What Will This Year’s Flu Season Cost?
Stocks are higher Monday,
helped by lower oil prices.Â
OPEC said its output was the highest since the
1970s. It was a mixed picture on the earnings front.
3M
(
MMM |
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PowerRating) missed by a penny; Q3 profit was higher, but sales were
below expectations. Mattel
(
MAT |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.01 but sales and profits
were lower. Hasbro’s
(
HAS |
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PowerRating) reported 0.45 vs. 0.51; the company warned
for ’04.
This year’s flu season could cost $20 billion.
This according to Harvard economics professor David Cutler in The Wall Street
Journal today. A typical flu season costs between $13 -$15 billion. Human
resources firm ComPsych reports that 40% of people who don’t get fly shots miss
some work, as opposed to 20% for those who receive a flu shot.
| Dow | +5.09 | 9938.25 |
| S&P 500 | +4.12 | 1112.32 |
| Nasdaq | +17.37 | 1928.87 |
Strong sectors are: Biotech
(
BTK.X |
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PowerRating)
+1.378%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
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PowerRating) +1.39, Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.03%.
Weak sectors are:Â Airlines
(
XAL.X |
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PowerRating), -1.21% Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
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PowerRating) -1.15%.
10-year notes are: -065
at 113 010
Gold is -2.10 at 416.50
Crude Oil is -1.17 at 52.80
791 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1739 | Up Vol 360 |
| Declining | 1392 | Down Vol 285 |
| Ratio | 1.24 | 1.26 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1735 | Up Vol 608 |
| Declining | 1193 | Down Vol 144 |
| Ratio | 1.45 | 4.22 |
Stocks in the News
Forest Labs
(
FRX |
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PowerRating) reported higher quarterly profit, beating by
0.04.
Pfizer
(
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PowerRating) will sponsor a clinical trial to study the safety of
Celebrex.
Bristol Myers
(
BMY |
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PowerRating) said that its arthritis drug looked promising in
clinical trials.
Texas Instruments
(
TXN |
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PowerRating) will report after the bell; the estimate is
0.27.
Kraft
(
KFT |
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PowerRating) reports after the bell; the estimate is 0.45.
Lexmark
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PowerRating) beat by 0.02, with earnings up 50% from last year, but
the company warned for Q4.
Brice Wightman