Nasdaq Makes It 8 In A Row, Plus, What Can We Read Into The FOMC Minutes?
Stocks were mixed, with blue chips lower but the
Nasdaq making its eighth consecutive gain–the last time this
happened was 12/14 – 12/27/1999.
The May 3 FOMC minutes said that core inflation is likely remain in
check this year, that the impact of oil on inflation “should fade over time” and
that housing is expected to moderate and acknowledged that certain local markets
are “hot.”
After the bell, Medtronic
(
MDT |
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PowerRating) was in-line but light on revenues.Â
Network Appliance
(
NTAP |
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PowerRating) was in-line and announced a $300 share
repurchase program.
Al Qaeda said that Al Zarqawi was wounded; the news lifted the markets
slightly shortly after 11 AM. The have been recent rumors to this effect, which
is why the market didn’t react even more strongly to the upside.
Existing home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted record of 7.18 million
units in April, higher than the 6.9 million consensus.
Genentech (DNA)
said that Phase III data showed that its drug Lucentis maintained or
improved vision in patients with macular degeneration.
Eyetech Pharmaceuticals
(
EYET |
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PowerRating) may be negatively impacted from
the Genentech news. The stock is down 43%.
Astrazeneca’s
(
AZN |
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PowerRating) Crestor may have serious side effects,
according to the American Heart Association.
The Financial Times reports that the US has told China to revalue its
currency by 10% to avoid protectionist legislation.
Google
(
GOOG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Larry Page and Sergey Brin have been selling
stock–but their net worth is still over $8 billion each.
Fitch cut GM debt to junk; GM fell 3%. Daimler Chrysler will
build Mercedes in Russia. Volkswagen has built 100 million cars, only 1
of 4 car manufacturers ever to do so.
REITs are at historic highs; Merrill Lynch downgraded the group.
Strong sectors were:Â Â Â Gold
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) +2.46%Â Â Â Semis
(
$SOX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.55%Â Â Â Natural Gas
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.95%Â Â Â Â Â
Weak sectors were:Â Â Airlines Â
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.93%Â Â Â BrokersÂ
(
$XBD.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.83%Â Â Chemicals
(
$CEX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.39%
Dow | -20.02 | 10,503.54 |
Nasdaq | +5.03 | 2061.68 |
S&P 500 | +0.22 | 1194.08 |
The dollar was -0.02 at
86.37
Crude Oil was +0.51 at
49.67
Gold was +1.20 at 417.80
ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume was 1.27 billion on the NYSE and
1.71 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1610 | Up Vol 731 |
Declining | 1660 | Down Vol 777 |
1.03 | 1.06 | |
Nasdaq |
||
Advancing | 1429 | Up Vol 952 |
Declining | 1580 | Down Vol 658 |
1.10 | 1.44 |
Stocks in the News
Williams Sonoma
(
WSM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.03. Q1 earnings rose 22%.
Dillard’s
(
DDS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.04.
First Albany started TiVo
(
TIVO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) with a buy.
The New York Times reports Guidant
(
GDT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) knew of flaws with
its defibrillators
Brice Wightman
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