These Were The Top Trading Stories In 2004
Stocks were mixed on low volume as traders wind down
the year.
Chicago PMI was 61.2 vs 63 consensus. Jobless claims for
the week ending 12/25 fell to 5,000 to 326,000; economists were expecting a rise
of 2000. The 4-week moving average fell 6000 to 333,500
Continental Airlines
(
CAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will buy 10 Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) 7E7
Dreamliners in a deal worth $1 billion.
The New York Times reports that the Pentagon plans to buy fewer LPD-17
landing craft, made by Northrup Grumman
(
NOC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). The intraday low on
NOC appears to have bounced off the 10/4/04 swing high.
Fannie Mae
(
FNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it priced two preferred stock
placements–value: $5 billion.
Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said Celebrex prescriptions fell 56% last week after
a study linked the drug to heart attacks and stroke. Naproxen (Aleve)
sales fell 33%
In a survey of traders, these were the top trading stories in 2004:
1. the election
2. China/commodities
3. weak dollar
4. too many hedge funds
5. lack of volatility
6. Eliot Spitzer
7. growth of ETFs/program trading
Morningstar’s “Value Destroyers” for 2004 are:
| Stock | Amount ($) | Percent |
| Pfizer | 70 billion | 26 |
| Intel | 61 billion | 29 |
| Cisco | 40 billion | 24 |
| Merck | 32 billion | 31 |
“Value Creators” for 2004 are:
| Stock | Amount ($) | Percent |
| GE | 75 billion | 24 |
| Exxon Mobil | 57 billion | 21 |
| Johnson&Johnson | 35 billion | 23 |
Strong sectors were:Â Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.06%,
Retail
(
RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.28%, Brokers
(
XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.34%
Weak sectors were: Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.64% ,
Cyclicals
(
CYC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.37%.
Â
| Dow | -28.89 | 10,800.30 |
| S&P 500 | +0.10 | 1213.55 |
| Nasdaq | +1.34 | 2,178.34 |
The dollar was -0.42 at
80.60
Crude Oil was -0.29 at
43.45
Gold was +1.00 to 437
1.39 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1971 | Up Vol 454 |
| Declining | 1284 | Down Vol 289 |
| Ratio | 1.53 | 1.57 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1682 | Up Vol 886 |
| Declining | 1386 | Down Vol 420 |
| Ratio | 1.21 | 2.10 |
Stocks in the News
Lehman Bros. trimmed estimates for Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Computer Sciences
(
CSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced $427 in federal contracts.
Sanmina
(
SANM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided Q4 lower, from 0.02 to 0.01.
CoTherix
(
CTRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said the FDA approved Vetavis for hypertension.
This Day in History
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1972 Nixon halted bombing of North Vietnam
Brice Wightman