Dow Breaks 10,000!
Stocks are
higher on a couple pieces of positive economic news.
Consumer confidence jumped to 106.1 in July — a two-year high and the fourth
consecutive monthly gain — with new home sales rising to 1,326K. However, oil
prices were higher, touching a high of $42 a barrel due to refinery problems and
shrinking crude stockpiles. Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted earnings that beat by
6 cents with growth from its wireless business and declines in its landline
phone service. Revenue rose 6% to $17.8 billion with its wireless sales division
showing a 25% increase. VZ upped EPS estimates for the second half of the year
to $1.22 a share.
Lockheed Martin’s
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
earnings rose to $296 million with sales up 14% to $8.78 billion; the company
expects full year revenue to reach $33.8 billion. Dupont
(
DD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted
lower earnings at $503 million and upped FY 2004 earnings outlook to $2.30 a
share. The lower earnings were due to a $302 million charge for job cuts and
other one-time charges.
| Dow | +66.59 | 10026.43 |
| S&P 500 | +4.31 | 1088.62 |
| Nasdaq | +13.11 | 1852.12 |
Strong today are: Internet
(
ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.06%, BiotechsÂ
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.00%, Retail
(
RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.98%,
Weak today are: Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â +5.29%, Healthcare Provider
(
RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.78%Â
Economic news releases today
include: Consumer confidence level at 106.1 for July with new home sales also up
at 1,326K.
10-year Notes are -160
at 109.315
The dollar
is +0.68 at 89.90
Gold is -3.10 at 388.50
Crude Oil is +0.51 at
41.95
Volume is 677 million on
the NYSE, and 721 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1789 | Up Vol 322 |
| Declining | 1270 | Down Vol 326 |
| Ratio | 1.41 | 1.01 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1711 | Up Vol 434 |
| Declining | 1211 | Down Vol 252 |
| Ratio | 1.41 | 1.72 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.89%,
SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.73%, WalMart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.74%
 McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.63%.
Stocks in the news:
Anthem
(
ATH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of $237.9 million
with revenue up 12% to $4.53 billion. The company upped full year earnings
estimates to $7 a share.
AirTran Holdings
(
AAI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
earnings were lower at $16.8 million with its load factor rising 2.2 points to
75.4%.
L-3
(
LLL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of $88.1 million with
sales rising 40% to $1.68 billion. For FY 2004, LLL expects earnings of $3.40 a
share on revenue of $6.6 billion.
Genesis Microchip
(
GNSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose after reporting a
quarterly loss of $1.3 million on sales of $52.8 million on strong demand for
flat panel TV and LCD monitors.
Brice Wightman
Â