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Stocks were higher after the Fed raised rates by
1/4%. The Nasdaq made a 3.5 year high and the S&P 500 closed above
1200, the best close in 3 years.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points, as expected, and said that rates
could rise further in the near future. The Fed’s statement was almost identical
to the last one.
Symantec
(
SYMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is close to acquiring Veritas
(
VRTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), The New York Times reports.
Mergers and Acquisitions appear to be back after several quiet
years. M&A is an economically sensitive and cyclical business. Between
2001-2004, we had a recession, 2 wars, terrorism, a weak market and low business
confidence. Although the Fed s on a rate increase trend, this appears to be farÂ
less important than the major uncertainties the market faced in the past few
years. Three major players in the M&A business are Goldman Sachs (GS),
Merrill Lynch (MER) and JP Morgan JPM).
Intraday, Research In Motion
(
RIMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was halted, pending news at
1:00 ET and reopened at 3:35 ET. A Fed appeals court basically said that RIMM
did not invent the Blackberry technology. RIMM closed down 5% at 85.44.
Electronic Arts
(
ERTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) signed a licensing agreement with the NFL
that allows it to use NFL stadiums, teams and players in its video games.
It appears now that
Verizon (VZ)
and Vodafone (VOD)
are unlikely to make a bid for Sprint. Sprint and Nextel
will announce their merger on Wednesday.
Schwab
(
SCH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said customer trading rose 25% in November.
Remember: options and futures expire on Friday.
Tomorrow before the open look for earnings from Lehman Bros (consensus
is 1.69) and Best Buy (0.44).
Strong sectors were: Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.86%, Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.87%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.48%.
Weak sectors are: Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.58%.
| Dow | +38.35 | 10,676.45 |
| S&P 500 | +4.73 | 1,203.38 |
| Nasdaq | +11.34 | 2,159.84 |
The dollar was +0.23 at
82.30
Crude Oil was +0.64 at
42.47
Gold was -2.70 to 435.20
1.093 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1607 | Up Vol 367 |
| Declining | 1502 | Down Vol 286 |
| Ratio | 1.06 | 1.28 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1620 | Up Vol 514 |
| Declining | 1355 | Down Vol 499 |
| Ratio | 1.19 | 1.03 |
Stocks in the News
Pier One Imports
(
PIR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted a sharp frop in Q3 earnings.
Cooper Cos.
(
COO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.07 and said Q3 earnnigs rose 38%.
BlueLinx Holdings (BXC) priced its IPO of 9.5 million shares at $13.50,
under the expected $15 to $17 range.
Knoll Inc. (KNL) priced its IPO at $15, at the high end of the expected
$14 to $16 range. Goldman Sachs led the underwriting.
CKE Restaurants
(
CKR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a 13-fold increase in Q3 sales.
Goodrich
(
GR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said Boeing will use its cargo system on the 7E7 jet;
the deal is expected to generate $450 million in sales for GR through 2028.
Today in History
1911Â South Pole reached
1969Â Jackson 5 appears on the Ed Sullivan Show
2003Â Saddam Hussein captured
Brice Wightman