TradingMarkets Mid-Day Movers
The major averages are all trading lower Thursday morning
pressured by earnings, Q4 guidance and politics. The NASDAQ indexes are leading
the decline, with the
(
NDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 0.80%. The US Dollar Index is trading
lower, while Treasuries are higher. Energy prices are lower following the
release of Natural Gas inventory data. Natural Gas Inventories rose 77 Bln.
Cubic Feet last week.
On the economic front; the Labor Department reported Initial
Jobless Claims fell to 328,000, better than the 340,000 forecast (more).
The Commerce Department reported Durable Goods Orders fell more than expected in
September. New Orders fell 2.1% versus expectations of a 1% fall (more).
New Home Sales rose 2.1% last month to 1.222 Mln.
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for more economic news and analysis.
In politics, President
George W. Bush announced on Thursday that White House Counsel Harriet Miers has
decided to withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court. The decision comes as
Miers has faced criticism from both right and left wing groups (full
story). Special Counsel in the CIA leak probe is expected to hand out
indictments this week and the uncertainty surrounding the news is also weighing
on traders minds.
Stocks On The Move
Among the stocks releasing earnings today were; Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
which reported Q3 EPS of $1.32 on revenues of $100.7 billion. The consensus
estimate was for EPS of $1.38 (more)
and Phelps Dodge
(
PD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which reported Q3 EPS of $3.61 on revenues of $2.36
billion. The consensus estimate was for EPS of $3.98 (more).
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for earnings announcements as the break throughout the trading day.
Earnings news is also sending a number of stocks to new
52-week highs. Express Scripts
(
ESRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Actuate
(
ACTU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) have each
jumped more than 10% to set their new peaks, while Janus Capital
(
JNS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Franklin Resources
(
BEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Applied Biosystems
(
ABI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) have also
established fresh highs following the release of their quarterly results.
Meanwhile, Applied Micro Circuits
(
AMCC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped to a new 52-week low on
its quarterly report. Cendant
(
CD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which has been falling since announcing
its plan to separate into 4 independent companies, has moved to a fresh nadir as
well. Blockbuster
(
BBI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is also adding to recent weakness to establish a new
low.
| Dow |
-41.71 | 10,303.27 |
| NASDAQ |
-14.25 | 2085.80 |
| S&P 500 |
-2.41 | 1188.97 |
| NYSE | NASDAQ | |
| Volume |
1,017,729,000 | 762,984,000 |
| Advances |
942 | 789 |
| Declines |
2090 | 1984 |
| Up Volume |
226 | 161 |
| Down Volume |
687 | 529 |
| New Hi’s |
28 | 33 |
| New Lo’s |
151 | 80 |
|
|
Weakest Sectors |
| Healthcare ( HMO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Networking ( NWX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Gold and Silver ( XAU | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Natural Gas ( XNG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Chemical ( CEX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Disk Drive ( DDX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Ashton Dorkins