Why Monday May Be
Good For The Bulls
Stocks were mixed and mostly flat
on relatively light volume Monday as earnings from Lowe’s and
Wal-Mart soothed investors’ fears that consumers may be pulling back. Key
inflation data is due out later this week–wholesale inflation and retail
sales on Tuesday and the CPI on Wednesday.
The Overall Action Remains
Constructive
About today’s action, money manager
Rob Hanna stated the following:
"…After the quick
move up at the end of last week, the market quietly digested its gains today
with a slight pullback on low volume. The overall action remains
constructive…"
And, referring the the longer-term uptrend,
Hanna added:
"…Buying a market
that is short-term oversold in a long-term uptrend can be extremely
rewarding…"
Today’s Highlights
Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.57, which included a
0.02 charge. Back to school sales were strong. (full
story)
Lowe’s
(
LOW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.04 and issued upside
guidance for 2006. Q3 earnings rose 26%. (full
story)
Strong sectors were: Oil Services
(
OSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.25%
Oil
(
XOI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.12% Internet
(
GIN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.02%
Weak sectors were:
Gold
(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.2 Drugs
(
DRG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.12% Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.92%
|
|
+11.45 |
10,697.49 |
| -1.58 |
2200.89 | |
| -0.88 |
1233.84 |
More stocks on the move:
Knight Ridder
(
KRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will explore strategic
alternatives with Goldman Sachs. (full
story)
Koch Industries will buy Georgia Pacific
(
GP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for $13.2 billion, or $48/share.
Starwood
(
HOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is selling 38 hotels to Host
Marriot
(
HMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced a “Red Tag” sales
program cars and light trucks; the program extends through January 3 and
includes Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Pontiac.
IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) increased its IPO to
16 million shares at $24-$26/share, up from 10 million shares at $18-$10.
Hugh Hefner purchased over 140,000 shares of Playboy
(
PLA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) this week, and on Friday the company said it will increase the cover
price by $1 in February and expand into the Ukraine and Argentina.
Brice Wightman