NASDAQ At 4 1/2 Year Highs
Stocks rallied Thursday, with the
S&P near 2-month highs and the Nasdaq at four-and-a-half year highs.
Transports also made a new high. Crude fell by over a dollar, to a five-month
low.
Jobless claims for the week of 11/12 fell 25,000 to
303,000. The 4-week moving average is 321,500.
(report)
Housing starts for October fell
5.6%, coming in at 2.014 million annualized units.(report)
Building permits saw their biggest
decrease since December 1999. Capacity utilization rose to 79.5%,
in-line and industrial production rose 0.9%
(report).
The Philly Fed was better than
expected at 11.5 in November. (report).
For more economic news,
click here.
After the close, Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02,
ex-items. Revenue was $7.73 billion, slightly less than expected. Hewlett
Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q4 of 0.51 GAAP earnings and beat on
revenues at $22.9 billion. HPQ is the best performing Dow component this year.
Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by
0.03.
General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied after CEO
Rick Wagoner said in an internal memo that the company’s financials are solid
and any bankruptcy rumors are overblown. The stock rose 6% after hitting an
18-year low yesterday.
Intuit
(
INTU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04 and guided
higher as revenues jumped 20%. The company also announced a $500 million stock buyback.
Network Equipment
(
NTAP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat by 0.03 and guided Q3 revenues higher. The company now sees 25-28%
revenue growth.
Strong sectors were: Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.50%
Networkers
(
NWX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.75% Brokers
(
XBD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.29%
Weak sectors were:
Oil
(
OIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.13
|
|
+45.46 | 10,720.22 |
| +32.53 | 2220.46 | |
| +11.58 | 1242.79 |
More stocks on the move:
Medtronic
(
MDT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line at
0.52 on slightly lower-than-expected sales; Q2 net income rose 52%.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
to neutral.
Limited Brands
(
LTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line and
announced a $200 million stock repurchase program. (story)
Taro Pharmaceuticals
(
TARO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed
by 0.21.
Hot Topic
(
HOTT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.13
after a 0.02 charge as earnings fell 59% from a year ago. (story)
WIlliams Sonoma
(
WSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat
by a penny but guided lower for Q4. (story)
Barnes & Noble
(
BKS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.02.
Zumiez
(
ZUMZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.03 and
guided higher
Men’s Wearhouse
(
MW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided lower.
Brice Wightman
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& Commodities 2006 Readers’ Choice Awards