Weak Retail Sales Data Sparks Decline

  • May 10, 2007
  • Darren Wong

The major indices fell today on disappointing
retail sales data from major retailers.  The Nasdaq lost
1.7%, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.4%, and the Dow dropped 1.1%.

June crude futures rose 0.4% to
$61.81 per barrel. 
June gold futures ended lower by 2.3% to $668.00 an ounce. 
The drop in gold comes as a result of the strength in the dollar
today.

Around Europe, Germany’s DAX Index
lost 0.8% to close at 7,415.33, France’s CAC 40 ended lower by
0.6% to 6,012.76, and Britain’s FTSE 100 Index lost 0.4%.


The bearish theme from our

PowerRatings Heat Map is starting to play out.  The large amount of
reds versus greens on the map warned us that the recent rally may
be due for a short term correction.  Watch for continuing
weakness in the following sectors- Transportation, Metals/Mining, Manufacturing, and
Energy.


Click here to see our new list of indicators that includes

Gaps Down 5% or More,

2-Period RSI Below 2,

Stocks Up 10% or More.  Historically proven edges make
these a great place to start making a watch list. 


Stocks in
Motion

Wal-Mart’s
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) April Comps. Slips 3.5%, Guides
May, Q2 Comps (full
story). WMT shares fell by 0.4%.

Gap
(
GPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
April Comp. Falls 16%, Net Sales Down 11%; Q1 Sales Rise 3%, Beats Estimate;
Guides Q1 EPS (full
story).  GPS shares lost 0.6%.

Target
(
TGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) April Net Sales Slip 1.8%; Comp. Drops
6.1%; Backs FY07 Outlook (full
story).  TGT shares fell 0.7%.

Whole Foods
Market
(
WFMI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q2 Earnings Fall (full
story).  WFMI shares slid 10%.

Sara Lee
(
SLE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q3 Profit Surges On Top Line Growth,
Absence Of Charges; Lifts FY07 EPS Outlook (full
story).  SLE shares lost 0.3%.

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

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -147.74 13,215.13

NASDAQ

 -42.60 2,533.74

S&P 500

 -21.11 1,491.47

 

 NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

 2,939,182,000 2,237,586,000

Advances

 740 676

Declines

 2497 2398

Up Volume

 308 317

Down Volume

 2471 1855

New Highs

 144 118

New Lows

 34 87


   



Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors
Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payors Index (HMO) GSTI Internet Index (GIN)
S&P Insurance Index (IUX) Amex Disk Drive Index (DDX)
GSTI Services Index (GSV) Amex Gold Bugs Index (HUI)


Economic
News

Trade Balance
-$63.9 bln vs -$59.5 bln consensus

Initial Claims
297K vs 315K consensus

Export Prices ex Ag. +0.4%, prior 0.6%

Import Prices ex Oil +2.9%, prior +0.3%

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com