Do You Know The Trading Symbol For The Nasdaq?
Stocks are mixed in low-volume, directionless
action. There’s not much conviction today thus far. The Nasdaq is
underperforming but energy stocks continue to trade at historic highs.Â
Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 5 fell 13,000 to 303,000, a four-year
low. The 4-week moving average fell 16,500 to 315,500. The trade gap for
December narrowed to $56.4 billion; the record November number was revised to
$59.3 billion vs. $60.3 billion. The 2004 deficit was $617.7 billion.
Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has made an informal offer to buy MCI
(
MCIP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
near the $6.3 billion that Qwest has suggested.
Aetna
(
AET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported better-than-expected earnings, doubed its
dividend and announced a 2:1 split.
Ericson
(
ERICY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat estimates but gross margins fell short.
Shares traded down in Europe.
Today, the Nasdaq begins trading on–the Nasdaq! Symbol: NDAQ. Thomas
Weisel Partners and Sandler O’Neill co-managed the secondary offering, which was
priced at $9.00. NDAQ is trading at 10.42.
Remember, the Google
(
GOOG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lock-up period ends on
Valentine’s Day;Â 177 million shares
become available for sale.
Two IPOs of note today: Syniversa Holdings
(
SVR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). The talk was
$16-22 and the stock came at $16. Prestige Brands
(
PBH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was priced at
$16 after boosting the number of shares by 4.7 million. The company makes Spic
and Span, Comet, Chloraseptic and other household brand name products.
Strong sectors are: Gold Â
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+3.63%Â Oil Servies
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.87%.
Weak sectors are:Â Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-1.37%Â Computer Hardware
(
HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-1.30%Â Â Disk Drives
(
$DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.31%
Dow | +36.50 | 10,700.47 |
Nasdaq | -4.89 | 2047.64 |
S&P 500 | +1.10 | 1193.12 |
The dollar is -0.54 at
84.48
Crude Oil is -1.34 at
46.80
Gold is +2.40 to 416.70
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 679 million on the NYSE and
1.0 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1549 | Up Vol 310 |
Declining | 1577 | Down Vol 300 |
1.01 | 1.03 | |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 1234 | Up Vol 328 |
Declining | 1686 | Down Vol 634 |
1.36 | 1.93 |
Stocks in the News
GlaxoSmithKline
(
GSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line, posting a 24% rise in Q4
profits.Â
Vertex
Pharmaceutical (VRTX)
beat by 0.06, reporting a narrower loss, ex-items.
Napster (NAPS)
missed by 0.03 but had strong subscription growth and raised its forecast.
Whole Foods (WFMI)
beat by 0.05 and beat on revenues.
MetLife (MET)
beat by 0.04, ex-items. Lincoln National (LNC)
beat by 0.09.
Brice Wightman