Stocks Surge, Oil Jumps, Fed Negative

  • March 4, 2009
  • Dave Goodboy

Stocks surged today on renewed hope of a mortgage bailout plan helping consumers maintain ownership. Oil and other commodities jumped up on news that China may institute measures to boost economic growth. The stock surge occurred despite extremely negative sentiment from the Fed regarding a quick improvement in the economy. The DJIA climbed +149.82 to 6815.84, the Nasdaq advanced +32.73 to 1353.74 and the S&P 500 added +16.54 to 712.87.

Blockbuster
(
BBI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) – The injured video rental chain vocally denied rumors of an impending bankruptcy sending shares sharply higher. The stock surged 109.09% or 0.24 cents to 0.46 cents on the news.

MetLife
(
MET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) – Despite being cut by Standard & Poors, shares in this life insurer bounced back 7.29% or $1.00 to $14.72/share.

AutoZone
(
AZO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) – Beat analysts estimates of fiscal second quarter profits sending the stock higher by 2.22% or $3.35 to $154.29/share.

Joy Global
(
JOYG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) – Jumped 10.73% or $1.70 to $17.55/share after China’s growth statements triggered a rally in industrial/mining stocks.

Oil advanced $3.73 t0 $45.17, Gold fell $6.90 to $906.70 and the fear VIX index declined 6.62% to 47.56.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 +149.82 6875.84

NASDAQ

 +32.73 1353.74

S&P 500

 +16.54 712.87

Economic
News

Personal Income (Jan): Consensus: -0.2%, Prior: -0.2%

Personal Spending (Jan): Consensus: 0.4%, Prior: -1.0%

Core PCE (Jan): Consensus: 0.1%, Prior: 0.0%

Construction Spending (Jan): Consensus: -1.5%, Prior: -1.4%

ISM Index (Feb): Consensus: 33.8, Prior: 35.6

Pending Home Sales (Jan): Consensus: -3.0%, Prior: -6.3%

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

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

ADP Employment Change (Feb): Consensus: -613K, Prior: -522K

ISM Services (Feb): Consensus: 41.3, Prior: 42.9

Crude Inventories (Feb 27): Consensus: NA, Prior: 717K

Fed Beige Book: Consensus: NA, Prior: NA

Productivity-Rev. (Q4): Consensus: 1.6%, Prior: 3.2%

Unit Labor Costs (Q4): Consensus: 3.4%, Prior: 1.8%

Initial Claims (Feb 28): Consensus: NA, Prior: 667K

Factory Orders (Jan): Consensus: -2.1%, Prior: -3.9%

Average Workweek (Feb): Consensus: 33.3, Prior: 33.3

Hourly Earnings (Feb): Consensus: 0.3%, Prior: 0.3%

Nonfarm Payrolls (Feb): Consensus: -615K, Prior: -598K

Unemployment Rate (Feb): Consensus: 7.9%, Prior: 7.6%

Consumer Credit (Jan): Consensus: -$4.0B, Prior: -$6.6B