S&P 500
7,401.00
+0.91%
Dow Jones
49,665.70
+0.19%
Nasdaq 100
29,241.00
+2.43%
Russell 2000
2,860.88
+0.82%
FTSE 100
10,263.70
+0.48%
Nikkei 225
63,767.70
+2.68%

Investing

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (MU, ATVI, BAC, SCCO, APOL, GOL, WAG, LEN, CBK, SNX, FDO, MOS, ISTA, OPXT, OCLR, HOGS)

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published
Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Invalid Image
Markets opened slightly higher this morning but have been wobbling around the neutral line for the whole day. This morning’s report on the decline of housing prices (our coverage here) and the drop in US consumer confidence has kept buyers in check (our coverage here). There was little other news sufficient to move the markets today. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.14% at 79.091. Commodities were mixed on the dollar strength, with wheat taking the biggest decline. WTI crude oil closed up 0.3% at $107.33/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.34% at $125.22/barrel. Gold settled down less than -0.1% today, at $1,684.90/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 44 points to 13,197.96 (-0.33%), the NASDAQ fell more than 2 points (-0.07%) to 3,120.35, and the S&P 500 fell -0.28% or nearly 4 points to 1,412.52.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) started as ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) cut to ‘neutral’ at Baird; Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Apollo Group Inc. is down -8.6% at $39.48; Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (NYSE: GOL) is up 2.7% at $7.32; Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) is up 1.3% at $34.80; and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is up 4.7% at $27.65 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $28.28 (more coverage here and here). After markets close today Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE: CBK) and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) will report earnings. Before the markets open in the morning, we’ll get earnings from Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) and the Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) is up 7.9% at $9.04. The drug company is being acquired. More coverage here.

Opnext Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXT) is up more than 53% at $1.73. The optical equipment maker is merging with Oclaro Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR). More coverage here.

Zhongpin Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) is up nearly 25% at $11.51. The Chinese food processing company has received a preliminary offer to be taken private. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

  • 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers’ Association purchase applications
  • 8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
  • 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
  • 1:00 p.m. – 5-year note auction

[wallst_email_signup]

Paul Ausick

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Continue Reading

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AMZN, APOL, HFC, LVS, VZ, MOS, RHT, SN, SHAW, BBY, MY, RIMM, FINL, PHM, CHTP, MM)

Markets opened lower this morning but fought back on the day.  This morning’s report new unemployment benefits claims tamped down…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 25, 2013: Markets Rise, Then Fall on Cyprus News (BBRY, WFM, JCP, CMCSA, ARG, APOL, DG, JASO, FMCN, SONC, PRTS, ALU, GRPN, SBUX)

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning following an agreement between the government of Cyprus and the “troika” of the…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — February 7, 2013: Markets Flat to Start, Then Slide (BBRY, MCP, NOK, ABBV, GOOG, FMC, GMCR, IACI, TSO, V, YELP, ALU, BG, CI, MWW, NYT, PM, S, TEVA, ATVI, CSTR, LNKD, RVBD, SPWR, AOL, APO, MCO, XONE, SUTR, AKAM)

U.S. equity markets opened flat this morning, largely due to a slew of data from Europe that essentially cancelled any…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — January 8, 2013: Markets Open Lower, Stay Down all Day (AA, BHI, EMC, RTN, GNW, CELG, MON, RPM, APOL, STZ, GBX, HELE, SCHN, FIO, SCTY)

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning and remained down throughout the day. The likely reason for the downturn is…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 22, 2013: Markets Turn Higher Awaiting Cyprus Solution (KSS, LNKD, BEAM, ADTN, FDO, MU, NKE, SLW, VRNG, DRI, TIF, APOL, DG, JASO, MU, NKE, BBRY)

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning and trading stayed positive territory all day. No solution has yet been agreed…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 22, 2012 (FB, GLW, KMB, ONXX, JEF, DRI, CCL, APOL, SNX, HNR, ARNA, PCX)

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as markets treated the Moody’s downgrade of 15 major banks…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — October 5, 2012: Markets Slide after Early Gains (HPQ, HD, COG, FDO, BRCD, STZ, AA, YUM, COST, SWY, ZNGA, FSLR, CTIC, GRPN)

The three major U.S. stock indexes opened higher this morning following the Department of Labor’s report that headline unemployment in…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 18, 2013: Markets Slide on Cyprus Woes (KMB, VZ, RGLD, ACI, HPQ, SYNM, CLSN, HSOL, HAST, KIOR, FF, SBLK, FDS, CTAS, GLUU, JCP, NOK, BBRY)

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning following a weekend of confusion over the proposed solution to the banking problem…

Paul Ausick |

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (BAC, CHK, SAM, ERJ, PAA, GE, MCD, KMB, ALK, ALTR, COF, HBI, SNDK, KEY, AEP, CP, CTIC, RCL, PCX, RVBD, RMBS)

Markets opened higher this morning although a decline in tech stocks weighed on the Nasdaq, leaving the index with only…

Top Gaining Stocks

Akamai
AKAM • Vol: 21,556,944
Micron Technology
MU • Vol: 65,135,624
Intel
INTC • Vol: 227,504,426
Monster Beverage
MNST • Vol: 15,284,847
Dell Technologies
DELL • Vol: 12,167,525

Top Losing Stocks

Mettler Toledo International
MTD • Vol: 539,266
Motorola Solutions
MSI • Vol: 3,101,643
Expedia
EXPE • Vol: 4,189,786
Coterra Energy
CTRA • Vol: 73,319,495
Fidelity National Information Services
FIS • Vol: 11,468,820