It’s Constructive
After yesterday’s action, today was tame, with
the indices in fairly narrow trading ranges for the session.
The Dow
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$INDU.X |
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Nasdaq
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$COMP.X |
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$SPX.X |
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Brokers
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$XBD.X |
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Lynch
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MER |
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SCH |
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approaching a two-month high. Lehman Brothers
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LEH |
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and Goldman Sachs gained 1.50.
Oil
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$OIX.X |
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$OSX.X |
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were weak, amid concerns that production cuts may not be enough to effectively
reduce supplies. Warmer-than-usual temperatures and a possibility that the OPEC
agreement may not be as strong as originally thought also pressured the energy
sector. Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
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PowerRating) fell 1.55 to 37.33 and Halliburton lost 1.15 to
20.85.
National Semiconductor
(
NSM |
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of .26/share, better than expected. After a brief halt, trading resumed and the
shares went higher, closing at 31.64, down .98.
In a sign the economy is improving, jobless
claims dropped to 475,000, and factory orders rose 7.1%. Jobless claims
made a nine-year high in the last week of September.
In a $2 billion stock deal that is also the
biggest get-together of biotech companies, Millennium Pharmaceuticals
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MLNM |
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agreed to buy Cor Theraputics
(
COR |
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of new MLNM stock. MLNM
fell on the news, closing at 29.56, down 5.89.
In the smallest rise since 1990, retail sales
rose a less-than-expected 2%, in what could be a tough holiday season for the
industry. The Gap
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GPS |
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and warning of Q4 losses greater than those in the third quarter. GPS rose .62
to 14.20. Best Buy
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BBY |
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they would beat earnings expectations. BBY fell 3.83 to 69.48.
BJ’s Wholesale
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BJS |
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below-estimated November sales. BJS closed at 29.25, down 1.87.
Hotel and casino stocks, hit hard after the 9/11
events, have rallied since then, and several have made two-month highs,
including:
(
MBG |
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(
MGG |
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(
MAR |
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(
HMT |
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Yahoo!
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YHOO |
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since Sept. 27, made another two-month high (on triple average volume), to close
at 18.95, up 1.89.
Intel
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INTC |
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SUNW |
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hold their mid-quarter updates after the close.