Yes, More IPOs! And Here’s Friday’s Roster, Too
Stocks were higher Thursday,
as favorable economic data and quadruple witching
tomorrow lifted stocks. The Dow has now made six straight closes above 10,000,
and a fresh 19-month high. Goldman Sachs’ John Thain is the NYSE’s new CEO,
salary: $4 million a year. In
accordance with NYSE governance reform, the posts of CEO and chairman will be
separate. Weekly jobless claims dropped by 22,000 to 353,000. Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported earnings that nearly doubled to $1.89 per share. Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat analysts’ estimates by earnings 94 cents per share. Crude
continued its uptrend, hitting a 52-week high of $33 a barrel, with major oil
companies such as Exxon-Mobil
(
XOM |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Chevron
(
CVX |
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News |
PowerRating),
Valero
(
VLO |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and BP
(
BP |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) following suit. Other 52-week highs
included Siebel
(
SEBL |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Yellow Freight
(
YELL |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and
Tech Data
(
TECD |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Orbitz
(
ORBZ |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
made a new low after its debut yesterday, closing down 8% to 23.01. In other IPO
action, Tempur-Pedic (TPX) came at $14 and closed at $15.40. Â Pharmaceutical
company Marshall Edwards (MSHL)MSHL) gained 19%, and Franklin Bank
(FTBX) rose 25%. Salesforce.com — considered one of the hotter tickets
along with Google — filed for a $115 million offering. Friday, look for
IPOs from Kintera (KNTA), Acorda Therapeutics (ACRD) and Luminent Mortgage
Capital Inc.(MBS).
| Dow | +102.82 |
10248.08 |
| S&P 500 | +12.69 |
1089.17 |
| Nasdaq | +34.85 |
1956.18 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Oil Service
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +4.47%, Semis [SOX.X|SOX.X]
+3.98%, Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.16%, and Internet
(
ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+3.39%.
Weak today were Amex Gold
Bugs [HUI.X|HUI.X] -1.09%, and Gold
and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.70%.
Economic news releases included
Initial Claims falling 22k to 353k, and Leading Indicators rising by 0.3% in
November. The Philadelphia Fed reading came in at 32.1, and said that “most
indicators pointed to continued expansion.”
The dollar
was -0.16 at 87.78
Gold was -0.09 at 410.26
Crude Oil was +0.31 at
33.75
Volume was
1,559,503,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,701,339,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2425 | Up Vol 1257 |
| Declining | 847 | Down Vol 201 |
| Ratio | 2.86 | 6.25 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 2151 | Up Vol 1397 |
| Declining | 1019 | Down Vol 269 |
| Ratio | 2.11 | 5.19 |
Stocks in the news:
After the close, Nike
(
NKE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported
Q2 earnings of .66, beating the .61 estimate, with earnings +16% and revenues
+13%.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(
MGM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is in merger
talks with Time Warner
(
TWX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). MGM had an asking price of $7 billion
when it was last up for grabs in 2002, with no takers.
Activision
(
ATVI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) raised its
third-quarter and 2004 forecasts on strong holiday sales. It upped earnings to
67 cents a shares on revenues of $480 million, above previous forecasts of 45
cents. ATVI traded 15% higher.
After reporting disappointing sales for the
holiday season, Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finally got some good news as UBS
(
UBS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) upgraded it to buy from neutral. UBS said it believes the low-pricing
strategy might lead to better gross margins in 2004. It raised Walmart’s yearly
forecast by 2 pennies to $2.33, but lowered its fourth-quarter earnings by a
penny.
Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
recorded a 33% increase in earnings to $100.5 million for the
third-quarter. Sales rose to $1.17 billion, up 26% from the year-ago period.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com