The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.46% at 83.013. The GSCI commodity index fell by about -1.3% to 635.82, with commodities prices mostly lower again today. WTI crude oil rose 1% today, closing at $88.91/barrel, following the EIA’s weekly petroleum status report (our coverage here). Brent crude trades up 0.74% at $105.70/barrel. Natural gas is down -1.18% today to $3.171/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled at $1,603.70/ounce, down -0.4% for the day.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 31 points to 12,977.42 (-0.24%), the NASDAQ fell more than 19 points (-0.66%) to 2,920.21, and the S&P 500 fell 0.29% or nearly 4 points to 1,375.37.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) raised to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) cut to ‘sell’ at Dahlman Rose; Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; BP plc (NYSE: BP) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; and Tech Data Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is up 5.4% at $11.61 (more coverage here); Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) is up 7.3% at $36.80 after posting a new 52-week high of $36.99 earlier today; Edison International Inc. (NYSE: EIX) is down -2.6% at $44.99; FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) is down -3.2% at $52.97; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is down -9.7% at $7.93 after posting a new 52-week low of $7.92 (our coverage here); WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) is down -2% at $14.41; Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) is up 4.7% at $85.91; Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) is down -0.8% at $15.20; CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH) is up 0.2% at $38.19; Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is down -3.5% at $57.07; Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) is down -2% at $38.34; and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) is down -2.4% at $42.18.
After markets close today we are set to hear from Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: APL), Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR), CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX), and Seaspan Corp. (NYSE: SSW).
Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings results from American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM), Boise Inc. (NYSE: BZ), Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA), Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW), and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Silicon Image Inc. (NASDAQ: SIMG) is up 26% at $4.94. The semiconductor company beat estimates last night and is positioned for growth with Samsung’s hot-selling Galaxy phones.
Knight Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: KCG) is down -28.5% at $7.39 after posting a new 52-week low of $7.20 earlier today. The financial services company has admitted to some trading errors. More coverage here.
Frontier Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: FTR) is up 11.7% at $4.38. The telecom provider reported better-than-expected earnings last night — and pays a very rich dividend yield. More coverage here.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is down -3.5% at $20.95 after posting a new post-IPO low of $20.87 earlier today. The social networking company had no news today, but some investors are jumping ship before the locked-up shares hit the market later this month.
Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
- 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
- 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
- 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
- 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply
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Paul Ausick
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