Stocks Surge, Home Sales Strong, Rate Increase Advised

Stocks shrugged off suggestions from the Fed of a pending future rate increase by surging higher on this first trading day of the month. Strong home sales surprised even the most bullish economist with a 3.7% monthly gain despite a falling U.S. dollar. Good news from China’s manufacturing sector added to the optimistic tone of the day. The DJIA advanced +126.74 to 10471.58, the tech heavy Nasdaq marched higher by +31.21 to 2175.81 and the broad based S&P 500 powered ahead by +13.23 to 1108.86.

Staples
(
SPLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
: The giant office supply retail firm advanced 4.85% or $1.13 to $24.45/share after beating 3rd quarter estimates.

Boston Private Financial Holdings
(
BPFH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
: Obtained an upgrade to “buy” at Suntrust Robinson, sending shares higher by 13.01% or 61 cents to $5.30.

American International Group
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
: Restructured $25 billion in Federal debt bringing in the bulls climbing 8.77% or $2.49 to $30.97/share.

Guess?
(
GES |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
: Added 12.96% or $4.80 to $41.85/share upon forecasting a 2010 profit beating estimates.

Gold advanced $17.90 to $1200.00, oil added $1.09 to $78.28 and the VIX index collapsed 10.40% to 21.96.

Hunting for Leveraged ETF trading strategies? Larry Connors’ Daily Battle Plan targets some of the best ETF trades, providing both entry and exit signals. Claim Your 7 Day Free Trial Now – Click Here.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+126.74 10471.58

NASDAQ

+31.21 2175.81

S&P 500

+13.23 1108.86

Economic
News

Chicago PMI (Nov): Consensus: 53.3, Prior: 54.2

Construction Spending (Oct): Consensus: -0.4, Prior: 0.8%

ISM Index (Nov): Consensus: 54.8, Prior: 55.7

Pending Home Sales (Oct): Consensus: -0.5, Prior: 6.1%

Auto Sales (Nov): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Truck Sales (Nov): Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Challenger Job Cuts (Nov): Consensus: NA, Prior: -50.7%

ADP Employment Report (Nov): Consensus: -148K, Prior: -203K

Crude Inventories (11/27): Consensus: NA, Prior: 1.02M

Fed Beige Book: Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Initial Claims (11/28): Consensus: 483K, Prior: 466K

Continuing Claims (11/21): Consensus: 5517K, Prior: 5423K

Productivity-Rev. (Q3): Consensus: 8.5%, Prior: 9.5%

Employment Cost Index (Q4): Consensus: NA, Prior: 0.4%

ISM Services (Nov): Consensus: 51.5, Prior: 50.6

Nonfarm Payrolls (Nov): Consensus: -114K, Prior: -190K

Unemployment Rate (Nov): Consensus: 10.2%, Prior: 10.2%

Average Workweek (Nov): Consensus: 33.1, Prior: 33.0

Hourly Earnings (Nov): Consensus: 0.2%, Prior: 0.3%

Factory Orders (Oct): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.9%