The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 72 points to 11,504.70, the NASDAQ fell more than 53 points (2.01%) to2,604.04, and the S&P 500 fell 1.26% or more than 15 points to 1,209.89.
Today’s top analyst upgrade and downgrade calls were numerous and included Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM), and about a dozen other companies.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported better than expected earnings for the quarter, following yesterday’s positive report from Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC). Morgan Stanley got a big lift from an accounting gain that lowered the value of its debt by $3.4 billion, thus boosting the bank’s revenue to $9.9 billion. Even without the gain, MS posted EPS of $0.02, There has been a turnaround from the indicated loss in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) after its earnings showed that book value managed to actually grow and the stock was up almost 10% at $6.63 late in the session.
As far as the other big earnings report reactions today (prices within 20 minutes of the closing bell): Apple is down more than -5.5%, at $398.78; Morgan Stanley up 0.3%, at $16.68; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up about 3.5%, at $24.22; Yahoo is up 2.78%, at $15.90.
Several other standouts from today are as follows…
Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) rose again by another 1.7%, to $29.55, after investors are considering it a cheap merger alternative to the El Paso buyout by Kinder Morgan this week.
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) had another big day on merger speculation up, up nearly 8%, at $13.83, and here is how it ranks with analysts other price targets for biotechs ahead of the biotech earnings floodgates.
Abbot Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) rose 1.62%, to $53.29, following the announcement of the company’s intention to split its branded drug business from its other product lines.
Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) got a nice boost of about 12.55%, to $1.59, following good data on the survival benefits of its anti-thyroid cancer drug.
Powerwave Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PWAV) warned of a revenue shortfall of more than 50% for its third quarter. The shares lost nearly -42% of their value, to fall to $0.85, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.68 earlier in the day.
Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) has suspended operations indefinitely at its mine in Val d’Or, Quebec, due to unstable ground and inflows of water. The stock has fallen by -19%, to $46.21.
Stay tuned for Thursday. We have speeches to watch from Lockhart and Kocherlakota on the docket as well as a 30-year TIPS auction. Here are some economic releases due in the morning and throughout the day:
- 8:30 Unemployment Benefits Claims for last week
- 8:30 Existing Home Sales
- 10:00 Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators
- 10:30 Natural Gas Report
- 4:30 PM Federal Reserve Balance Sheet
Paul Ausick
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