Insurance Stocks Rally–Here’s Why
Stocks are higher, helped by
strong insurance stocks and lower crude oil.
Insurance stocks are higher after AIG said they wanted a
“prompt resolution of outstanding issues” with the SEC and DOJ. Marsh &
McLennan
(
MMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher after Eliot Spitzer said he would not pursue
criminal charges after the company replaced the CEO and said it would implement
reforms.
Consumer confidence fell for the third straight month to 92.8 in October
from a revised 96.7; analysts were expecting 94.
IPO Shopping.com
(
SHOP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was priced at $18 and is trading up 52% to
27.40.
Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to
‘underweight’ from equalweight.’
As of the close yesterday, Google’s
(
GOOG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) market cap–at $50 billion–topped Yahoo’s.
| Dow | +89.37 | 9839.36 |
| S&P 500 | +9.59 | 1104.39 |
| Nasdaq | +4.69 | 1918.73 |
Strong sectors are: Healthcare Providers
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+4.09%, Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +4.18%, Insurance
(
IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +4.00%.
Weak sectors are:Â Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.68%, Oil
(
XOI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.41%, Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.19%.
The dollar is +0.27 at
85.24
Gold is -2.20 at 425.90
Crude Oil is +0.14 at 54.68
877 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1734 | Up Vol 424 |
| Declining | 1355 | Down Vol 214 |
| Ratio | 1.27 | 1.98 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1322 | Up Vol 405 |
| Declining | 1523 | Down Vol 388 |
| Ratio | 1.15 | 1.04 |
Stocks in the News
EDS delayed their earnings release and will report November 3.
Kellogg
(
K |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04 and raised estimates.
Ryder
(
R |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04.
US Steel
(
X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 2.72 vs 2.06 estimate; revenue 3.7 billion vs 3.5 billion
estimate.
Aon Corp.
(
AON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is the latest company to be investigated by Eliot
Spitzer.
Dupont
(
DD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by a penny.
International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.03; sales were in-line.
Lockheed Martin
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by .04; quarterly profit rose 41%.
Sara Lee
(
SLE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02, in part due to a sale of a tobacco
unit.
Halliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell to a Q3 loss on an asbestos settlement.
Wellpoint
(
WLP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 1.97, beating by 0.06.
Nvidia
(
NVDA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat and raised guidance; the stock is trading
higher.
Genesis Microchip
(
GNSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02 and guided Q3
lower.
Silicon Labs
(
SLAB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q3 profit rose 50% but the company guided Q4
lower.
Flextronics
(
FLEX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line at 0.17; revenues were slightly lower
than expected; the company warned for Q4. The stock is trading lower.
Brice Wightman