S&P 500 Hits 4 Year High, Small Caps Hit New All-Time High

Stocks shook off disappointing numbers from GM,
Intel and Eastman Kodak to close positive. Alan Greenspan said the
Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates at a measured pace due to
the US economy being in a sustained expansion. Greenspan also warned of
“speculative fervor” in the housing market.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit 4 year highs today, while the Russell 2000
closed at a new all-time high.

With earnings season in full swing some of the stocks
contributing most to today’s turnaround were in the Biotech and Transportation
sectors. The Dow Jones Transportation Index closed +3.39%.

Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 15.10% at $81.17 after
increasing 2005 profit forecast.

CNF Transport Inc
(
CNF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +6.81% closed at a new
all-time high, while Burlington Northern
(
BNI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.43%,
Yellow Corp
(
YELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +5.19%, UPS
(
UPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.77% and Stryker
Corp
(
SYK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +7.05% helped push the market higher.

 

Strong sectors were:  Biotechnology
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+4.22%   Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.49%  
Semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.70%

Weak sectors were:   Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.44%  
Healthcare
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.07%   Networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.71%  

 

QUALCOMM Inc.
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and eBAY Inc.
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings
after the close beat analyst expectations. QCOM earnings 0.28 vs. 0.25 estimate,
revenues 1.36 billion vs. 1.31 billion estimate and 2005 forecast increased.
EBAY earnings 0.22 vs. 0.18 estimate, revenues 1.09 billion vs. 1.04 billion
estimate.

 

GM
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a Q2 loss of $286 million and falling revenues. GM
shares closed down -1.06%.

Intel {INTC|INTC] Q2 profits increased to 0.33 but the company failed
to increase full-year gross margin forecasts. Intel shares down 3.04%.

Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a Q2 loss of 0.51. Profit excluding
some expenses was 0.53 vs. analyst expectations of 0.81. Kodak closed down
1.99%.