| Index | Last | Chg | % Chg |
| DJ Industrials | 13207.27 | -25.2 | -0.19% |
| Nasdaq Comp | 2601.01 | 4.98 | 0.19% |
| S&P 500 | 1453 | -1.98 | -0.14% |
| DJ Wilshire 5K | 14644.64 | -6.52 | -0.04% |
| Russell 2000 | 756.13 | 2.07 | 0.27% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 2031 | 1.51 | 0.07% |
| Issues | NYSE | Nasdaq | Amex |
| Advancing | 1,451 | 1,490 | 582 |
| Declining | 1,836 | 1,512 | 640 |
| Unchanged | 86 | 130 | 116 |
| Total | 3,373 | 3,132 | 1,338 |
| Issues at | | | |
| New 52 Wk High | 25 | 24 | 16 |
| New 52 Wk Low | 273 | 179 | 90 |
| Share Volume | | | |
| Total | 1,350,019,600 | 1,844,097,119 | 38,134,635 |
| Advancing | 580,900,700 | 1,021,432,991 | 18,524,400 |
| Declining | 752,558,100 | 790,756,574 | 15,757,935 |
| Unchanged | 16,560,800 | 31,907,554 | 3,852,300 |
| Futures | Last | Change |
| Crude Oil | 91.52 | 0.28 |
| Natural Gas, Mar | 7.34 | 0 |
| Gold, Feb | 804.7 | -0.7 |
From Briefing.com
| Moving the Market |  | Sector Watch |
| Morgan Stanley reports a much larger than expected loss, but mitigates some disappointment after selling a $5 bln stake in itself General Mills tops earnings expectations; 2008 forecast fails to meet analysts' expectations Standard & Poors lowers outlook on bond insurers Fed's $20 billion auction draws a yield of 4.65%; 93 financial institutions put in bids | Strong: real estate management & development; tires & rubber; agriculture products; residential REITs; home entertainment software; industrial REITs; office REITs; coal & consumable fuels; human resources & employment services; fertilizer & agriculture chemi Weak: diversified ; dept. stores; general merchandise stores; restaurants; consumer finance; railroads; environmental services; trucking; paper packaging; home furnishings |
It was another whipsaw day of trading for the stock market on Wednesday, with several sizable gains and declines during the session. By the end of the trading day, the major indices were mixed with the Nasdaq closing slightly higher, and the S&P and Dow finishing slightly lower. There were no economic reports, but there was plenty of corporate and Federal Reserve news to keep the market occupied. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs (GS 204.16, +2.65) topped its earnings expectations, but its stock still finished 3.4% lower. Today, fellow Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley (MS 50.08, +2.01) significantly missed earnings expectations, but its stock finished 4% higher. Morgan Stanley reported a loss of $3.61 per share for its fiscal fourth quarter, well short of analysts' expectations that called for a loss of $0.39 per share. The larger than expected loss was due to $5.7 billion in additional mortgage-related write-downs, bringing the company's total fourth quarter write-down to approximately $9.4 billion. Investor disappointment was mitigated, however, after the investment bank said it sold a $5 billion stake to China Investment Corp. to further strengthen its capital position amid ongoing credit market turmoil and weakness in the financial sector. While market participants were able to find an upside in Morgan Stanley's earnings report, the same cannot be said for earnings reports from General Mills (GIS 57.99, -1.08), homebuilder Hovnanian (HOV -0.96, 11.43%) and, Olive Garden operator Darden Restaurants (DRI 28.60, -7.74). Standard & Poor's added to today's volatility after lowering its outlook on several bond insurers, which caused a steep decline in the indices around 11:30 ET. S&P affirmed its AAA rating on MBIA (MBI 27.02, -0.68) and Ambac (ABK 27.46, +0.48), but changed their outlook to negative. On Monday, Moody's also affirmed its highest rating on MBIA and Ambac, but stated Ambac's outlook was stable, while MBIA's was negative. Also, Standard & Poor's cut its rating on ACA Capital to CCC from A. Before the rating change, The New York Times reported that several banks were talking about a possible bailout plan for ACA Capital. Meanwhile, shares of student loan provider SLM Corp. (SLM 22.89, -5.98), known as Sallie Mae, got pummeled. During the company's shareholder meeting call, management seemed combative, and indicated that it may cut its dividend. A failed buyout of SLM earlier this year has taken a toll on its stock, which is down 60% since July. Four sectors traded higher, with energy (+0.4%) leading the way for the second straight session. Financials (+0.1%) were providing leadership in morning trade, but managed to finish with only a slight gain following the headlines regarding the Standard and Poor's outlook on bond insurers. Telecom (-1.2%) was the main laggard. Separately, the Federal Reserve released a press release regarding its Dec. 17 $20 billion 28-day credit auction results. The auction drew 93 financial institution, totaling $61.5 billion in bids. The Fed will lend the money at 4.65%, well above the 4.17% minimum bid set by the Fed and below the 4.75% discount rate. This auction is the first of four, which the Fed enacted in hopes to improve liquidity. In commodities trading, crude oil (+$1.23 to $91.34) closed higher today after the Dept. of Energy said in its weekly report that inventories fell by a larger amount than most analysts expected. |
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