The U.S. dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.15% at 80.033. The GSCI commodity index is down about 0.3% at 636.75, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% today, at $86.05 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.6% at $108.53 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.5% today at about $3.43 per thousand cubic feet following an inventory build of 67 billion cubic feet (more coverage here). Gold closed at $1,713.00 an ounce, up 0.7% for the day.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 26 points to 13,103.91 (0.20%), the NASDAQ rose about 4 points (0.15%) to 2,986.12, and the S&P 500 0.30% or about 4 points to 1,412.98.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) started as ‘sell’ at Cantor Fitzgerald; Intersil Corp. (NASDAQ: ISIL) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) maintained as ‘hold’ with a view in the high-$20s at Argus; Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) maintained as ‘outperform’ but target price cut to $86 at Credit Suisse; and BP plc (NYSE: BP) started as ‘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: Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) is up 24.9% at $11.35; Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) is down 10.2% at $38.32; Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is down 21% at $12.79 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.61 earlier today (more coverage here); F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) is down 11.1% at $83.00 after posting a new 52-week low of $81.07 earlier today; Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) is down 0.7% at $66.23; Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) is up 3.1% at $33.79 after posting a new 52-week high of $35.40 earlier today; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 0.8% at $44.31; Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) is down 0.7% at $38.08; AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) is down 4.5% at $45.88; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is up 2.8% at $70.21 after posting a new 52-week high of $72.20 earlier today; Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) is down 1.9% at $104.50; Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) is up 1.8% at $31.36; National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) is down 2.6% at $74.81; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is down 0.5% at $40.40 (more coverage here); and United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is down 5.1% at $19.25 (more coverage here).
Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to hear from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI), Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR), Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR), DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV), Healthsouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS), Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), KKR & Co. LP (NYSE: KKR), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK), and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 12.7% at $2.40. The social media game maker beat earnings expectations last night, announced a $200 million share buyback, and said it would fire 5% of its staff. More coverage here.
PSS World Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: PSSI) is up 32.3% at $28.58 after posting a new 52-week high of $28.72 earlier today. The medical equipment supplier is being acquired by drug wholesaler McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) for $1.46 billion.
The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) is down 23.2% at $8.18. The newspaper and media company posted an unexpected net loss in the third quarter.
Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following event on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – GDP
- 9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index
Paul Ausick
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