Stocks Open Lower on Consumer Spending Data
The major indices are trading fractionally lower after the
Commerce Department’s report for March consumer spending showed an increase of
only 0.3% vs. expectations of 0.5%. Â
On the earnings front, Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported an 8.4%
drop in first-quarter profits, while revenues grew 6.4% to $22.58 billion.Â
Hilton Hotels
(
HLT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a 9% drop in first-quarter profits due
to renovation costs at a New York property.
Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced plans for a stock
buyback in its common shares of up to $6 billion. Merrill Lynch has
already repurchased nearly $4 billion worth of shares over the past year.
For more stocks
to watch, see
TradingMarkets 7 Trading Ideas for Today.
Today‘s
PowerRatings Heat Map continues to be moderately bearish, with very little
green to be found. The Energy sector continues to look the weakest since
it has had a major runup and long positions in this sector will carry higher
risk.Â
Today’s featured
list comes from our
PowerRatings
Top 10 Most Requested Stocks. These stocks have been the most
requested over the past 24Â hours.
For a free PowerRatings trial,
click here. If
you have any questions about PowerRatings or the new Stock Indicators please
feel free to email us or call 213-955-5858 ext 1.
Darren Wong
Associate Editor
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com
Reminder: We are in no
way recommending the purchase or short sale of these stocks. This article is
intended for education purposes only. Trading should be based on your own
understanding of market conditions, price patterns and risk; our information is
designed to contribute to your understanding.
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