It Was A Day Full Of Surprises, But The Closing Numbers Don’t Tell The Whole Story
Stocks were higher on
good earnings from Cisco, positive economic news and
lower oil. The trade deficit for March narrowed unexpectedly
to $55 billion, far less than the $61 billion consensus. It was the biggest drop
in three years. Some analysts speculate that the trade figures may mean
consumers are spending less and will slow the economy. Crude inventories saw a 2.7 million barrel build; the gas build was 200K.
It was a day full or surprises. At Noon, the Capitol Building was evacuated
and fighters were scrambled over the White House after a small airplane violated
the no-fly zone. The Dow rapidly lost 40 points but regained ground quickly and
went on to make new intraday highs. Then later in the day, shares of Dow
component Disney were halted, pending news. Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q2
earnings of 0.33/share, beating by a penny and beating slightly on
revenues. The company was scheduled to report after the close; the early release
was accidental. Traders speculated that a deal with Pixar
(
PIXR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
in the works, and shares of PIXR rose during the DIS halt, only to fall again
when the announcement turned out to be the Disney earnings.
Cisco
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.23, a penny ahead; revenues were $6.2
billion, also ahead of the $6.15 billion estimate; net income rose 16%.Â
Raymond James upgraded the stock to ‘strong buy’ from ‘market perform.’
Yahoo
(
YHOO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced a new music service. “Yahoo Music Unlimited”
will cost $60/year, undercutting the competition.
The Warner Music IPO (WMG) was priced at $17, well below the original
$22-$24; the offering size was also reduced. Led Zeppelin guitarist
Jimmy Page played
“Whole Lotta Love” at the opening bell to mark the occasion. Many traders could
not hear the opening bell over the
Marshall stacks. WMG closed at 16.46.
Dreamworks
(
DWA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.44 vs. a 0.58 estimate. The company also cut
its outlook.
Tomorrow after the close, look for Dell to report; the consensus is
0.37.
Strong sectors were: Â Disk DrivesÂ
(
$DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.41%Â Â
SoftwareÂ
(
$GSO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.04%Â Â Â Brokers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.02%Â Â
Weak sectors were:Â Â Gold
(
$HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.13% Â Â
Healthcare Providers
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.07% Â Â Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-1.04%Â
Dow | +19.14 | 10,300.25 |
Nasdaq | +8.78 | 1971.55 |
S&P 500 | +4.89 | 1171.11 |
The dollar was +0.50 at
84.91
Crude Oil was -1.54 at
51.95
Gold was -0.30 at 426.90
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume was 1.41 billion on the NYSE and 1.73
billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1828 | Up Vol 952 |
Declining | 1447 | Down Vol 658 |
1.26 | 1.44 | |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 1505 | Up Vol 1076 |
Declining | 1547 | Down Vol 549 |
1.02 | 1.95 |
Stocks In The News
Kohl’s
(
KSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was upgraded at Prudential to ‘overweight.’
Federated
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat, reporting 0.71 vs a 0.67 estimate. The company
sees Q2 EPS of 0.80 – 0.85.
Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will expand MSN Search into China.
Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) should outperform this year, says SG Cowan,
which views the shares as ‘attractive.’
Brice Wightman
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