The U.S. dollar index rose today, now down 0.18% at 79.770. The GSCI commodity index is down fractionally at 664.76, with commodities prices mostly higher today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.9% today, at $92.07 a barrel, following today’s reported increase in crude supplies (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 1.2% at $115.74 a barrel. Natural gas is up 3.8% today to nearly $3.61 per thousand cubic feet after the weekly storage report showed only a modest build in inventories (more coverage here). Gold closed at $1,770.60 an ounce, up 0.3%.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 17 points to 13,328.12 (-0.13%), the NASDAQ fell more than 2 points (-0.08%) to 3,049.38, and the S&P 500 rose 0.02% or less than 1 point to 1,432.88.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $113 at Argus; Znyga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) started as ‘underperform’ with a $3.00 target price at Credit Suisse (more coverage here); MetroPCS Communications Inc. (NYSE: PCS) cut to ‘underperform’ at Oppenheimer; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) started as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) is down 0.6% at $15.88; Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT) is up 0.5% at $7.06; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down 3.2% at $15.77 (more coverage here); Dragonwave Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI) is up 15% at $2.53; and Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) is down 1.2% at $12.05 (more coverage here).
Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to hear from The Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW), J.B. Hunt Transportation Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC).
There were four hugely successful IPOs today: Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) opened at $15 a share and is trading at $19.00 currently; Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KYTH) opened at $16.00 and current trades at $19.56; Shutterstock Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) opened at $17 a share and currently trades at $21.80; and Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY) priced at $27 a share and trades currently at $34.01 (more coverage here).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up 57.7% at $2.05. The wireless carrier is jumping on the news that Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is negotiating a sale of a stake in Sprint to Japan’s SoftBank. More coverage here.
Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is up 15.6% at $8.47. The coal miner is leading other coal stocks in a sharp climb today on the continuing rise in natural gas prices and the prospects for a colder winter.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) is up 305% at $24.18. The healthcare provider executed a 1-for-4 reverse stock split today.
Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down 8.2% at $43.07. The discount retailer cut its sales outlook today.
Stay tuned for Friday. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – Producer price index
- 9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index
- 2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget
Paul Ausick
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