Market Responds To Good News With 52-Week Highs
Stocks are higher today on favorable
economic data. Goldman Sachs’ John Thain
is the NYSE’s new CEO, to be paid $4 million a year without a contract. In
accordance with NYSE governance reform, the posts of CEO and chairman will be
separate. Weekly jobless claims dropped by 22,000 to 353,000. Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported earnings that nearly doubled to $1.89 per share. Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
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News |
PowerRating) beat analysts’ estimates by earnings 94 cents per share. Crude
continued its uptrend, hitting a 52-week high of $33 a barrel, with major oil
companies such as Exxon-Mobil
(
XOM |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Chevron
(
CVX |
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News |
PowerRating),
Valero
(
VLO |
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PowerRating) and BP
(
BP |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) following suit.
| Dow | -16.32 |
10113.45 |
| S&P 500 | -2.09 | 1073.09 |
| Nasdaq | -6.72 | 1917.57 |
The day’s leading sectors are
Oil Service
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.19%, Semis [SOX.X|SOX.X]
+2.72%, Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.33%, and Internet
(
INX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.12%.
Weak today are Amex Gold
Bugs [HUI.X|HUI.X] -1.57%, and Gold
and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.16%.
Economic news releases included
Initial Claims falling 22k to 353k, and Leading Indicators rising by 0.3%. The
Philadelphia Fed reading was at 32.1.
10-year Notes are -20
at 113 290
The dollar
is +0.17 at 88.47
Gold is +3.10 at 409.60
Crude Oil is +0.05 at
33.30
Volume is 680,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 830,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1974 | Up Vol 510 |
| Declining | 1126 | Down Vol 150 |
| Ratio | 1.74 | 3.40 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1738 | Up Vol 639 |
| Declining | 1224 | Down Vol 161 |
| Ratio | 1.41 | 3.96 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Honeywell [HON|HON],
+3.73% at 31.37, American Express |AXP|AXP],
+3.44% at 46.51, Intl Paper [INTL|INTL],
+1.86% at 41.94, and Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.80% at 36.20.
Stocks in the news:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(
MGM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is in merger
talks with Time Warner
(
TWX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). MGM had an asking price of $7 billion
when it was last up for grabs in 2002, with no takers. MGM shares are trading
+6% on the news.
Activision
(
ATVI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) raised its
third-quarter and 2004 forecasts on strong holiday sales. It upped earnings to
67 cents a shares on revenues of $480 million, above previous forecasts of 45
cents. Its shares are trading 10% higher.
After reporting disappointing sales for the
holiday season, Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finally got some good news as UBS
(
UBS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) upgraded it to buy from neutral. UBS said it believes the low-pricing
strategy might lead to better gross margins in 2004. It raised Walmart’s yearly
forecast by 2 pennies to $2.33, but lowered its fourth-quarter earnings by a
penny.
Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
recorded a 33% increase in earnings to $100.5 million for the
third-quarter. Sales rose to $1.17 billion, up 26% from the year-ago period.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com