Thursday, November 29, 2007

Market Summary 11-29-07 "Rally Day 3"

Index Last Change % Chg
DJ Industrials 13311.73 22.28 0.17%
Nasdaq Comp 2668.13 5.22 0.20%
S&P 500 1469.72 0.7 0.05%
DJ Wilshire 5K 14823.01 6.19 0.04%
Russell 2000 766.06 -3.98 -0.52%
Nasdaq 100 2102.42 7.03 0.34%

Comments: Markets eked out a small gain (except the Russell) on the 3rd day of its rally move. Tomorrow will be interesting as its the end of the week, end of the month and fiscal year end for investment banks. Also, the market will get to react to Bernanke's speech (he hints of cutting rates). My guess is that the market responds positively and there is another small gain tomorrow. Nasdaq 100 is sitting on a weekto-date comeback of 3.62% at close today. The other market indexes are firmly in the 2%+ range. Russell is the laggard, but positive on the week.

Issues NYSE Nasdaq Amex
Advancing 1,500 1,372 622
Declining 1,786 1,634 591
Unchanged 89 111 83
Total 3,375 3,117 1,296




New 52 WkHigh 53 47 29
New 52 WkLow 94 95 80




Total 1,328,282,470 2,113,484,651 23,638,414
Advancing 603,546,660 1,047,699,830 8,620,874
Declining 684,858,510 1,048,972,188 14,105,740
Unchanged 39,877,300 16,812,633 911,800

Futures Last Change
Crude Oil 91.05 0.04
Natural Gas 7.55 0.098
Gold, Feb 805 2.7

From Briefing.com:
Moving the Market Sector Watch
E*Trade annouces it is getting a $2.55 bln cash infusion from Citadel

Sears reports a 99% drop in Q3 profit

October New Home Sales up, but only after sharp downward revision to previous month

Weekly jobless claims rise
Strong: health care facilities; wireless services; diversified metals & minerals; steel; tobacco; oil & gas equipment; electronic manufacturers; oil & gas refineries; healthcare services; food distribution

Weak: real estate management; drug retail; dept. stores; airlines; distillers vintners; apparel & accessories; IT consulting & services; environmental services; motorcycle manufacturers; trucking

In the wake of the massive two-day rally, the major indices showed a striking resilience to profit-taking efforts as they finished slightly higher on Thursday after being down in early-trading. This is an encouraging sign to market bulls considering gains were made in the face of some weak economic data and a few disappointing earnings reports.

The S&P 500 Retailing Index (-0.7%) was under pressure today as several retailers failed to live up to earnings expectations. Notably, Sears Holding (SHLD 104.09, -12.25) posted a third quarter profit of $0.01 per share, marking a whopping 99% drop in earnings compared to a year-ago. Shares plummeted 10%.

E*Trade (ETFC 4.82, -0.46) gained more than 10% in early trading following news of a $2.5 billion capital infusion from Citadel Investment Group. The stock, however, failed to build on the opening gains and actually ended the day noticeably lower. Presumably, the lack of follow through on early buying efforts prompted momentum accounts, which had bought the stock on speculation about a possible deal, to lock in profits.

Of the four sectors that traded lower, the financial sector (-0.7%) was the main laggard. A bit of a pullback, though, was expected considering financials were up roughly 8% in the last two sessions.

The telecom sector (+1.1%) managed to post the highest gain. The energy sector (+1.0%) also provided leadership, although it finished well off its session high as crude oil was unable to hold its gains.

January crude oil ( +$0.44 to $91.05) traded in a volatile manner following word overnight that an explosion cut Canadian oil shipments through four pipelines in Minnesota that supply crude to the Midwest. After spiking more than $4.00 per barrel, prices pulled back on news that two pipelines were reopened and the remaining pipelines will be reopened within a few days.

There were several economic reports released, although the market's response was mostly muted.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 24 rose to 352,000 from 329,000 the week before. This is just one week of data in what can be a volatile series, but it bears watching to see if an uptrend develops.

Third quarter real GDP was revised upward to a very strong 4.9% annual growth rate from a previously reported 3.9%. This was in-line with expectations. On a related note, Dow Jones reports the White House raised its 2007 U.S. GDP forecast to 2.7% versus 2.3% and cut its 2008 U.S. GDP forecast to 2.7% versus 3.1%.

New home sales for October rose 1.5%, but only because the September level was revised sharply lower. At an annual rate of 728,000, sales were below expectations of about 750,000. The median price of a new home sold dropped a very steep 13%. The housing industry remains in a deep slump that will continue for a while.

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