This Company Never Misses — But It Did Today
Stocks were lower Tuesday
after Eliot Spitzer widened his investigation to include health insurers.
Health insurers were lower after the Hartford
Courant reported Cigna
(
CI |
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PowerRating) and Aetna
(
AET |
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PowerRating) have
received subpoenas from Eliot Spitzer’s office. The New York Post
reported that Spitzer’s office was widening the insurance probe. United
Health
(
UNH |
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PowerRating) is down 9%, Humana
(
HUM |
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PowerRating) is off 8%, and
Anthem
(
ATH |
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PowerRating) is 8% lower. Some traders are angry at Eliot Spitzer,
saying he is causing more harm than good. The lack of information makes the
situation ripe for rumors. The California Department of Insurance is beginning
its own investigation.
Technology stocks started the day higher on a
good report from IBM and Texas Instruments yesterday. IBM reported $1.17,
beating by 0.03; revenues were $23.4 billion, in-line. IBM closed
at 89.28, +3.36. Texas
Instruments
(
TXN |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported 0.32 vs. a 0.27 estimate; revenue was $3.25
billion. The Semiconductor book-to-bill ratio fell to .0.96 in September.
Ford
(
F |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported 0.28, beating by 0.14. Its strong finance arm offset
losses in autos.
The Consumer Price Index for September rose 0.2%, as
expected, but the Core CPI increased more than expected, up 0.3%, its fastest
pave in five months. Housing starts fell 0.6%, and building permits rose +1.8%.
After the close, Motorola
(
MOT |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported
0.20, beating by 0.01, on $8.62 billion revenues, a little light. The company
guided slightly lower. Electronic Arts
(
ERTS |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported $0.31 vs. a
0.35 estimate. Net income was $97 million; the company lowered guidance. Note:
ERTS rarely misses on earnings.
| Dow | -58.70 | 9897.62 |
| S&P 500 | -10.78 | 1103.24 |
| Nasdaq | -13.62 | 1922.90 |
Strong sectors were: Semis
(
SOX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.02%, Brokers
(
XBD.X |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) +0.96%, Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.56%.
Weak sectors were:Â Healthcare
Providers
(
HMO.X |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), -9.37%, Insurance
(
IUX.X |
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News |
PowerRating) -3.36% and
Airlines
(
XAL.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.72%.
10-year notes were: -040
at 113 035
The dollar was -0.18 at
86.85
Gold was +4.70 at 419.90
Crude Oil was -0.19 at 52.65
1.69 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1144 | Up Vol 466 |
| Declining | 2127 | Down Vol 1139 |
| Ratio | 1.85 | 2.44 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1179 | Up Vol 684 |
| Declining | 1912 | Down Vol 924 |
| Ratio | 1.62 | 1.35 |
Stocks in the News
Altria Group
(
MO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted a higher quarterly profit of 1.29/share.
McDonald’s
(
MCD |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.61, in-line.
Boston Scientific
(
BSX |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line at 0.47; Q3 sales rose 69%.
Ameritrade
(
AMTD |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.03 but was light on revenues.
Taser
(
TASR |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04, reporting 0.19, and raised 2004
revenue guidance.
Wells Fargo
(
WFC |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) missed by 0.14. Mortgage revenues fell 40%.
Stanley Works
(
SWK |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) beat the street and guided higher.
Brice Wightman