Markets Soar, American Steel Surprises, Oil Sinks

  • July 29, 2008
  • David Goodboy

US capital markets rocked today on surprise earning gains by US Steel X and continued weakness in oil. The DJIA climbed +262.33 to 11393.41, the Nasdaq advanced +55.40 to 2319.62 and the broad based S&P 500 soared +28.78 to 1263.15.

US Steel
(
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PowerRating) surprised analysts by doubling second quarter profits due to increased prices sending the stock climbing by 13.82% or $20.09 to $165.42/share. This represents the largest single day gain since April, 2001.

McGraw Hill
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PowerRating) advanced 6.96% or $2.59 to $39.78/share as the owner of Standard and Poors (S&P) reported smaller losses than expected in the second quarter.

Plum Creek Timber
(
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PowerRating) owners of 8 million acres of forests beat analysts earning estimates rising 9.22% or $4.11 to $48.70/share.

Teleflex
(
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PowerRating) soared 14.58% or $8.01 to $62.95/share after the manufacturer announced a doubling of second quarter profits.

Oil continued its downward slide losing $3.02 to $121.71/barrel. Gold slipped $11.40 to $926.40 and the VIX gave up 9.08% to 22.03.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -239.61 11131.08

NASDAQ

 -46.32 2264.21

S&P 500

 -23.39 1234.37

Economic
News

Consumer Confidence (Jul): Consensus 50.0, Prior 50.4

ADP Employment (Jul): Consensus -60K, Prior -79K

Crude Inventories (07/26): Consensus NA, Prior -1558K

Chain Deflator (Q2): Consensus 2.3%, Prior 2.7%

Employment Cost Index (Q2): Consensus 0.7%, Prior 0.7%

GDP-Adv. (Q2): Consensus 2.3%, Prior 1.0%

Initial Claims (07/26): Consensus 395K, Prior 406K

Chicago PM (Q2): Consensus 49.0, Prior 49.6

Auto Sales (Jul): Consensus NA, Prior 4.9M

Truck Sales (Jul): Consensus NA, Prior 5.0M

Average Workweek (Jul): Consensus 33.7, Prior 33.7

Hourly Earnings (Jul): Consensus 0.3%, Prior 0.3%

Nonfarm Payrolls (Jul): Consensus -75K, Prior -62K

Unemployment Rate (Jul): Consensus 5.6%, Prior 5.5%

Construction Spending (Jun): Consensus -0.3%, Prior -0.4%

ISM Index (Jul): Consensus 49.2, Prior 50.2

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