Stocks Lower As Fed Raises Rates
Stocks fell Tuesday after the Fed raised
rates by 1/4 point to 4%, the 12th straight increase.
 The Fed said in their statement that core inflation has
been relatively low, that hurricanes temporarily depressed output, and that
long-term inflation expectations remain contained.
The ISM Index was 59.1 in October, higher than expected, vs. 59.4 in
September. Construction spending was +0.5%, in-line.
November starts the best 6-month period for the stock
market, historically speaking.
Dell
(
DELL |
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PowerRating) guided lower for Q3, saying they see
earnings at the low end of prior guidance; they now see revenues near $13.9
billion. The stock traded to its lowest level since May 2003. DELL fell 8%.
Clorox
(
CL |
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PowerRating) was in-line at 0.67; revenues rose 8%
year/year.
Proctor & Gamble
(
PG |
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PowerRating) beat by a penny.
Bush asked Congress for a total of $7.1
billion for pandemic prevention.
Car sales are at their lowest level since 1998.
Ford’s
(
F |
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PowerRating) October sales fell 26%, more than expected. SUV sales fell
50% for the month. Ford stock has fallen 15 of the last 17 months. GM
sales fell 22%, more than anticipated, and Moody’s lowered GM’s credit rating
deeper into junk territory–to B1 from Ba1. Chrysler’s US sales
fell 3.1%.
Strong sectors were:Â Â Oil Services
(
OSX |
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PowerRating) +1.56%Â Â Â Internet
(
GIN |
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PowerRating) +1.35%Â Â Â
Healthcare
(
HMO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.67%Â Â Â Â Â Â
Weak sectors were:Â Â Â
Computer Hardware
(
HWI |
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PowerRating) -2.18%Â Â Â Â Utilities
(
UTY |
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PowerRating) -2.03%Â Â Â Â Â Gold
(
XAU |
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PowerRating) -1.79%
|
|
-32.34 | 10,407.73 |
| -6.26 | 2114.04 | |
| -4.30 | 1202.71 |
More stocks on the move:
Chesapeake
(
CHK |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.04, ex-items; revenues
were better than expected.
BJ Services
(
BJS |
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PowerRating) reported 0.41, missing by a
penny. Q4 profits rose, but the company missed 21 days of business in the
quarter due to the hurricanes.
Sirius Satellite
(
SIRI |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.02 and guided
higher for fiscal 2005. On CNBC, Jim Cramer said he thinks the stock will hit
$7 by year end and that he likes the stock better than XMSR.
OSI Pharmaceuticals
(
OSIP |
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PowerRating) reported a
narrower-than-expected loss of (0.39), beating by a penny; revenues doubled to
$34 million.
Masco
(
MAS |
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PowerRating) and Martin Marietta
(
MLM |
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PowerRating) both warned, and said they had to increase prices to offset higher
costs.
Brice Wightman
Â