Intel Trades Up After Hours–Here’s Why
Stocks were mixed on
lower oil prices, but early gains were tempered by disappointing retail
sales figures. The Dow still managed to make a a nine-month high and the S&P hit
a three-year high intraday and has gained 9% in the past 5 weeks. The Transports
are at 5-year high levels. Oil fell, closing just over $43–mid September
levels–and the biggest 2-day drop since the 1991 Gulf War. Oil prices are still
30% higher than they were at the beginning of the year. OPEC meets next week in
Cairo.
Retail was in focus as same store sales came out today. 60% of the companies
reporting retail sales were below expectations. One notable exception was
Starbucks
(
SBUX |
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PowerRating), which saw same store sales rise 13%, much more than
expected. Pier One
(
PIR |
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PowerRating) said sales fell more than expected at 9.1%;
the company also lowered its Q3 guidance. Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
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PowerRating) same store
sales rose 0.7%. Ann Taylor
(
ANN |
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PowerRating) cut their forecast substantially.
American Eagle Outfitters
(
AEOS |
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PowerRating) said same store sales rose 24.3% in
November. Limited Brands
(
LTD |
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PowerRating) sales fell 5%; the Street was
expecting a gain.Â
Jobless claims for the week of 11/27 rose 25,000
to 349,000, more than expected the 4-week moving average rose 4,250 to 336,500
Continuing claims fell 20,000 to 2.723 million.
Kaufman & Broad
(
KBH |
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PowerRating) said they would
split their shares 2:1 and raise the dividend by 50%. The split date is
scheduled for April to shareholders of record on 2/24/05.
Trim Tabs expects $6-$8 billion in IPOs next
week.
In November, the Monster Employment Index rose to
its highest level since inception.
Trading volume was up in November. At Schwab,
it rose 23% and at Ameritrade, 20%.
In its mid-quarter update, Intel
(
INTC |
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PowerRating)
announced Q4 revenue will be much higher than expected; analysts were looking
for $8.97 billion but now the company says it expects Q4 sales to be in the
$9.3-$9.5 billion range. Margins are expected to be in-line with expectations.
The stock traded up after hours.
Trader talk: why no rally on lower oil today?
Strong sectors were: Airlines
(
XAL.X |
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PowerRating)
+3.57%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
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PowerRating) +2.08% and Biotech
(
BTK.X |
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PowerRating)
+1.63%.
Weak sectors were: Gold
(
XAU.X |
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PowerRating)
-3.27%, Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
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PowerRating) -2.65% and Oil
(
XOI.X |
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PowerRating)
-2.55%.
| Dow | -5.10 | 10585.12 |
| S&P 500 | -1.04 | 1190.33 |
| Nasdaq | +5.34 | 2143.57 |
The dollar was +0.39 at
81.96
Gold was -6.70 to 448.90
Crude Oil was -2.19 at 43.30
2.36 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1255 | Up Vol 682 |
| Declining | 2075 | Down Vol 975 |
| Ratio | 1.65 | 1.42 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1638 | Up Vol 1398 |
| Declining | 1480 | Down Vol 930 |
| Ratio | 1.10 | 1.50 |
Stocks in the News.
Alliant Techsystems
(
ATK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was awarded a mortar munitions contract
by the U S Army.
Curagen’s
(
CRGN |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) mucositis treatment was granted fast track
status by the FDA.
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Today in History
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Brice Wightman