3%.
Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will withdraw Bextra from the market as per an FDA
request. The FDA also asked company to include include a strong safety warning
on Celebrex. The agency said the overall risk vs benefit profile is unfavorable.
The Department of Energy said that it sees oil prices staying above $50 for
2005 and 2006.
The IRS says that the average tax return was up 6% from last year.
Strong sectors are: Homebuilders
(
$HGX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.21% Â Â Â Â
Semis
(
$SOX.X$ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.08% Â Biotech
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.02% Â
Weak sectors are: Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.29%Â Â
Retail
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.22%Â Â Â Brokers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.15%Â Â Â
Â
Dow | +35.69 | 10,521.71 |
Nasdaq | +8.88 | 2008.02 |
S&P 500 | +3.94 | 1188.01 |
The dollar is -0.16 at
84.52
Crude Oil is +0.10 at
55.95
Gold is +0.60 at 426.60
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 1.76 billion on the NYSE and 1.78
billion on the Nasdaq
Market breadth is positive.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1913 | Up Vol 446 |
Declining | 1115 | Down Vol 248 |
1.71 | 1.79 | |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 1608 | Up Vol 435 |
Declining | 1231 | Down Vol 190 |
1.30 | 2.28 |
Stocks in the News
Pier One Imports
(
PIR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a sharp drop in quarterly
earnings–missing by 0.05–and guided lower.
Smith Barney downgraded General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to ‘sell’ and Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to ‘hold.’ GM is up 1.27%.
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said that Phase II trials for cervical cancer drug
Gardasil was successful. The drug could hit the market as early as next year.
Wal Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it expects to report earnings at the lower end
of estimates.
Starbucks
(
SBUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a smaller-than-expected monthly sales
increase.
Brice Wightman