Stocks End Mixed After Greenspan Talk
Stocks closed mixed
on Tuesday, gaining ground intraday as Alan Greenspan spoke.
The Fed chief said the U.S. economy was flexible enough to
withstand higher oil and gas prices. Traders were concerned he might focus
on inflationary concerns. Greenspan also said that asset prices fall after long
periods of risk taking, saying, "History cautions that extended periods of
low concern about credit risk have invariably been followed by reversal,
with an attendant fall in the prices of risky assets." Most economists fell he
is talking about the housing market.
In the first post-Katrina report, consumer
confidence fell more than expected, to 86.6 in September vs. 105.5 in
August. It was the lowest reading in nearly three years and the biggest drop in
15 years.
Source: September 2005 Consumer Confidence Index,
The Conference Board.
New home sales fell 9.9% in August to a
seasonally adjusted rate of 1.24 million.
After the close, Manugistics
(
MANU |
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by 0.02, ex-items. Paychex
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PAYX |
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Lennar
(
LEN |
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guided higher. New home orders rose 24% year over year in Q3.
The combined US Airways/America West began
trading on the NYSE today. Symbol: LCC. The stock closed at 19.29
Strong Sectors were:
Healthcare
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HMO |
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+1.07% Airlines
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XAL |
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+0.44% Utilities
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UTY |
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+0.30%
Weak sectors were:
Gold
(
XAU |
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(
SOX |
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-1.23% Computer Hardware
(
HWII |
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-1.11%
|
|
+12.58 | 10,456.21 |
| -5.04 | 2116.42 | |
| +0.03 | 1215.66 |
Stocks in the news:
Abercrombie & Fitch
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ANF |
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CSFB.
The SEC’s ongoing inquiry into Taser
(
TASR |
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PowerRating) is now a formal
probe. The SEC is investigating the possible manipulation of TASR’s stock price
through the use of unathorized non-public information by persons outside the
company.
Linens ‘n Things
(
LIN |
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PowerRating) was upgraded at Lehman Brothers, to equal
weight from underweight.
Jabil Circuit
(
JBL |
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PowerRating) beat
by a penny and issued in-line guidance.
XM Satellite Radio
(
XMSR |
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PowerRating) said it has surpassed the 5 million
subscriber mark and expects to exceed 6 million by the end of the year.
Brice Wightman