Whoa! Up $10 After The Close
Stocks were higher ahead
of the Fed, which begins its 2-day meeting today; economists are
expecting a sixth rate hike.
The ISM Index came in at 56.4 for January vs.
57.3 in December; the figure was lower than expected. Any number above 50
indicates expansion. Construction spending came in higher than expected, at
+1.1%.
Corporate America is flush with cash–and they
are buying companies, buying back their own shares and increasing dividends.
Avon will buy back 5% of its outstanding shares; American Standard, 4.7%, and
Ball Corp., 2.6%. Thirty-six companies in the S&P 500 raised their dividend in
January.
Disney (DIS)
reported after the bell, 0.34 vs. a 0.29 estimate. Revenues were $8.67 billion
vs a $8.59 billion estimate. DIS is making a new high.
Avon
(
AVP |
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PowerRating) was in-line and raised its quarterly dividend to 16.5
cents per share and said it would buy back $1 billion in stock over the next 5
years.
Ingersoll Rand
(
IR |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.08. Sales rose 9%.
CSFB raised its opinion on the chip sector.
After the bell, Google
(
GOOG |
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PowerRating)
reported 0.85 vs a 0.77 consensus estimate. Revenues were $634 million vs. a
$590 million estimate. Google commands 40% of the search market. Forty-eight percent
of the revenue came from non-Google websites. The company has not provided any
guidance. The stock rallied over 10 points after the close. Microsoft
officially rolls out its competing search engine today.
Strong sectors were: Oil
(
XOI.X |
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PowerRating)
+1.78%Â Semis
(
SOX.X |
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PowerRating) +1.12%Â Banks
(
BIX.X |
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PowerRating)
+1.19%Â
Weak sectors were: Internet
(
GIN.X |
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-1.01%Â Retail
(
RLX.X |
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PowerRating) -0.30%Â
| Dow | +124.74 | 10,551.94 |
| S&P 500 | +8.13 | 1189.40 |
| Nasdaq | +6.29 | 2068.70 |
The dollar was -0.12 at
83.49
Crude Oil was -1.03 at
47.17
Gold was -1.00 to 420.80
793 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2008 | Up Vol 391 |
| Declining | 1104 | Down Vol 202 |
| 1.81 | 1.93 | |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1582 | Up Vol 424 |
| Declining | 1327 | Down Vol 295 |
| 1.19 | 1.43 |
Stocks in the News
Emerson
(
EMR |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.01
Ariba (ARBA)
missed by 0.02 and missed on revenues.
Avanex (AVNX)
missed by 0.01.
Internet Security (ISSX)
beat by 0.02.
Tyco
(
TYC |
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PowerRating) reported net profit fell but matched estimates.
Paccar
(
PCAR |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.03 and beat on revenues.
Boston Scientific
(
BSX |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.01 on an adjusted basis. Net
sales rose 70%.
Pfizer
(
PFE |
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PowerRating) is in focus after a New York Times article
raising new Celebrex concerns.
Brice Wightman