The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.03% at 81.615. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.5% today at 670.51, with commodities prices mostly lower and corn dropping to around $8.00/bushel. WTI crude oil finished down 0.7% today, closing at $95.47/barrel. Brent crude trades down 1.12%% at $112.32/barrel. Natural gas is down 1.74% today to $2.655/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled at $1,675.60/ounce, up 0.2% as traders await word on another round of easing from the Fed.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 33 points to 13,124.83 (-0.25%), the NASDAQ rose more than 3 points (0.11%) to 3,073.19, and the S&P 500 fell -0.05% or less than 1 point to 1,410.44.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $264 target price at BofA/ML; Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) maintained as ‘buy’ with a $7 target price at BofA/ML; Eli Lilly Co. (NYSE: LLY) raised to ‘outperform’ with a $53 target price at Credit Suisse; Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; and Treehouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup.
There were only two earnings report of note since markets closed on Friday. Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is up 7.9% at $63.10, even though the company lowered its third quarter forecast. It also lowered its full-year EPS forecast from $3.70-$3.80 to $3.55-$3.70, but analysts had already pegged EPS at $3.63. SeaDrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) is also up 0.6% at $41.38.
Earnings releases scheduled before markets open tomorrow morning include Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Brown Shoe Co. Inc. (NYSE: BWS), China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd. (NYSE: MY), Movado Group Inc. (NYSE: MOV), and Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: HCBK) is up 15.6% at $7.45. The company has agreed to be acquired by M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) for $3.7 billion ($7.22/share). More coverage here.
Kenexa Corp. (NYSE: KNXA) is up 41.3% at $45.78 after posting a new 52-week high of $45.93 earlier today. The business software company is being acquired by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) for $1.3 billion ($46/share). More coverage here.
Universal Display Corp. (NASDAQ: PANL) is down 8.1% at $39.26. The OLED display maker is a supplier to Samsung Electrons and suffers from being collateral damage following the recent court verdict favoring Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). More coverage here.
Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller house price index
- 10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence index
- 10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
- 11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill and 2-year note auctions
Paul Ausick
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