TradingMarkets Mid-Day Movers

The indices were propelled sharply higher this morning, continuing the
positive momentum from 2006. 

Wal-Mart Stores
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
led the Dow this morning after reporting a higher
than expected rise in December same-store sales.  Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is
also leading the blue chip index after announcing a management shakeup as chief
executive Robert Nardelli has resigned and will be replaced by Vice Chairman
Frank Blake. 


The price of gold turned higher in early
trading, but was quickly reversed and is now holding near even.  February
delivery is currently at $636.60 an ounce after hitting $647.40 earlier in the
session.


Crude for February delivery moved lower
through the morning session currently at $58.90 a barrel, down over 3.5%. 
Mild weather continues to hold back demand in oil.


From a quick glance at our new
PowerRatings
Heat Maps*,
we are continuing to see overall weakness in the market with the Drug,
Telecommunications, and Metals/Mining sectors showing the most weakness. 
No particular sector is looking particularly strong at this point.

Stocks on the Move

Nabors
(
NBR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Sees Q4 EPS Below Street View On Weaker-than-expected
Lower 48 And Canadian Operations (full
story
).  NBR shares drop over 6% in early trading.

Boston Scientific
(
BSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Reveals Positive Results From Implantable
Cardioverter Defibrillator Study (full
story
).  BSX shares fall by 1.4%.

Lennar
(
LEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Sees Loss For Q4 On Impairment Charges; MW Housing
Partners To Buy 62% Stake In LandSource JV (full
story
).  LEN shares fall by 2.7%.

Nucor
(
NUE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
To Acquire Harris Steel In US$1.07 Bln Cash Deal (full
story
).  NUE shares rise by 0.9%.

International Paper
(
IP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Strengthens Balance Sheet By More Than
$7Bln Since Undertaking Transformation Plan In Mid-2005 (full
story
).  IP shares rise by 1.7%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow


+111.11

12,574.26

NASDAQ

+36.39

2,451.68

S&P 500


+9.70

1,428.00

NYSE


NASDAQ

Volume


1,573,320,000

1,066,152,000

Advances


2143

1998

Declines


1127

1025

Up Volume


902

827

Down Volume


468

143

New Highs


291

131


New Lows


23

24


Strongest/Weakest Sectors



Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors

Amex Airline Index (XAL)


Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI)

Nasdaq Transportation Index (TRANX)

Deutsche Bank Energy Index (DXE)

Amex Networking Index (NWX)

CBOE Oil Index (OIX)


Economic News

ISM Index 51.4 vs 50.0 consensus

Construction Spending -0.2% vs -0.6% consensus

Darren Wong
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com



P.S.

Click here
to use PowerRatings to identify stocks that could potentially
move higher in the next few days.


* PowerRatings Heat Maps is a powerful tool, which can help you make sense of
the markets in an instant.  For a free trial to PowerRatings Heat Maps
click
here
.Â