MSO To New Highs — Here’s Why
Stocks
were mixed Friday with the Dow making it three in a row up-months and the Nasdaq
closing lower for the month. Final
consumer sentiment numbers were slightly higher than the previous reading of
93.5, ending up at 94.4 but still lower than the consensus of 100+. This year,
$34.3 billion of new funds have been transferred into equity funds, with $500
million being transferred out over past two days. The Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Biotech
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) sectors experienced the most cash inflow.
Homebuilders had a strong week, hitting 52-wk highs. For the
month of February, the S&P 500
(
SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 1.2%, the Dow
(
INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose 0.9% and the Nasdaq
(
COMPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
down 1.7%. For the week, the Dow shed 0.3%, the Nasdaq lost 0.4%, and the S&P
rose 0.1%.
Marvel Technology
(
MRVL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported fourth-quarter earnings that rose to $19.8 million from a loss of $42.2
million a year ago. Excluding one-time charges, the company earned 29 cents a
share, one penny ahead of analysts’ estimates. Revenue rose 61% to $243.3
million.
While the judge in Martha
Stewart trial dismissed the securities fraud charges, Stewart still faces
charges for making false statements and obstruction of justice. Shares of
Martha Stewart Living
(
MSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped on large volume, closing up 11% at
14.49. The stock was $9 in December. KMart shares
(
KMRT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also
rose, gaining 3.4%.
Next week, look for earnings from the following companies:
Monday, HOV;
Tuesday: BJ, CVC, BIIB, FL, GMST;
Wednesday: COST, SKS, IMCL; Thursday:
SPLS, TIVO.
| Dow | +3.78 | 10583.92 |
| S&P 500 |
-0.03 | 1144.94 |
| Nasdaq | -2.75 | 2029.82 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Homebuilders
(
HGX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.66%, Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.06%,
Hardware
(
HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.91%, and Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.01%.
Weak today were Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-1.49%, and Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.65%,
Economic news releases included
higher GDP numbers at 4%, Chain deflators up 0.2%. Revised Michigan Sentiment at
94.4 and Chicago PMI that fell to 65.9.
10-year Notes were +140
at 115 135
The dollar
was -0.39 at 87.29
Gold was +1.51 at 396.01
Crude Oil was +0.56 at
36.16
Volume was
1,508,197,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,871,387,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2185 | Up Vol 888 |
| Declining | 1091 | Down Vol 597 |
| Ratio | 2.00 | 1.48 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1746 | Up Vol 859 |
| Declining | 1427 | Dow Vol 974 |
| Ratio | 1.22 | 1.13 |
Stocks in the news:
Priceline
(
PCLN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received an
upgrade to neutral from JP Morgan Securities which likes how PCLN is
diversifying its business.
SPX Corp
(
SPW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed
fourth-quarter earnings by 20 cents at $3.41 cents a share, with a much lower
operating margin target, down 20%. Three brokerage firms downgraded the stock on
the news. Net income was $98.9 million on revenue of $1.45 billion.
McData
(
MCDTA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a
smaller loss of $7.5 million on revenue of $114 million. Excluding one-time
charges, the company earned 3 cents, beating analysts’ by 2 cents. For the next
quarter, the company reaffirmed a profit target of a penny a share on revenue of
$112 million.