S&P 500 1,134.48 -.06%
NASDAQ 1,955.50 +.16%
Leading Sectors
Energy +1.10%
Hospitals +.94%
Software +.75%
Lagging Sectors
Biotech -1.43%
Homebuilders -2.25%
Airlines -2.90%
Other
Crude Oil 51.10 +.02%
Natural Gas 7.11 -.75%
Gold 420.60 +.19%
Base Metals 120.36 +.28%
U.S. Dollar 88.17 -.24%
10-Yr. T-note Yield 4.17% +.23%
VIX 13.95 +4.03%
Put/Call .81 -2.41%
NYSE Arms 1.38 +97.14%
After-hours Movers
OTEX -17.7% after lowering 1Q estimates.
ZRAN -12.9% after lowering 3Q forecasts.
PRGO +3.9% after announcing that it has received approval from the U.S. FDA to market over-the-counter nicotine polacrilex gum and prescription ibuprofen oral suspension.
Recommendations
Goldman Sachs reiterated Underperform on ATI. Goldman reiterated Outperform on CSCO, PHCC and HEW.
After-hours News
U.S. stocks finished quietly mixed today as rising energy prices dampened optimism over better economic growth. After the close, News Corp. Chairman Murdoch offered to change the company's constitution to appease investors opposed to his plan to move the company to the U.S., the Australian Financial Review reported. Iran's missiles can reach as far as 1,243 miles and the country may continue to increase the range of the weapons, former President Rafsanjani said. Fannie Mae CEO Raines will defend the company's accounting practices at a congressional hearing tomorrow, the Financial Times reported. Yum! Brands, operator of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurant chains, said third-quarter earnings rose 13% and it would beat its annual forecast, boosted by higher sales in China, Bloomberg reported. Mutual fund manager Bill Miller disclosed that his Legg Mason Value Trust has acquired almost 6% of Google's common shares, Bloomberg said.
BOTTOM LINE: The Portfolio finished unchanged today as my rising steel and internet longs were offset by my falling biotech and retail longs. I did not trade in the afternoon, thus leaving the Portfolio 125% net long. Considering another major U.S. company, Chiron(CHIR), took a significant hit and oil breached $51/bbl. today, U.S. stocks turned in a pretty good showing. Today's ISM Non-manufacturing report, while lower than expectations, showed another decline in inflationary pricing and an improving employment outlook. This is especially encouraging considering the affects the record-setting hurricanes had on the service industries in the South. I continue to believe the U.S. economy is accelerating from its 3.3% growth in the second quarter to around 4% in the third quarter and 5% in the fourth quarter. This should allow many companies to beat lowered 4Q estimates.
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