The U.S. dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.03% at 80.068. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 637.47, with commodities prices mostly lower again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.3% today, at $86.28 a barrel, but the price fell 4% for the week. Brent crude trades up 1% at $109.55 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.3% today at about $3.39 per thousand cubic feet. Gold closed at $1,711.90 an ounce, down less than 0.1% for the day and ended the week off 0.7%.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 4 points to 13,107.37 (0.03%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 2 points (0.06%) to 2,987.95, and the S&P 500 fell -0.07% or about 1 point to 1,411.95.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) cut to ‘neutral’ at HSBC; Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) raised to ‘outperform’ at Raymond James; and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank.
Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 0.7% at $605.31 (more coverage here); Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is up 6% at $236.27 (more coverage here); Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) is up 5.6% at $49.88 after posting a new 52-week high today of $51.16; Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up 4.2% at $1.88 (more coverage here); Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is up 4.1% at $45.01; Healthsouth Corp. (NYSE: HLS) is up 0.9% at $22.85; Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is up 3.6% at $37.66 after posting a new 52-week high of $37.78 earlier today (more coverage here); KKR & Co. LP (NYSE: KKR) is down 0.9% at $14.71; Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is down fractionally at $46.28 (more coverage here); Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) is up 0.8% at $29.98 (more coverage here); and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) is up 0.3% at $27.38 (more coverage here).
Before markets open on Monday we are scheduled to hear from Petroleo Brasileiro SA, aka Petrobras, (NYSE: PBR), Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW), Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS), Loews Corp. (NYSE: L), Lufkin Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LUFK), New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU), PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG), and Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH).
Some standouts from today include the following stocks:
Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is up 10.5% at $8.07. The coal miner reported sharply better results than expected this morning. More coverage here.
DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) is up 24.9% at $26.01. The for-profit education company posted better than expected results and, more important, enrollment gains in some of its programs.
Constant Contact Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) is down 29.8% at $11.96 after posting a new 52-week low of $11.90 earlier today. The online marketing provider lowered guidance after posting decent results last night.
Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following event on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – Personal income and outlays
- 10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
- 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auctions
Have a great weekend!
Paul Ausick
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