New Hours For The NYSE?
Stocks were mixed in a
technical bounce, with Caterpillar holding the Dow back after missing estimates.
UPS also missed. Stocks rallied
til midday and then pulled back, The Nasdaq was slightly higher, helped by
positive comments from Lehman on Cisco.
Durable goods orders for December rose 0.6%,
largely in-line. Jobless claims rose 7,000 to 325,000–less than expected. The
4-week moving average is now 341,750.
After the close, Microsoft
(
MSFT |
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PowerRating)
reported 0.32 vs a 0.33 consensus, missing by a penny. Revenues were $10.8
billion, above estimates. The company guide din-line for next quarter. Gilead
(
GILD |
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PowerRating) missed by 0.02; revenues were ahead of expectations. Sandisk
(
SNDK |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.15 and beat on revenues; the stocks traded up after hours.
The NYSE is discussing the possibility of opening
an hour earlier. The NYSE board and the SEC must approve all changes.
Bristol Myers
(
BMT |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.06, but Q4 earnings fell.
Dow Chemical
(
DOW |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.29. Q4 sales rose 31%.
Nokia
(
NOK |
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PowerRating) beat and raised guidance.
AT&T
(
T |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) may be in play, as the New York Times reports SBC Comm.
(
SBC |
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PowerRating) may buy Ma Bell for $16 billion.
The Iraq elections are on Sunday, and OPEC meets then as well. Next week,
look for the FOMC.
Strong sectors were: Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.10%, Natural Gas
(
XNG.X |
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News |
PowerRating) +1.03%, Semis
(
SOX.X |
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News |
PowerRating)
+0.90%.
Weak were: Homebuilders
(
HGX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.85%, Insurance
(
IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.74%.
| Dow | -31.41 | 10,467.18 |
| S&P 500 | +0.48 | 1174.55 |
| Nasdaq | +1.05 | 2047.15 |
The dollar was +0.15 at
83.45
Crude Oil was +0.12 at
48.90
Gold was -1.10 to 425.70
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1858 | Up Vol 833 |
| Declining | 1427 | Down Vol 600 |
| 1.30 | 1.38 | |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1472 | Up Vol 981 |
| Declining | 1558 | Down Vol 958 |
| 1.05 | 1.02 |
Brice Wightman