Huge Day For IPOs–Take A Look At This
Stocks were higher Thursday
on good volume and strong
internals, with
the Nasdaq making a 4-month
high intraday. Oil weakness mid-day helped boost the market. Oil fell
10% in the past 2 days. There was heavy trading in energy ETFs and energy
stocks, which were down for a second consecutive day.
In a surprise move, China raised rates for the first time in nine years. Basic
materials were weaker on the news. Copper producer Phelps Dodge
(
PD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat, reporting 2.95 vs. a 2.71 estimate, but the stock was lower, as was
aluminum producer Alcan
(
AL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3% to close at 46.12.
Today is the 75th anniversary of the 1929 crash.
Black Tuesday was actually the 29th, but Monday the 28th was a large down day as
well. The Dow fell 23.9% in two days and fueled a panic that resulted in the
Great Depression. Those two days were actually the third and fourth largest
one-day percentage losses for the Dow. The largest crash was actually in 1914,
followed by the 1987 crash when the Dow lost 508 points, or 22.6%.
Of the companies reporting so far this quarter,
63% have come in above estimates, 20% missed and 16% matched. Overall, earnings
are 15.5% higher than a year ago; revenues are up 11.1%.
Several large companies reported today,
including:
Dow Chemical
(
DOW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which reported 0.65, beating by 0.02; earnings rose
86% year/year. Gillette
(
G |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which beat by 0.04; Q43 profits rose 14%.
ExxonMobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which beat by 0.09.
Jobless claims for the week rose by 20,000 to
530,000, higher because of hurricane related claims. The 4-week moving average
fell by 5,500 to 343,2550.
Lots of IPO action today, including:
Dreamworks Animation (DWA) began trading today. Priced at $28, it opened
at $39.50 and is now trading at 38.75. Market cap is now $4.1 billion.
eLong
(
LONG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is a Chinese online
travel company. Priced at $13.50 (only 4.6 million shares), the stock closed at
15.71. Competitor Ctrip.com
(
CTRP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has traded up over 140% from its
offering price.
Calamos
(
CLMS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was priced at
$18; it closed at 19.75..
Build-a-Bear
(
BBW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) came at $20 and
closed at 24.95.
Fox Hollow
(
FOXH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) medical devices
$14, the stock closed at 20.45.
$3 billion in IPOs will hit the market this week.
31 IPOs were priced in October; 180 deals year-to-date.
| Dow | +2.66 | 10004.69 |
| S&P 500 | +2.03 | 1127.43 |
| Nasdaq | +5.75 | 1975.74 |
Strong sectors were: Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +4.25%,
Insurance
(
IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.97%, Biotech
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.87%.
Weak sectors were: Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.38%, Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.31%.
The dollar was -0.16 at
85.28
Gold was +0.90 at 424.10
Crude Oil was -1.51 at 50.95
932 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1563 | Up Vol 729 |
| Declining | 1715 | Down Vol 752 |
| Ratio | 1.30 | 1.16 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1395 | Up Vol 903 |
| Declining | 1654 | Down Vol 776 |
| Ratio | 1.54 | 1.00 |
Stocks in the News
JetBlue
(
JBLU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q3 fell 71% and the company missed lowered
estimates. The company cancelled 450 flights during the hurricanes.
Ask Jeeves
(
ASKJ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported pro-forma earnings of 0.25; the stock
traded lower.
LSI Logic
(
LSI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a wider loss and will cut 510 workers
(11%).
Aetna
(
AET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02 and guided higher.
Imclone
(
AMCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported its third quarterly profit and beat the
street. The company reported 0.45 vs. 0.32.
Brice Wightman