Stocks get a lift on Rita downgrade
Stocks rose Thursday after
Rita was downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane and oil prices fell. Crude fell
to $66.50/barrel.
Jobless claims rose 8,000 to 432,000–the
highest level since July 2003. The Conference Board’s index of leading
indicators fell 0.2% in August
After the close, 3Com
(
COMS |
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PowerRating) reported
0.11, ex-items, and guided higher. PalmOne
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PALM |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.04 and
issued in-line guidance. The stocks traded lower after hours.
ElectroScientific
(
ESIO |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.04 Starbucks
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SBUX |
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PowerRating)
announced an additional 5 million share stock buyback. Alcoa
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AA |
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PowerRating)
guided lower and now sees $0.27 – $0.31 vs. the consensus $0.44. Tibco
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TIBX |
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PowerRating)
beat by a penny. Lockheed Martin
(
LMT |
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PowerRating) increased the amount of their
share repurchase program, adding 45 million shares. The company also boosted its
dividend 20% to $0.30. Electroglas
(
EGLS |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.13.
Strong Sectors were:
Retail
(
RLX |
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PowerRating) +2.69% Airlines
(
XAL |
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PowerRating)
+1.97% Chemicals
(
CEX |
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PowerRating) +0.56%
Weak sectors were: Oil
Services
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OSX |
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PowerRating)
-1.29% Oil
(
XOI |
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PowerRating)
-1.10% Gold
(
XAU |
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PowerRating)
-0.93%
|
|
+44.02 | 10,422.05 |
| +4.14 | 2110.78 | |
| +4.42 | 1214.62 |
Stocks in the news:
Fedex
(
FDX |
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PowerRating) reported 1.21, ex-items.
Earnings fell 83% on costs associated with its planned sale of its aircraft
leasing unit.
Autozone
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AZO |
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PowerRating)
missed by 0.24, ex-items.
Conagra
(
CAG |
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PowerRating) beat but revenues were
light. The company reaffirmed fiscal 2006 guidance.
Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
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PowerRating) raised Q4 revenue and
earnings guidance, now seeing 0.32 – 0.33 vs. the 0.30 consensus.
New York Times Co.
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NYT |
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PowerRating) warned for Q3
and now forecasts 0.43 – 0.44, down from 0.45 – 0.46.
Carmax
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KMX |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.02, beat on
revenues and guided higher for Q3.
Brice Wightman