Looking For IPOs? These 4 Are Coming Soon…
Stocks
were mixed on the lowest volume of the week. The day began with
higher core CPI prices — up 0.3% vs. the 0.2% consensus. CPI was 0.2% vs. 0.3%
expected. Industrial production rose by 0.8% with production capacity up at its
highest level since 2001, to 76.9%. The Michigan Sentiment Index remained
unchanged at 94.2, below market expectations.
Oil prices hit a 21-year high with US light crude trading as high as $41.50 a
barrel, the highest level ever. Traders are now talking about the possibility of
$50/bbl. oil. On an inflation-adjusted basis, oil is still below 1980 levels.
Russia said its oil production may have hit a ceiling. Earlier in the week,
Saudia Arabia said it would lobby for a quota increase at the next meeting. A
study by Wal-Mart said that higher oil prices are taking an average of
$7/week from consumers’ pockets. Wholesale unleaded gas is now at an average
$1.40/gallon.
BEA Systems
(
BEAS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
tumbled after reporting a lower-than-expected licensing revenue of $120.2
million. Total revenue was up 11% to $262.6 million with net income at $25.3
million. Nortel
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said they received a federal grand jury subpoena
for financial statements and related records.
46 IPOs were filed in March; 10
companies announced terms this week, including Republic Airways, Blue Nile,
Inhibitex and Salesforce.com. There have been 42 IPOs year to date,
with an average return of +17.5%, and an average first day pop of over 20%.
Indian stocks were weak after
Sonia Gandhi’s opposition Congress Party won the general election. Industry
observers aren’t worried about a negative economic impact, however, saying the
Congress Party is still viewed as mainly pro-business.
| Dow | +2.13 | 10012.87 |
| S&P 500 | -0.78 | 1095.66 |
| Nasdaq | -21.78 | 1904.25 |
Strong today were Amex Gold
Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.21%, Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.69% Oil
(
OIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.53%, Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.03%.
Weak today were Disk Drives
(
DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -4.10% and Networking
(
NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.94%,
Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.93% and Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.86%.
Economic news releases today:
Inventories that rose sharply to 0.7%, CPI that was at 0.2%, with the Core CPI
at a strong 0.3%. Industrial Production levels exceeded expectations at a 0.8%
increase and Capacity Utilization at 76.9%. Michigan Sentiment Index remained
unchanged at 94.2.
The dollar
was -0.31 at 91.65
Gold was -3.10 at 374.60
Crude Oil was -0.36 at
40.30
Volume was 1.34 billion
on the NYSE, and 1.51 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1874 | Up Vol 586 |
| Declining | 1430 | Down Vol 664 |
| Ratio | 1.31 | 1.13 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1078 | Up Vol 284 |
| Declining | 2036 | Down Vol 1157 |
| Ratio | 1.88 | 4.07 |
Stocks in the news:
Merix
(
MERX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecasts from 19 cents to a loss of 3 cents
on weak demand from a major customer.
Cisco’s
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) board has
authorized a $5 billion stock buyback, bringing the program to $25 billion.
Analog Devices
(
ADI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings of $152.6 million on revenue of
$678.5 million on strong demand for chips for consumer electronics.
Chinadotcom
(
CHINA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is lower after
it reported earnings that missed by a penny and extended its deadline to
complete its merger with Ross
(
ROSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com