Who Benefits From The Medicare Plan?
The market
is taking a breather on some excellent economic data.
GDP was revised to 8.2%, 1% above the original 7.2%. Consumer confidence also
jumped 10 points to 91.7, signaling continued optimism for recovering economy.
The Senate approved the most drastic changes to Medicare since its creation in
1965. The program, which kicks in in 2006, is seen as boosting drug sales and
lifting insurers and hospitals. Medical equipment makers may not fare as well,
as under the plan prices of some products will be frozen.
Washington Mutual
(
WM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is selling its finance division to Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)] for $1.25 billion. The finance unit concentrates on consumer installment
and real estate-secured loans in the Southeastern and Southwestern states, with
$4.1 billion in assets.
| Dow | -0.04% | 9744.87 |
| S&P 500 | +0.02% | 1052.10 |
| Nasdaq | +0.01% | 1947.11 |
The day’s leading sectors are
Oil Service Sector
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.98%, Internet
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.58%, Gold and Silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.49%, Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.15%.
Weak today are
Pharmaceuticals
(
DRG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.42%,
Healthcare
(
$HCX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.95% and Biotechs
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.81%.
Economic news releases for
today included a much higher revised GDP number of 8.2% for the third quarter.
Consumer confidence jumped up to 91.7, and existing home sales dipped to 6.35
million.
10-year Notes are +85
at 113 155.
The dollar
is +0.07 at 91.66.
Gold is -0.04 at 391.11.
Crude Oil is -0.06 at
32.86.
Volume is 615,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 969,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2044 | Up Vol 392 |
| Declining | 1023 | Down Vol 171 |
| Ratio | 2.01 | 5.4 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1691 | Up Vol 601 |
| Declining | 1262 | Down Vol 245 |
| Ratio | 1.34 | 2.47 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Caterpillar [CAT|CAT],
+2.12% at 74.83, Du Pont
(
DD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
0.94% at 40.36, Disney [DIS|DIS],
+0.83% at 23.01, and Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.81% at 47.10.
Stocks in the news:
Novellus
(
NVLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
upgraded its fourth-quarter guidance, citing improved worldwide demand. It now
expects orders to rise 25% to $275 million, with revenue flat around $220
million. Earnings for the next quarter would be at the higher end of the
range.
Deere
(
DE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted a
net income of $70.6 million on a 14% increase in revenue. Revenue rose to $3.94
billion, thanks to a weak dollar. Favorable foreign currency helped boost
worldwide sales outside of North America by 19%.
Xerox
(
XRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received
upgrades from Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers after announcing net income
would rise by 35%. It expects earnings for year 2004 to be in the 67 cents to 72
cents range, with earnings for 2005 in the 90 cents to $1 range.
Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is down after the company
announced plans to buy the digital printing unit of Israel-based Scitex for $250
million. It expects Scitex to add $190 million in revenue for the first year.
Scitex had reported sales of $157 million in 2002 and through the third-quarter,
sales were at $128 million.
If you have any comments or questions, please
feel free to email me.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com