Insurance Stocks: New Study Quantifies What We Already Know
Stocks
are higher on a Cisco upgrade and positive economic news from
overseas. Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) got a boost after CIBC upgraded the stock. A
quarterly survey in Japan showed that capital spending rose 10.7% from April to
June from a year ago, and German industrial production came in at 1.6% — double
the projections.
Oil is lower after the OPEC head Yusgiantoro said
markets had a 1.5 million bpd oversupply and Hurricane Frances missed oil rigs
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Insurance stocks are higher after damage from
Hurricane Frances appears to less than expected. Allstate
(
ALL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is trading at 47.63, up 0.61. A study by Prudential found that property
and casualty insurers rose an average +2.9% after a major hurricane, and +1.1%
relative to the S&P 500.
Las Vegas Sands filed a $350 million IPO,
with Goldman Sachs as lead underwriter. The company is controlled by Comdex
founder Sheldon Adelson, 71.
The FDA
approved Eli Lilly’s
(
LLY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) anti-depressant Cymbalta.
Americans spend 3.5 billion hours a year in
traffic, up from 700 million hours 20 years ago. This according to
the Texas Transportation
Institute’s annual Urban Mobility Report, released Tuesday.
| Dow | +67.40 | 10327.52 |
| S&P 500 | +6.75 | 1120.38 |
| Nasdaq | +16.06 | 1860.54 |
Strong today are: Brokers
(
XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.08%, Homebuilders
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.94%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.40%.
Weak are: Oil
(
XOI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.34%. Semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.32%.
10-year Notes are +050 at 112 200
The dollar
is -0.25 at 89.28
Gold is -2.30 at 398.90
Crude Oil is -0.91 at
43.08
Volume is 576 million on
the NYSE and 668 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2238 | Up Vol 378 |
| Declining | 908 | Down Vol 142 |
| Ratio | 2.46 | 2.66 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1883 | Up Vol 462 |
| Declining | 1025 | Down Vol 149 |
| Ratio | 1.83 | 3.10 |
Stocks in the News
Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was downgraded by Lehman following last week’s
disappointing update.
United Parcel
(
UPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received tentative federal approval to expand
into China.
Raytheon
(
RTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â won a $440 million missile contract with the
US Navy.
Fleetwood Enterprises’
(
FLE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings
rose.
Seagate
(
SEG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided higher, looking for between 6 and 8 cents per
share.
The US Army will open Halliburton’s
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
service contract to competitive bids.
Yellow Roadway
(
YELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided Q3 higher.
Brice Wightman