FDA Panel Recommendation After The Close…
Stocks fell
Thursday, after a sharp late-session
sell-off. Intraday charts on the major indices resembled a bell curve. Car
bombings in Turkey and a brief White House evacuation sent the market down
early. It then rallied until 1:00 PM, then sold off to the close, but on lighter
volume. A small plane was thought to have violated restricted airspace
near the White House, but later it was determined to be radar error. Many
traders watched as Michael Jackson was arrested in Santa Barbara.
Intel CEO Craig Barrett
backed the company’s Q4 outlook and said he sees a recovery in the industry,
with IT demand overseas improving.
Hewlett-Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported a 10% increase in revenue from higher printer and ink sales. HP earned
$862 million compared with $390 million a year ago. Weekly jobless claims fell
to 367,000, the fewest since February of 2001. A University of Michigan study
predicts the economy will add over 5 million jobs over the next 2 years.
China will raise tariffs on
some goods in retaliation for higher US steel duties. The dollar fell against
all major currencies, and gold pulled back from the $400 level.
| Dow | -71.04 |
9619.42 |
| S&P | -8.79 | 1033.65 |
| Nasdaq | -17.73 |
1881.92 |
NYSE Advancers 1220
NYSE Decliners 2047
Ratio
1.67
Nasdaq Advancers 337
Nasdaq Decliners 880
Ratio
2.61
Volume was
1,294,011,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,767,518,000 on the Nasdaq.
No sectors were green today.
Weak today were
Semiconductors
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.10%, Drugs
(
$DRG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.64% and Networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.51%.
Economic news releases for
today included Unemployment Initial Claims, down to 355K. Leading indicator numbers
are up 0.4%.
10-year Notes were +180
at 113 255.
The dollar
was -0.29 at 90.61.
Gold was -2.01 at
393.85.
Crude Oil was -0.30 at
31.86.
Stocks in the news:
After the close, Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
posted better than expected Q4 earnings of .17/share vs. a .15 estimate;
revenues were $7 billion, better than expected. Earnings included .03 credit for
the settlement of tax issues.
Novell
(
NOVL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted .05/share,
beating by .02. TiVo’s
(
TIVO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) loss was reduced after it posted (.11)
for Q3; the estimate was for (.23).
An FDA panel recommended approval of
Boston Scientific’s
(
BSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) stent Taxis; the move clears the way for FDA
approval, and could mean a tripling of BSX’s profits, say analysts. BSX rallied
on the news in after market trading.
OmniVision Technologies
(
OVTI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported net income of $11.6 million on sales of $68.5 million. Net
income almost quadrupled. Shares are trading 10% higher on the news.
Petsmart
(
PETM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a $29.6
million profit on net sales of $733.7 million. Same-store sales rose 7.5%, 1%
lower than analysts’ consensus. PETM fell 6% on the news.
Clothing retailer Limited Brands
(
LTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported higher third-quarter profit on sales of 1.85 billion. Net income rose
to $44.3 million from $10.4 million a year ago. The retailer stood by its
previous fourth-quarter forecast of 74 cents a share.
Electronic retailer Sharper Image
(
SHRP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
posted a profit of $985,000 compared with a loss of $504,000 a year ago for the
third quarter. Revenue grew 24% to $131.1 million. SHRP confirmed that it plans
to open 25 new stores by the end of January.
If you have any comments or questions, please
feel free to email me.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com