NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market's slow bleed got a little worse Tuesday.

The decline is the result of squabbling in Washington over raising the nation's debt limit and a government shutdown that has dragged on for more than a week. Moderate losses for the stock market in the first days of the shutdown have accelerated this week as the U.S. has moved closer to an Oct. 17 deadline for lifting the government's borrowing authority.

Stocks opened flat, moved steadily lower and slumped in the final minutes of trading Tuesday. The loss added to a three-week decline that has knocked the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 4 percent since hitting a record high on Sept. 18.

Swings in the market will likely increase the closer the U.S. gets to the debt deadline without a resolution, said Randy Frederick, Managing Director of Active Trading and Derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

"Virtually everyone expects that there will some sort of a resolution," Frederick said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it only came right before the last minute."

The S&P 500 index dropped 20.67 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,655.45. It was the biggest one-day drop for the index since Aug. 20. The declines were led by phone companies.

House Republicans have insisted that a temporary funding bill contain concessions on President Barack Obama's health care law. The president wants a bill to simply reopen the government, without strings attached.

Obama said he had told House Speaker John Boehner he's willing to negotiate with Republicans on their priorities, but not under the threat of "economic chaos." Speaking at a press briefing in Washington, the president warned that the U.S. risked a "very deep recession" if the debt ceiling wasn't raised.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 159.71 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,776.53. The Nasdaq composite dropped 75.54 points, or 2 percent, to 3,694.83.

Nervous investors also dumped short-term government debt as they worried that the standoff in Washington could jeopardize the nation's ability to pay its bills, including interest on its debt, as early as next week if Congress doesn't raise the borrowing limit.

The yield on Treasury bills maturing in one month soared to 0.28 percent, hitting its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. The yield was 0.15 percent on Monday and close to zero at the beginning of October.

The yield, which rises as the price of the notes fall, has surged as managers of money-market funds become more wary of holding short-term government debt that matures shortly after the debt deadline.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -159.71 points or ▼ -1.07% on Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 14776.53 ▼ -159.71 ▼ -1.07%
Nasdaq___ 3694.83 ▼ -75.54 ▼ -2.00%
S&P_500__ 1655.45 ▼ -20.67 ▼ -1.23%
30_Yr_Bond 3.695 ▼ -0.007 ▼ -0.19%

NYSE Volume 3,546,719,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,028,486,250

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6365.83 ▼ -71.45 ▼ -1.11%
DAX_____ 8555.89 ▼ -35.69 ▼ -0.42%
CAC_40__ 4133.53 ▼ -32.05 ▼ -0.77%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5148.1 ▼ -12.5 ▼ -0.24%
Shanghai_Comp 2198.2 ▲ 23.53 ▲ 1.08%
Taiwan_Weight 8375.65 ▲ 41.99 ▲ 0.50%
Nikkei_225____ 13894.61 ▲ 41.29 ▲ 0.30%
Hang_Seng____ 23178.85 ▲ 204.9 ▲ 0.89%
Strait_Times___ 3146.5 ▲ 9.91 ▲ 0.32%
NZX_50_Index__ 4738.68 ▼ -17.37 ▼ -0.37%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-fall-investors-wait-washington-165149661.html

Stocks fall as investors wait on Washington

US stocks fall again as investors wait for Washington to edge away from risk of a US default

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

The stock market's slow bleed got a little worse Tuesday.

The decline is the result of squabbling in Washington over raising the nation's debt limit and a government shutdown that has dragged on for more than a week. Moderate losses for the stock market in the first days of the shutdown have accelerated this week as the U.S. has moved closer to an Oct. 17 deadline for lifting the government's borrowing authority.

Stocks opened flat, moved steadily lower and slumped in the final minutes of trading Tuesday. The loss added to a three-week decline that has knocked the Standard & Poor's 500 index down 4 percent since hitting a record high on Sept. 18.

Swings in the market will likely increase the closer the U.S. gets to the debt deadline without a resolution, said Randy Frederick, Managing Director of Active Trading and Derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

"Virtually everyone expects that there will some sort of a resolution," Frederick said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if it only came right before the last minute."

The S&P 500 index dropped 20.67 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,655.45. It was the biggest one-day drop for the index since Aug. 20. The declines were led by phone companies.

House Republicans have insisted that a temporary funding bill contain concessions on President Barack Obama's health care law. The president wants a bill to simply reopen the government, without strings attached.

Obama said he had told House Speaker John Boehner he's willing to negotiate with Republicans on their priorities, but not under the threat of "economic chaos." Speaking at a press briefing in Washington, the president warned that the U.S. risked a "very deep recession" if the debt ceiling wasn't raised.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 159.71 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,776.53. The Nasdaq composite dropped 75.54 points, or 2 percent, to 3,694.83.

Nervous investors also dumped short-term government debt as they worried that the standoff in Washington could jeopardize the nation's ability to pay its bills, including interest on its debt, as early as next week if Congress doesn't raise the borrowing limit.

The yield on Treasury bills maturing in one month soared to 0.28 percent, hitting its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. The yield was 0.15 percent on Monday and close to zero at the beginning of October.

The yield, which rises as the price of the notes fall, has surged as managers of money-market funds become more wary of holding short-term government debt that matures shortly after the debt deadline.

There were other signs of increasing investor nervousness.

The VIX index, which rises when investors are getting more concerned about stock fluctuations, climbed to its highest level of the year.

"Unfortunately, we're just held hostage by what's going on in Washington," said Dan Veru, Chief Investment Officer of Palisade Capital Management.

U.S. companies will start reporting earnings for the third quarter in earnest this week, giving investors something else to think about other than Washington.

Aluminum producer Alcoa, which was recently removed from the Dow Jones industrial average, said Tuesday that it had swung to a profit in the third quarter despite lower aluminum prices, as it was helped by demand from auto makers and by cost-cutting moves.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are also among the companies releasing earnings this week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 2.63 percent. The yield on the longer-term note has fallen in the past month, suggesting that investors see any potential default as a short-term phenomenon and are predicting that economic growth will remain subdued in the longer term.

Stocks also slumped the last time that the U.S. came close to hitting its debt ceiling in the summer of 2011. The S&P 500 dipped 5 percent between the start of July and Aug. 2 of that year, when President Barack Obama signed into a law a bill that raised the debt ceiling and promised more than $2 trillion in cuts to government spending over a decade. Stocks extended their slide after S&P cut its rating on U.S. government debt on Aug. 5.

Analysts point out, though, that the global economy was in a far more fragile state two years ago than it is now. Europe was still in the throes of its debt crisis, the U.S. economic recovery was less strong and the U.S. budget deficit has shrunk since then.

The dollar fell against the euro and rose against the Japanese yen.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” Jamba plunged $2.53, or 18.8 percent, to $10.94 after the company cut its fiscal 2013 guidance, saying reduced spending by consumers hurt its sales in the third quarter.

”” Xerox fell 26 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $10.14 after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating accounting practices at one of its units.

”” McKesson rose $4.09, or 3.2 percent, to $133.72 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the health services company was in talks to acquire its German rival Celesio for about $5.1 billion.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Signs that lawmakers are making moves to end a stalemate in Washington and avert a U.S. government debt default halted a slump on the stock market Wednesday.

President Barack Obama is making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown before the U.S. Treasury's borrowing authority is exhausted next week.

The stock market's losses accelerated at the start of this week as the shutdown dragged on and both the White House and House Republicans appeared to be coming more entrenched in their positions. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen about 4 percent since climbing to a record on Sept. 18.

"We were quite oversold," Alec Young, a global equity strategist at S&P Capital, said of the market's moderate recovery on Wednesday. "For this really to have any legs, though, we need to see signs of compromise in Washington."

The S&P 500 index gained 0.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,656.40. The index lost 2 percent in the first two days of this week as concerns grew that politicians would fail to reach a deal before the government hits its debt ceiling on Oct. 17.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,802.98. The Nasdaq composite fell 17.06 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,677.78.

The pace of companies reporting third-quarter earnings is also picking up this week, giving investors better insight into how corporate America is doing.

In a move that many investors regarded as a positive for stocks, the White House nominated Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen for the top position at the central bank.

Investors expect Yellen to continue the aggressive economic stimulus policies championed by the outgoing Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Yellen's appointment "does add certainty, in the absence of certainty for stocks," said Jim Russell, a regional investment director at U.S. Bank. "It perhaps keeps a little bit of a safety net under equities for the near, or intermittent, term."

The Federal Reserve is buying $85 billion of bonds a month to hold down long-term interest rates and bolster the economy. The central bank's stimulus has been a crucial support for a stock market rally that began more than four years ago.

Investors also got more insight into the Fed's thinking Wednesday after the central bank published minutes from its September meeting Wednesday.

Nearly every member of the Federal Reserve thought the central bank should see more economic data before slowing its bond purchases. But worries about whether a delay would confuse markets made the decision a close call. Many expected policy maker to start cutting stimulus.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 26.45 points or ▲ 0.18% on Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 14802.98 ▲ 26.45 ▲ 0.18%
Nasdaq___ 3677.78 ▼ -17.06 ▼ -0.46%
S&P_500__ 1656.4 ▲ 0.95 ▲ 0.06%
30_Yr_Bond 3.724 ▲ 0.029 ▲ 0.78%

NYSE Volume 3,566,054,250
Nasdaq Volume 2,166,497,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6337.91 ▼ -27.92 ▼ -0.44%
DAX_____ 8516.69 ▼ -39.2 ▼ -0.46%
CAC_40__ 4127.05 ▼ -6.48 ▼ -0.16%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5151.6 ▲ 3.5 ▲ 0.07%
Shanghai_Comp 2211.77 ▲ 13.57 ▲ 0.62%
Taiwan_Weight 8344.73 ▼ -30.92 ▼ -0.37%
Nikkei_225____ 14037.84 ▲ 143.23 ▲ 1.03%
Hang_Seng____ 23033.97 ▼ -144.88 ▼ -0.63%
Strait_Times___ 3154.84 ▲ 8.34 ▲ 0.27%
NZX_50_Index__ 4710.63 ▼ -28.05 ▼ -0.59%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-end-mostly-higher-signs-204735760.html

Stocks end mostly higher on signs of compromise

Stocks mostly higher on signs of compromise emerging in Washington as debt deadline nears

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

Signs that lawmakers are making moves to end a stalemate in Washington and avert a U.S. government debt default halted a slump on the stock market Wednesday.

President Barack Obama is making plans to talk with Republican lawmakers at the White House in the coming days as pressure builds on both sides to resolve their deadlock over the federal debt limit and the partial government shutdown before the U.S. Treasury's borrowing authority is exhausted next week.

The stock market's losses accelerated at the start of this week as the shutdown dragged on and both the White House and House Republicans appeared to be coming more entrenched in their positions. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has fallen about 4 percent since climbing to a record on Sept. 18.

"We were quite oversold," Alec Young, a global equity strategist at S&P Capital, said of the market's moderate recovery on Wednesday. "For this really to have any legs, though, we need to see signs of compromise in Washington."

The S&P 500 index gained 0.95 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,656.40. The index lost 2 percent in the first two days of this week as concerns grew that politicians would fail to reach a deal before the government hits its debt ceiling on Oct. 17.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 14,802.98. The Nasdaq composite fell 17.06 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,677.78.

The pace of companies reporting third-quarter earnings is also picking up this week, giving investors better insight into how corporate America is doing.

Yum Brands, the owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500 index after its earnings fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The discount retailer Family Dollar also slumped after giving a cautious earnings forecast for next year.

"It looks like there has been some disappointment in the early earnings already," said Colleen Supran, a principal at San Francisco-based Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough, an investment adviser and asset management company.

Yum Brands slumped $4.82, or 6.8 percent, to $66.48. Sales in China have grown weaker and the company cut its full-year earnings forecast after the closing bell Wednesday. Family Dollar fell 74 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $68.71.

In a move that many investors regarded as a positive for stocks, the White House nominated Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen for the top position at the central bank.

Investors expect Yellen to continue the aggressive economic stimulus policies championed by the outgoing Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Yellen's appointment "does add certainty, in the absence of certainty for stocks," said Jim Russell, a regional investment director at U.S. Bank. "It perhaps keeps a little bit of a safety net under equities for the near, or intermittent, term."

The Federal Reserve is buying $85 billion of bonds a month to hold down long-term interest rates and bolster the economy. The central bank's stimulus has been a crucial support for a stock market rally that began more than four years ago.

Investors also got more insight into the Fed's thinking Wednesday after the central bank published minutes from its September meeting Wednesday.

Nearly every member of the Federal Reserve thought the central bank should see more economic data before slowing its bond purchases. But worries about whether a delay would confuse markets made the decision a close call. Many expected policy maker to start cutting stimulus.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.67 percent from 2.63 percent.

Much of the concern about a potential default by the government bond has been concentrated in short-term government securities known as T-bills.

Portfolio managers at Fidelity Investments have been selling their short-term government debt holdings over the last couple of weeks. The nation's largest manager of money market mutual funds said Wednesday that it no longer holds any U.S. government debt that comes due around the time the nation could hit its borrowing limit.

In commodities trading, trading the price of oil dropped $1.88, or 1.8 percent, to $101.61 a barrel. Gold slumped $17.40, or 1.3 percent, to $1,307.20 an ounce.

The dollar rose against the euro and Japanese yen.

Among other stocks making big moves:

”” Jos. A. Bank Clothiers rose $2.67, or 6.4 percent, to $44.33 after saying it wants to buy rival retailer Men's Wearhouse for $2.3 billion. Men's Wearhouse soared $9.79, or 28 percent, to $45.03.

”” Alcoa rose 16 cents, or 2 percent, to $8.10 after the aluminum maker posted a slim third-quarter profit late Wednesday, reversing a year-ago loss.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

You can almost hear Wall Street exhaling.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared more than 300 points Thursday after Republican leaders and President Barack Obama finally seemed willing to end a 10-day budget standoff that has threatened to leave the U.S. unable to pay its bills.

The news drove the Dow to its biggest point rise this year and ended a three-week funk in stocks. It also injected some calm into the frazzled market for short-term government debt.

Republican leaders said Thursday they would vote to extend the government's borrowing authority for six week. A spokesman for Obama said the president would "likely" sign a bill to increase the nation's ability to borrow money so it can continue paying its bills.

"Congressmen and women are coming to terms with how calamitous it would be if the debt ceiling was not raised," said Joseph Tanious, Global Market Strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "Cooler heads are prevailing."

The Dow jumped 323.09 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at 15,126.07, its high for the day.

The final surge came even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats would not negotiate with Republicans as long as the government remains partly shut. Reid's comments were reported about 15 minutes before the market closed at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Stocks have steadily declined since mid-September as Washington's gridlock got investors worried that the U.S. could default on its debt and wreak havoc on global financial markets. While traders applauded a potential deal between the White House and Congress, more volatility could be ahead if it falls through.

"We don't need some grand bargain, we just need to avoid a default," said Brian Reynolds of chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities. "Just don't bring us to the edge again."

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 36.16 points, or 2.2 percent, to 1,692.56 and the Nasdaq composite rose 82.97 points, or 2.3 percent, to 3,760.75.

Thursday's gains were extraordinarily broad. Of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500 index, only 11 fell. Banks and industrial stocks rose the most.

A possible compromise between the two political parties could not come soon enough. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the government will hit its borrowing limit on Oct. 17. That would leave the U.S. with enough cash to last just a week or two before a default became a real risk.

A short-term extension of the debt limit is "the right approach," said Jack Ablin, who manages $66 billion as chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 323.09 points or ▲ 2.18% on Thursday, 10 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15126.07 ▲ 323.09 ▲ 2.18%
Nasdaq___ 3760.75 ▲ 82.97 ▲ 2.26%
S&P_500__ 1692.56 ▲ 36.16 ▲ 2.18%
30_Yr_Bond 3.742 ▲ 0.018 ▲ 0.48%

NYSE Volume 3,387,256,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,848,692,120

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6430.49 ▲ 92.58 ▲ 1.46%
DAX_____ 8685.77 ▲ 169.08 ▲ 1.99%
CAC_40__ 4218.11 ▲ 91.06 ▲ 2.21%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5146.2 ▼ -5.4 ▼ -0.10%
Shanghai_Comp 2190.93 ▼ -20.84 ▼ -0.94%
Taiwan_Weight 8344.73 ▼ -30.92 ▼ -0.37%
Nikkei_225____ 14194.71 ▲ 156.87 ▲ 1.12%
Hang_Seng____ 22951.3 ▼ -82.67 ▼ -0.36%
Strait_Times___ 3169.91 ▲ 15.07 ▲ 0.48%
NZX_50_Index__ 4717.38 ▲ 6.75 ▲ 0.14%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-exhales-threat-us-204234357.html

Wall Street exhales as threat of US default eases

Stocks soar as politicians move closer to a deal to avoid a US default; Dow jumps 300 points

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

You can almost hear Wall Street exhaling.

The Dow Jones industrial average soared more than 300 points Thursday after Republican leaders and President Barack Obama finally seemed willing to end a 10-day budget standoff that has threatened to leave the U.S. unable to pay its bills.

The news drove the Dow to its biggest point rise this year and ended a three-week funk in stocks. It also injected some calm into the frazzled market for short-term government debt.

Republican leaders said Thursday they would vote to extend the government's borrowing authority for six week. A spokesman for Obama said the president would "likely" sign a bill to increase the nation's ability to borrow money so it can continue paying its bills.

"Congressmen and women are coming to terms with how calamitous it would be if the debt ceiling was not raised," said Joseph Tanious, Global Market Strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "Cooler heads are prevailing."

The Dow jumped 323.09 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at 15,126.07, its high for the day.

The final surge came even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats would not negotiate with Republicans as long as the government remains partly shut. Reid's comments were reported about 15 minutes before the market closed at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Stocks have steadily declined since mid-September as Washington's gridlock got investors worried that the U.S. could default on its debt and wreak havoc on global financial markets. While traders applauded a potential deal between the White House and Congress, more volatility could be ahead if it falls through.

"We don't need some grand bargain, we just need to avoid a default," said Brian Reynolds of chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities. "Just don't bring us to the edge again."

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 36.16 points, or 2.2 percent, to 1,692.56 and the Nasdaq composite rose 82.97 points, or 2.3 percent, to 3,760.75.

Thursday's gains were extraordinarily broad. Of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500 index, only 11 fell. Banks and industrial stocks rose the most.

A possible compromise between the two political parties could not come soon enough. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has said the government will hit its borrowing limit on Oct. 17. That would leave the U.S. with enough cash to last just a week or two before a default became a real risk.

A short-term extension of the debt limit is "the right approach," said Jack Ablin, who manages $66 billion as chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.

"It allows politicians to turn down the heat a bit while still keeping the broader issues on the front burner," Ablin said.

In another bullish signal, small-company stocks rose even more than the rest of the market. Those stocks tend to be riskier than large, well-established companies but can also offer investors greater rewards. A sharp increase in small-company stocks means investors are more comfortable taking on risk. The Russell 2000 index jumped 26.04 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,069.50. It is less than 20 points from an all-time high reached on Oct. 1.

There were also hopeful signs in the market for short-term U.S. government debt. The yield on the one-month Treasury bill eased to 0.21 percent from 0.27 late Wednesday.

The yield had spiked from near zero at the beginning of the month to as high as 0.35 percent Tuesday as investors dumped the bills out of concern that the government might not be able to pay them back when they're due. Investors demand higher yields when they perceive debt as being risky.

One major investor made a move to cut its exposure to short-term U.S. government debt. Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest money market fund manager, said Wednesday it had sold all of its short-term U.S. government debt.

In other government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.68 percent, from 2.67 percent late Wednesday.

Still, the yield on the longer-term note has fallen in the past month. The move suggests that investors see any potential default as a short-term phenomenon and are predicting that economic growth will remain subdued in the long term.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The closer Washington gets to a deal over the debt ceiling, the higher stocks go.

Stock prices rose for a second day in a row on Friday as investors bet against a U.S. debt default. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 111 points Friday, bringing its two-day gain to 434. Its jump on Thursday was the biggest this year.

Call it the Sigh of Relief Rally.

A partial government shutdown pushed the Dow below 15,000 this week before President Barack Obama and House Republicans met on Thursday to talk about the outlines for a possible deal. Obama and Republican senators met on Friday, too.

Stocks set new highs in mid-September but declined steadily since then as the federal government got closer to the partial shutdown that began Oct. 1. That shutdown entered its 11th day on Friday.

Even more troubling for investors is the expectation that the government will reach its borrowing limit on Oct. 17, which raises the possibility of a default on government borrowing. U.S. government bonds are usually considered the world's safest investment, so even the possibility of a default has rattled investors.

"It's nice when the world does not revolve around politicians making decisions for Wall Street," said Ralph Fogel, investment strategist and partner at Fogel Neale Partners in New York.

The Dow rose 111.04 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 15,237.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.64 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,703.20. The Nasdaq rose 31.13 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,791.87.

Kim Forrest, an equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh, said it's too soon to assume that the meetings in Washington will avert a default.

"That's super that they're talking to each other, but what on Earth is the agreement going to look like, and is it going to stave off default? I don't think we know that yet," Forrest said. "I think the stock market is getting ahead of itself."

All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, led by energy and technology companies.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 111.04 points or ▲ 0.73% on Friday, 11 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15237.11 ▲ 111.04 ▲ 0.73%
Nasdaq___ 3791.87 ▲ 31.13 ▲ 0.83%
S&P_500__ 1703.2 ▲ 10.64 ▲ 0.63%
30_Yr_Bond 3.735 ▼ -0.007 ▼ -0.19%

NYSE Volume 2,929,394,750
Nasdaq Volume 1,713,360,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6487.19 ▲ 56.7 ▲ 0.88%
DAX_____ 8724.83 ▲ 39.06 ▲ 0.45%
CAC_40__ 4219.98 ▲ 1.87 ▲ 0.04%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5228.8 ▲ 82.6 ▲ 1.61%
Shanghai_Comp 2228.15 ▲ 37.22 ▲ 1.70%
Taiwan_Weight 8349.37 ▲ 4.64 ▲ 0.06%
Nikkei_225____ 14404.74 ▲ 210.03 ▲ 1.48%
Hang_Seng____ 23218.32 ▲ 267.02 ▲ 1.16%
Strait_Times___ 3179.71 ▲ 9.8 ▲ 0.31%
NZX_50_Index__ 4740.77 ▲ 23.39 ▲ 0.50%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-rise-debt-talks-continue-171506587.html

Stocks rise as debt talks continue in Washington

Stocks rise on Wall Street as investors hope for resolution to fiscal impasse in Washington

By Joshua Freed, AP Business Writer

The closer Washington gets to a deal over the debt ceiling, the higher stocks go.

Stock prices rose for a second day in a row on Friday as investors bet against a U.S. debt default. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 111 points Friday, bringing its two-day gain to 434. Its jump on Thursday was the biggest this year.

Call it the Sigh of Relief Rally.

A partial government shutdown pushed the Dow below 15,000 this week before President Barack Obama and House Republicans met on Thursday to talk about the outlines for a possible deal. Obama and Republican senators met on Friday, too.

Stocks set new highs in mid-September but declined steadily since then as the federal government got closer to the partial shutdown that began Oct. 1. That shutdown entered its 11th day on Friday.

Even more troubling for investors is the expectation that the government will reach its borrowing limit on Oct. 17, which raises the possibility of a default on government borrowing. U.S. government bonds are usually considered the world's safest investment, so even the possibility of a default has rattled investors.

"It's nice when the world does not revolve around politicians making decisions for Wall Street," said Ralph Fogel, investment strategist and partner at Fogel Neale Partners in New York.

The Dow rose 111.04 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 15,237.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.64 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,703.20. The Nasdaq rose 31.13 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,791.87.

Kim Forrest, an equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh, said it's too soon to assume that the meetings in Washington will avert a default.

"That's super that they're talking to each other, but what on Earth is the agreement going to look like, and is it going to stave off default? I don't think we know that yet," Forrest said. "I think the stock market is getting ahead of itself."

All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 index rose, led by energy and technology companies.

Gold fell, and took gold mining stocks down with it. Gold for December delivery fell $28.70, or 2.2 percent, to $1,268.20 per ounce, its lowest price since mid-July. Mining company Barrick Gold fell 73 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $17.81. Newmont Mining fell 68 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $25.62.

The price of crude oil fell 99 cents to $102.02 a barrel after a report showed growing supplies of oil outside of OPEC.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose slightly to 2.69 percent from 2.68 percent.

The stock gains were enough to put the big indexes back into positive territory for the week, other than the Nasdaq, which fell almost a half-percent this week.

Among other stocks making notable moves:

”” Safeway rose $2.18, or 7 percent, to $33.75, the biggest gain in the S&P 500 index. The grocery store operator said late Thursday that it plans to sell its Chicago-area Dominick's stores, allowing it to concentrate on its more profitable business.

”” Micron Technology fell $1.59, or 9 percent, to $16.84 after the flash memory maker's quarterly profit left investors wanting more.

”” Gap sank $2.65, or 7 percent, to $36.83 after it reported a 3 percent drop in sales for September. Analysts had expected a gain of 1.6 percent. Micron, Gap, and Newmont Mining were the three biggest decliners in the S&P 500.

3086

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Stocks rose Monday, helped by signs that Washington was moving closer to a deal that would avert a default by the U.S. government.

The stock market started the session broadly lower after negotiations between the White House and House Republicans broke down over the weekend. However, stocks erased those losses in early afternoon trading following news that President Barack Obama would meet with Congressional leaders.

The market extended those gains after Senate leaders in both parties said progress was being made.

Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid opened the Senate session Monday by saying he was "very optimistic we will reach an agreement this week that's reasonable in nature." The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, seconded Reid's view, saying there had been "a couple of very useful discussions."

The Dow Jones industrial average added 64.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,301.26. The index was down as much as 100 points earlier in the day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.94 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710.14. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.40 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,815.27.

The United States will reach the limit of its borrowing authority Thursday, according to estimates from the Treasury Department. If the debt ceiling is not raised, investors fear the U.S. could default on its borrowings in the coming weeks.

Monday's modest gains follow a surge in the market last week on signs of progress between Congressional Republicans and the White House. The Dow jumped 323 points on Thursday, its biggest gain of the year, and rose another 111 points Friday.

Investors continue to express hope that a deal can be reached before the debt crisis causes any lasting damage. In the last few years, political deals over major budget disputes have gone down to the last minute.

"We don't need some well-crafted, detailed deal," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial. "We just need to buy some time so they can keep negotiating."

The U.S. government remains partially shut down because House Republicans want to attach conditions to a budget bill that would scale back the country's new health care law. President Barack Obama is insisting that the government be reopened without strings attached. The partial shutdown is entering its third week.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 64.15 points or ▲ 0.42% on Monday, 14 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15301.26 ▲ 64.15 ▲ 0.42%
Nasdaq___ 3815.27 ▲ 23.4 ▲ 0.62%
S&P_500__ 1710.14 ▲ 6.94 ▲ 0.41%
30_Yr_Bond 3.745 ▲ 0.01 ▲ 0.27%

NYSE Volume 2,572,213,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,448,180,500

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6507.65 ▲ 20.46 ▲ 0.32%
DAX_____ 8723.81 ▼ -1.02 ▼ -0.01%
CAC_40__ 4222.96 ▲ 2.98 ▲ 0.07%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5206.5 ▼ -22.3 ▼ -0.43%
Shanghai_Comp 2237.77 ▲ 9.63 ▲ 0.43%
Taiwan_Weight 8273.96 ▼ -75.41 ▼ -0.90%
Nikkei_225____ 14404.74 ▲ 210.03 ▲ 1.48%
Hang_Seng____ 23218.32 ▲ 267.02 ▲ 1.16%
Strait_Times___ 3165.25 ▼ -14.46 ▼ -0.45%
NZX_50_Index__ 4734.17 ▼ -6.6 ▼ -0.14%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/debt-ceiling-talks-push-stocks-202253793.html

Debt ceiling talks push stocks higher

Stocks rise on signs of progress in debt talks in Washington

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

Stocks rose Monday, helped by signs that Washington was moving closer to a deal that would avert a default by the U.S. government.

The stock market started the session broadly lower after negotiations between the White House and House Republicans broke down over the weekend. However, stocks erased those losses in early afternoon trading following news that President Barack Obama would meet with Congressional leaders.

The market extended those gains after Senate leaders in both parties said progress was being made.

Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid opened the Senate session Monday by saying he was "very optimistic we will reach an agreement this week that's reasonable in nature." The Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, seconded Reid's view, saying there had been "a couple of very useful discussions."

The Dow Jones industrial average added 64.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,301.26. The index was down as much as 100 points earlier in the day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.94 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,710.14. The Nasdaq composite rose 23.40 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,815.27.

The United States will reach the limit of its borrowing authority Thursday, according to estimates from the Treasury Department. If the debt ceiling is not raised, investors fear the U.S. could default on its borrowings in the coming weeks.

Monday's modest gains follow a surge in the market last week on signs of progress between Congressional Republicans and the White House. The Dow jumped 323 points on Thursday, its biggest gain of the year, and rose another 111 points Friday.

Investors continue to express hope that a deal can be reached before the debt crisis causes any lasting damage. In the last few years, political deals over major budget disputes have gone down to the last minute.

"We don't need some well-crafted, detailed deal," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial. "We just need to buy some time so they can keep negotiating."

The U.S. government remains partially shut down because House Republicans want to attach conditions to a budget bill that would scale back the country's new health care law. President Barack Obama is insisting that the government be reopened without strings attached. The partial shutdown is entering its third week.

Investors should brace for more volatility this week as long as the debt ceiling remains unresolved, said John Lynch, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank, which manages $170 billion in assets.

"We're basically trading on the news at this point," Lynch said.

Wall Street also has a busy week of corporate earnings to work through. Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Citigroup report their results Tuesday.

Bond trading is closed in observance of Columbus Day. Due to the holiday, trading volume was lighter than normal at 2.6 billion shares.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” Netflix rose $23.51, or 8 percent, to $324.36 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the video streaming service is in talks to offer its services to cable companies.

”” Merck & Co. fell 54 cents, or 1 percent, to $46.75 after another analyst lowered his rating on the drug developer, which recently announced job cuts and is dealing with the expiration of patents protecting key products.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market was whipsawed Tuesday as the on-again, off-again talk of a debt deal in Washington made investors wonder just how pessimistic they should be.

Stocks were flat or down all day, but the size of the losses waxed and waned depending on which politician was giving a press conference. The market closed with its first loss in a week, with the Dow Jones industrials down 133 points. Yields on short-term government debt rose sharply as investors worried about the possibility of a default.

Indexes were down only slightly early Tuesday, when Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate reported that a deal over increasing the nation's borrowing limit appeared to be getting closer. But after House Republicans came up with their own competing plan later in the day, and it was rejected by Democrats, stocks fell further.

The stakes are high and the deadline is getting nearer. Unless the borrowing limit is raised, the U.S. will bump up against a Thursday deadline after which it can no longer borrow money to pay its bills, which could lead to a default on government debt. That possibility has rattled markets all month.

After markets closed, Fitch Ratings said it might downgrade the government's AAA bond rating. The agency said it sees a higher risk for default because of the uncertainty over whether Congress will raise the debt limit. Fitch said it will make a final decision by the end of March at the latest, depending on how long any agreement to raise the debt ceiling lasts.

It was clear that traders were hanging on every word out of Washington. The losses on the Dow shrank by about 40 points during a short press conference by House Speaker John Boehner shortly before noon Eastern.

Another reason for Wall Street's pessimism is that any deal reached this week might simply set up another showdown a few months down the road.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 133.25 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,168.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.08 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,698.06. The Nasdaq composite fell 21.26 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,794.01.

The losses were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell and three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -133.25 points or ▼ -0.87% on Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15168.01 ▼ -133.25 ▼ -0.87%
Nasdaq___ 3794.01 ▼ -21.26 ▼ -0.56%
S&P_500__ 1698.06 ▼ -12.08 ▼ -0.71%
30_Yr_Bond 3.777 ▲ 0.032 ▲ 0.85%

NYSE Volume 3,315,421,750
Nasdaq Volume 1,702,319,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6549.11 ▲ 41.46 ▲ 0.64%
DAX_____ 8804.44 ▲ 80.63 ▲ 0.92%
CAC_40__ 4256.02 ▲ 33.06 ▲ 0.78%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5259.2 ▲ 52.7 ▲ 1.01%
Shanghai_Comp 2233.41 ▼ -4.36 ▼ -0.19%
Taiwan_Weight 8367.88 ▲ 93.92 ▲ 1.14%
Nikkei_225____ 14441.54 ▲ 36.8 ▲ 0.26%
Hang_Seng____ 23336.52 ▲ 118.2 ▲ 0.51%
Strait_Times___ 3165.25 ▼ -14.46 ▼ -0.45%
NZX_50_Index__ 4747.92 ▲ 13.76 ▲ 0.29%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-stocks-down-investors-wait-171302570.html

US stocks down as investors wait on debt news

Stocks fall on Wall Street as debt deal talks in Washington fail to impress investors

By Joshua Freed, AP Business Writer

The stock market was whipsawed Tuesday as the on-again, off-again talk of a debt deal in Washington made investors wonder just how pessimistic they should be.

Stocks were flat or down all day, but the size of the losses waxed and waned depending on which politician was giving a press conference. The market closed with its first loss in a week, with the Dow Jones industrials down 133 points. Yields on short-term government debt rose sharply as investors worried about the possibility of a default.

Indexes were down only slightly early Tuesday, when Republican and Democratic leaders in the Senate reported that a deal over increasing the nation's borrowing limit appeared to be getting closer. But after House Republicans came up with their own competing plan later in the day, and it was rejected by Democrats, stocks fell further.

The stakes are high and the deadline is getting nearer. Unless the borrowing limit is raised, the U.S. will bump up against a Thursday deadline after which it can no longer borrow money to pay its bills, which could lead to a default on government debt. That possibility has rattled markets all month.

After markets closed, Fitch Ratings said it might downgrade the government's AAA bond rating. The agency said it sees a higher risk for default because of the uncertainty over whether Congress will raise the debt limit. Fitch said it will make a final decision by the end of March at the latest, depending on how long any agreement to raise the debt ceiling lasts.

It was clear that traders were hanging on every word out of Washington. The losses on the Dow shrank by about 40 points during a short press conference by House Speaker John Boehner shortly before noon Eastern.

Another reason for Wall Street's pessimism is that any deal reached this week might simply set up another showdown a few months down the road.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 133.25 points, or 0.9 percent, to 15,168.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12.08 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,698.06. The Nasdaq composite fell 21.26 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,794.01.

The losses were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell and three stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

Uri Landesman, president of Platinum Partners, a New York-based investment management group, said he thinks there will be a deal, but that investors are making a mistake to focus on it so heavily since the economy still has so many risks. Investors aren't appreciating the risk of poor economic reports, slow profit growth and the possibility of flare-ups in conflicts with Iran and Syria, which could cause a spike in energy prices.

"There's a lot more risk to the downside," Landesman said. "I don't think things are that robust out there."

Among stocks making big moves:

”” FedEx shareholders were happy about expanded stock buybacks. FedEx's stock rose $4.71, or 4 percent, to $120.08.

”” Charles Schwab rose $1.02, almost 5 percent, to $23.03 after the brokerage company said its quarter profit rose 19 percent as trading and interest revenue increased.

”” Advertising company Omnicom Group reported adjusted results and revenue that were higher than analysts had expected. Its stock rose $1.01, almost 2 percent, to $64.96.

Parts of the bond market have started to show signs of stress.

The yield on the 10-year T-note rose to 2.73 percent from 2.69 percent on Friday. Bond trading was closed Monday for Columbus Day. Yields on three-month and six-month T-bills also rose.

The yield on the one-month T-bill nearly doubled in only a few hours, going from 0.18 percent early Tuesday to 0.34 percent by the afternoon. It's considered to be the T-bill most likely to be affected by a federal government default. Money market funds owned by Fidelity and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have been selling off their one-month T-bill holdings to limit their exposure to the security.

The price of oil fell $1.20 to close at $101.21 as negotiations over Iran's nuclear abilities began.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Wall Street finally got the deal it's been waiting for.

A last-minute agreement to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt and reopen the government sent the stock market soaring Wednesday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index close to a record high.

On Wednesday, Senate leaders agreed to fund the government through Jan. 15 and extend government borrowing through Feb. 7.

The Senate deal was reached just hours before a Thursday deadline that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had set to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit. The government has been partially shut for 16 days because House Republicans had demanded changes to President Barack Obama's health care law before passing a budget.

The agreement follows a month of political gridlock that threatened to make America a deadbeat and derail global financial markets. Investors have stayed largely calm throughout in the current drama in Washington, with the S&P 500 actually gaining 2.4 percent since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

Wall Street had bet that politicians wouldn't let the U.S. default, a calamity economists said could paralyze lending and push the economy into another recession.

"We knew it was going to be dramatic, but the consequences of a U.S. default are just so severe that the base case was always that a compromise was going to be reached," said Tom Franks, a managing director at TIAA CREF, a large retirement funds manager.

Congress was racing to pass the legislation Wednesday.

If the deal wraps up soon, investors can turn their attention back to basics like earnings and the economy. Corporations have begun to report third-quarter earnings, but Wall Street has been glued to the budget brinksmanship. Overall earnings at companies in the S&P 500 index is forecast to grow 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That's slower than the growth of 4.9 percent in the second quarter and 5.2 percent in the first quarter.

It'll be harder for Wall Street to get an up-to-date view of the economy because the partial government shutdown that began Oct. 1 has kept agencies from releasing key reports on trends like hiring. In general, though, the economy has been expanding this year.

Traders have been correctly betting that Washington would reach a deal. To be sure, the Dow went through rough patches over the last month, at one point falling as much as 900 points below an all-time high reached on Sept. 18. The Dow has seen seven triple-digit moves in the last 10 trading days.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones climbed 205.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,373.83. The S&P 500 gained 23.48, or 1.4 percent, at 1,721.54. That's only four points below its record close of 1,725.52 set Sept. 18.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 45.42, or 1.2 percent, to 3,839.43.

The feeling among stock traders in recent days was that panicking and pulling money out of stocks could leave them missing out on a rally after Washington finally came to an agreement. Investors are also becoming inured to Washington's habit of reaching budget and debt deals at the last minute.

"Investors have become, unfortunately, accustomed to some of the dysfunction," said Eric Wiegand, a senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank. "It's become more the norm than the exception."

In the summer of 2011, the S&P 500 index plunged 17 percent between early July and early August as lawmakers argued over raising the debt limit and Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating from 'AAA,' its highest ranking. The market later recovered.

Stocks also slumped in the last two weeks of 2012 as investors fretted that the U.S. would go over the "fiscal cliff" as lawmakers argued over a series of automatic government spending cuts. Stock also rebounded and embarked on a strong rally that has pushed the S&P 500 up almost 21 percent this year.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 205.82 points or ▲ 1.36% on Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15373.83 ▲ 205.82 ▲ 1.36%
Nasdaq___ 3839.43 ▲ 45.42 ▲ 1.20%
S&P_500__ 1721.54 ▲ 23.48 ▲ 1.38%
30_Yr_Bond 3.724 ▼ -0.053 ▼ -1.40%

NYSE Volume 3,546,334,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,683,306,380

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6571.59 ▲ 22.48 ▲ 0.34%
DAX_____ 8846 ▲ 41.56 ▲ 0.47%
CAC_40__ 4243.72 ▼ -12.3 ▼ -0.29%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5264.4 ▲ 5.2 ▲ 0.10%
Shanghai_Comp 2193.07 ▼ -40.34 ▼ -1.81%
Taiwan_Weight 8332.18 ▼ -35.7 ▼ -0.43%
Nikkei_225____ 14467.14 ▲ 25.6 ▲ 0.18%
Hang_Seng____ 23228.33 ▼ -108.19 ▼ -0.46%
Strait_Times___ 3174.03 ▲ 8.78 ▲ 0.28%
NZX_50_Index__ 4758.77 ▲ 10.85 ▲ 0.23%

http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-surge-senate-reaches-deal-us-debt-200825233--finance.html

Stocks Surge After Senate Reaches Deal on US Debt
NEW YORK October 16, 2013 (AP)
By STEVE ROTHWELL AP Markets Writer

Wall Street finally got the deal it's been waiting for.

A last-minute agreement to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt and reopen the government sent the stock market soaring Wednesday, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index close to a record high.

On Wednesday, Senate leaders agreed to fund the government through Jan. 15 and extend government borrowing through Feb. 7.

The Senate deal was reached just hours before a Thursday deadline that Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had set to raise the $16.7 trillion debt limit. The government has been partially shut for 16 days because House Republicans had demanded changes to President Barack Obama's health care law before passing a budget.

The agreement follows a month of political gridlock that threatened to make America a deadbeat and derail global financial markets. Investors have stayed largely calm throughout in the current drama in Washington, with the S&P 500 actually gaining 2.4 percent since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.

Wall Street had bet that politicians wouldn't let the U.S. default, a calamity economists said could paralyze lending and push the economy into another recession.

"We knew it was going to be dramatic, but the consequences of a U.S. default are just so severe that the base case was always that a compromise was going to be reached," said Tom Franks, a managing director at TIAA CREF, a large retirement funds manager.

Congress was racing to pass the legislation Wednesday.

If the deal wraps up soon, investors can turn their attention back to basics like earnings and the economy. Corporations have begun to report third-quarter earnings, but Wall Street has been glued to the budget brinksmanship. Overall earnings at companies in the S&P 500 index is forecast to grow 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That's slower than the growth of 4.9 percent in the second quarter and 5.2 percent in the first quarter.

It'll be harder for Wall Street to get an up-to-date view of the economy because the partial government shutdown that began Oct. 1 has kept agencies from releasing key reports on trends like hiring. In general, though, the economy has been expanding this year.

Traders have been correctly betting that Washington would reach a deal. To be sure, the Dow went through rough patches over the last month, at one point falling as much as 900 points below an all-time high reached on Sept. 18. The Dow has seen seven triple-digit moves in the last 10 trading days.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones climbed 205.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,373.83. The S&P 500 gained 23.48, or 1.4 percent, at 1,721.54. That's only four points below its record close of 1,725.52 set Sept. 18.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 45.42, or 1.2 percent, to 3,839.43.

The feeling among stock traders in recent days was that panicking and pulling money out of stocks could leave them missing out on a rally after Washington finally came to an agreement. Investors are also becoming inured to Washington's habit of reaching budget and debt deals at the last minute.

"Investors have become, unfortunately, accustomed to some of the dysfunction," said Eric Wiegand, a senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank. "It's become more the norm than the exception."

In the summer of 2011, the S&P 500 index plunged 17 percent between early July and early August as lawmakers argued over raising the debt limit and Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating from 'AAA,' its highest ranking. The market later recovered.

Stocks also slumped in the last two weeks of 2012 as investors fretted that the U.S. would go over the "fiscal cliff" as lawmakers argued over a series of automatic government spending cuts. Stock also rebounded and embarked on a strong rally that has pushed the S&P 500 up almost 21 percent this year.

Some were glad that investors could now turn their focus back to the traditional drivers of the market rather than worrying whether the latest dispatch from Washington would shake stocks.

"It's a little bit silly in the short term for markets to go down so much on press conferences and then to go up so much on rumors," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "We've urged investors to pull back a little bit and look at the longer term."

The market for U.S. Treasury bills reflected relief among bond investors. The yield on the one-month T-bill dropped to 0.13 percent from 0.40 percent Wednesday morning, an extraordinarily large move. The decline means that investors consider the bill, which would have come due around the time a default may have occurred, to be less risky.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.67 percent from 2.74 percent Tuesday. Yields on longer-term U.S. government debt haven't moved as much as those on short-term debt because investors believed that the government would work out a longer-term solution.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” Bank of America rose 32 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $14.56 after the second-largest U.S. bank reported a surge in third-quarter earnings.

”” Stanley Black & Decker plunged $12.70, or 14.3 percent, to $76.75 after the company lowered its profit forecast for the year, citing slower growth in emerging markets and a hit from the U.S. government shutdown.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market hit an all-time high Thursday as Wall Street put the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis behind it and focused on corporate earnings.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.61 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,733.15 ”” a record close. Nine of the 10 industry groups in the index finished higher, with technology the only group that fell.

The market rose throughout the day as investors got back to focusing on corporate earnings and economic data. American Express and Verizon rose the most in the Dow Jones industrial average after reporting earnings that beat expectations from financial analysts.

The Dow ended the day down two points, or 0.01 percent, to 15,371.65. The index of 30 big U.S. companies was held back by declines in IBM, Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth.

IBM's third-quarter revenue fell and missed Wall Street's forecast by more than $1 billion. The stock closed down $11.90, or 6 percent, to $174.80. Earlier, it had touched its lowest level of the past year ”” $172.57

Goldman Sachs also weighed down the index. The investment bank's revenue fell sharply as trading in bonds and other securities slowed. Goldman fell $3.93, or 2.4 percent, to $158.32.

The focus on earnings is a change of pace for Wall Street, which had been absorbed in Washington's political drama over the last month.

Now that the U.S. has avoided the possibility of default, at least for a few months, earnings news is expected to dominate trading for the next couple weeks. So far, only 79 companies in the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter results, according to S&P Capital IQ. Analysts expect earnings at those companies to increase 3.3 percent over the same period a year ago.

"I don't think we can completely close the door on the debt ceiling chapter just yet, but we can get back to the stuff that really matters," said Jonathan Corpina, who manages trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for Meridian Equity Partners.

Other indexes also posted noticeable gains. The Nasdaq composite closed up 23.71 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,863.15.

The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of primarily smaller, riskier companies, also hit an all-time high. It closed up 9.85 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,102.27 and has risen nearly 30 percent this year.

Market analysts think the 16-day partial shutdown of the government caused billions of dollars of damage to the economy. Government employees were furloughed, contracts were delayed, and tourism declined at national parks.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -2.18 points or ▼ -0.01% on Thursday, 17 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15371.65 ▼ -2.18 ▼ -0.01%
Nasdaq___ 3863.15 ▲ 23.71 ▲ 0.62%
S&P_500__ 1733.15 ▲ 11.61 ▲ 0.67%
30_Yr_Bond 3.657 ▼ -0.067 ▼ -1.80%

NYSE Volume 3,434,097,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,931,460,120

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6576.16 ▲ 4.57 ▲ 0.07%
DAX_____ 8811.98 ▼ -34.02 ▼ -0.38%
CAC_40__ 4239.64 ▼ -4.08 ▼ -0.10%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5281.9 ▲ 17.5 ▲ 0.33%
Shanghai_Comp 2188.54 ▼ -4.53 ▼ -0.21%
Taiwan_Weight 8374.68 ▲ 42.5 ▲ 0.51%
Nikkei_225____ 14586.51 ▲ 119.37 ▲ 0.83%
Hang_Seng____ 23094.88 ▼ -133.45 ▼ -0.57%
Strait_Times___ 3186.62 ▲ 12.59 ▲ 0.40%
NZX_50_Index__ 4776 ▲ 17.23 ▲ 0.36%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-reaches-time-high-195559455.html

S&P 500 reaches all-time high after US debt deal

S&P 500 reaches all-time high after Washington defuses US default threat, reopens government

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

The stock market hit an all-time high Thursday as Wall Street put the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis behind it and focused on corporate earnings.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.61 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,733.15 ”” a record close. Nine of the 10 industry groups in the index finished higher, with technology the only group that fell.

The market rose throughout the day as investors got back to focusing on corporate earnings and economic data. American Express and Verizon rose the most in the Dow Jones industrial average after reporting earnings that beat expectations from financial analysts.

The Dow ended the day down two points, or 0.01 percent, to 15,371.65. The index of 30 big U.S. companies was held back by declines in IBM, Goldman Sachs and UnitedHealth.

IBM's third-quarter revenue fell and missed Wall Street's forecast by more than $1 billion. The stock closed down $11.90, or 6 percent, to $174.80. Earlier, it had touched its lowest level of the past year ”” $172.57

Goldman Sachs also weighed down the index. The investment bank's revenue fell sharply as trading in bonds and other securities slowed. Goldman fell $3.93, or 2.4 percent, to $158.32.

The focus on earnings is a change of pace for Wall Street, which had been absorbed in Washington's political drama over the last month.

Now that the U.S. has avoided the possibility of default, at least for a few months, earnings news is expected to dominate trading for the next couple weeks. So far, only 79 companies in the S&P 500 have reported third-quarter results, according to S&P Capital IQ. Analysts expect earnings at those companies to increase 3.3 percent over the same period a year ago.

"I don't think we can completely close the door on the debt ceiling chapter just yet, but we can get back to the stuff that really matters," said Jonathan Corpina, who manages trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for Meridian Equity Partners.

Other indexes also posted noticeable gains. The Nasdaq composite closed up 23.71 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,863.15.

The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of primarily smaller, riskier companies, also hit an all-time high. It closed up 9.85 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,102.27 and has risen nearly 30 percent this year.

Market analysts think the 16-day partial shutdown of the government caused billions of dollars of damage to the economy. Government employees were furloughed, contracts were delayed, and tourism declined at national parks.

Analysts at Wells Fargo said the shutdown likely lowered economic growth by 0.5 percentage point.

There remain broader concerns that Democrats and Republicans won't be able to draw up a longer-term budget. The deal approved late Wednesday only permits the Treasury Department to borrow through Feb. 7 and fund the government through Jan. 15.

"The agreement represents another temporary fix that pushes fiscal uncertainty into the early months of next year," Wells Fargo analysts said.

Despite the worries, signs of normalcy returned to financial markets Thursday.

The one-month Treasury bill was back to trading at a yield of 0.01 percent, about where it was a month ago, and down sharply from 0.35 percent on Tuesday.

Usually a staid, conservative security, the one-month T-bill was subjected to a wave of selling at the beginning of the month. Investors feared the T-bill would be the first piece of government debt to be affected by a U.S. default if the debt ceiling was breached and the federal government could no longer pay its obligations.

The yield on the more closely-watched 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.60 percent from 2.67 percent Wednesday.

Among other stock moves:

”” Verizon rose $1.65, or 4 percent, to $48.90. The telecommunications company earned an adjusted 77 cents per share for the recent quarter, beating expectations of financial analysts.

”” UnitedHealth Group dropped $3.82, or 5 percent, to $71.37. The health insurance giant narrowed its 2013 profit forecast, instead of raising it, giving some analysts pause.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Investors shifted their focus from politics to profits on Friday and liked what they saw, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index further into record territory.

Two days after Congress struck a last-minute deal to keep the U.S. from a devastating default on its debt, investors were bidding up stocks on surprisingly good profits from companies in industries both old and new.

General Electric and Morgan Stanley rose after reporting higher earnings than financial analysts had expected. Google surged nearly 14 percent, topping $1,000 a share for the first time.

"We've moved from the dysfunction of Washington to the reality of the global economy, and it looks pretty good," said Ron Florance, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Investors were also encouraged by a rebound in Chinese economic growth in the latest quarter.

The rise in stocks follows a budget standoff in Washington that kept hundreds of thousands of federal workers from their jobs for 16 days and could have forced the government to miss payments on its debt. Congress agreed Wednesday to fund the government and allow it to borrow through early next year.

The S&P 500 set a record for the second straight day. The broad index of 500 companies, up 22 percent this year, added 11.35 points, or 0.7 percent, to a record 1,744.50. The gain this year is the index's best since 2009, when it began its bull run. Since its recession low in March of that year, the S&P 500 has soared 158 percent, driven largely by a rebound in earnings, a housing recovery, greater investor confidence and the economic stimulus program by the Federal Reserve.

The Nasdaq composite was up 51.13 points, or 1.3 percent, at 3,914.28. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,399.65, and is 277 points below its own record.

Christine Short, a senior manager at S&P Capital IQ, said investors are relieved that Washington pulled back from the abyss by extending the U.S. borrowing authority until Feb. 7. But she's not so sure how long the celebratory mood might last.

"We just bought ourselves a little more time, and the market seems to like that," she said. "But we're likely to go through the same cycle again in three months."

Another concern is earnings. Despite good reports from a few big companies Friday, the third-quarter reporting season has just started and most companies aren't expected to post blowout results.

Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have grown 3.4 percent from a year earlier, the smallest quarterly increase in a year, according to S&P Capital IQ. At the start of 2013, third-quarter earnings were expected to grow at nearly triple that pace.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 28 points or ▲ 0.18% on Friday, 18 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15399.65 ▲ 28 ▲ 0.18%
Nasdaq___ 3914.28 ▲ 51.13 ▲ 1.32%
S&P_500__ 1744.5 ▲ 11.35 ▲ 0.65%
30_Yr_Bond 3.654 ▼ -0.003 ▼ -0.08%

NYSE Volume 3,673,891,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,899,810,250

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6622.58 ▲ 46.42 ▲ 0.71%
DAX_____ 8865.1 ▲ 53.12 ▲ 0.60%
CAC_40__ 4286.03 ▲ 46.39 ▲ 1.09%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5321 ▲ 39.1 ▲ 0.74%
Shanghai_Comp 2193.78 ▲ 5.24 ▲ 0.24%
Taiwan_Weight 8441.19 ▲ 66.51 ▲ 0.79%
Nikkei_225____ 14561.54 ▼ -24.97 ▼ -0.17%
Hang_Seng____ 23340.1 ▲ 245.22 ▲ 1.06%
Strait_Times___ 3192.9 ▲ 6.28 ▲ 0.20%
NZX_50_Index__ 4758.59 ▼ -17.41 ▼ -0.36%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-pushes-further-record-152943976.html

S&P 500 pushes further into record territory

S&P 500 pushes further into record territory on strong earnings from GE, Google, others

By Bernard Condon, AP Business Writer

Investors shifted their focus from politics to profits on Friday and liked what they saw, pushing the Standard & Poor's 500 index further into record territory.

Two days after Congress struck a last-minute deal to keep the U.S. from a devastating default on its debt, investors were bidding up stocks on surprisingly good profits from companies in industries both old and new.

General Electric and Morgan Stanley rose after reporting higher earnings than financial analysts had expected. Google surged nearly 14 percent, topping $1,000 a share for the first time.

"We've moved from the dysfunction of Washington to the reality of the global economy, and it looks pretty good," said Ron Florance, deputy chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Investors were also encouraged by a rebound in Chinese economic growth in the latest quarter.

The rise in stocks follows a budget standoff in Washington that kept hundreds of thousands of federal workers from their jobs for 16 days and could have forced the government to miss payments on its debt. Congress agreed Wednesday to fund the government and allow it to borrow through early next year.

The S&P 500 set a record for the second straight day. The broad index of 500 companies, up 22 percent this year, added 11.35 points, or 0.7 percent, to a record 1,744.50. The gain this year is the index's best since 2009, when it began its bull run. Since its recession low in March of that year, the S&P 500 has soared 158 percent, driven largely by a rebound in earnings, a housing recovery, greater investor confidence and the economic stimulus program by the Federal Reserve.

The Nasdaq composite was up 51.13 points, or 1.3 percent, at 3,914.28. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,399.65, and is 277 points below its own record.

Christine Short, a senior manager at S&P Capital IQ, said investors are relieved that Washington pulled back from the abyss by extending the U.S. borrowing authority until Feb. 7. But she's not so sure how long the celebratory mood might last.

"We just bought ourselves a little more time, and the market seems to like that," she said. "But we're likely to go through the same cycle again in three months."

Another concern is earnings. Despite good reports from a few big companies Friday, the third-quarter reporting season has just started and most companies aren't expected to post blowout results.

Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have grown 3.4 percent from a year earlier, the smallest quarterly increase in a year, according to S&P Capital IQ. At the start of 2013, third-quarter earnings were expected to grow at nearly triple that pace.

What's driven stock prices up this year hasn't been earnings as much as investors' willingness to value them more. At the start of the year, stock buyers were paying $14 for every $1 of S&P 500 earnings, according to S&P Capital IQ. Now, they are paying more than $16.

Investors will have a better idea of the U.S. corporate profit picture next week when several big companies report results, including McDonalds on Monday and Boeing and Caterpillar on Wednesday and Ford on Thursday.

Google jumped $122.61 to $1,011.41 Friday. It reported a 36 percent jump in earnings after the stock market closed Thursday. An erosion in Google's ad pricing was more than offset by a big increase in the frequency of clicks on Google's ads.

General Electric rose 87 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $25.55, after topping analysts' expectations for net income, excluding charges for shedding its media and banking operations. Stock of GE, which makes jet engines and other industrial products, is the highest it's been since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, when some investors doubted the company could survive intact.

Morgan Stanley rose 76 cents, to $29.69, a gain of 2.6 percent. The investment bank reported that its earnings nearly doubled on strong results in stock sales and trading, beating analysts' estimates. Morgan Stanley is up 55 percent this year, the most among major banks and nearly twice the gain of the next-best performing bank stock, Citigroup.

Nine of the 10 industries in the S&P 500 rose, led by information technology companies, up 1.8 percent. Stocks in the health-care industry fell 0.4 percent.

The Chinese government reported Friday that the world's second-largest economy grew by 7.8 percent in the three months ending in September, a pickup from the previous quarter. Investors have worried that slower growth would not only hurt big commodity exporters like Brazil and Australia but drag down the global economy, too.

Among other stocks making news:

”” Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped $70.67, or 16 percent, to $509.74, the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The company reported that its third-quarter earnings rose 15 percent on higher traffic to its 1,500 restaurants.

”” Voxeljet, a 3-D printing company from Germany, more than doubled in its debut offering, jumping $15.80 to $28.80. The company makes printers that build 3-D objects by layering plastic and other materials atop each other. It raised $84.5 million in its initial public offering.

In bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 2.59 percent.

3532

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out the smallest of gains to set a record high Monday as investors assessed third-quarter earnings news.

Earnings will hold investors' attention this week as major U.S. companies including McDonald's, Boeing and Procter & Gamble report their results. Rising profits have been one of the key supports for this year's rally in stocks.

Toymaker Hasbro and the V.F. Corporation, which owns clothing brands including Wrangler and The North Face, were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 after reporting earnings that beat analysts' expectations. McDonalds dipped after reporting disappointing revenue.

The S&P 500 closed up a fraction of a point at 1,744.66, an all-time high, its third consecutive record close. Stocks climbed last week after Washington reached a deal to end a 16-day government shutdown and avert a default on the nation's debt.

The index is up 22 percent so far this year, putting it on track for its best year since 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 7.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,392.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 5.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,920.05.

Stocks will likely continue adding to their gains, at least until the end of the year, as investors get more confident that the market's rally is sustainable, said Joe Bell, a senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"We've had a pretty decent run here," Bell said. "It wouldn't surprise me if we saw the momentum slow a bit through the end of October and then have a nice rally through November and December."

Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report earnings growth of 3.2 percent for the July-to-September period, according to the latest data from S&P Capital IQ. About 60 percent of companies that have reported earnings have beaten analysts' expectations.

"Earnings so far have been excellent," said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust. "Earnings are coming in and beating (expectations) by a penny here and there, and we're very comfortable with that."

Company earnings will likely continue to grow as the outlook for the global economy brightens, as Europe continues to recover from its recession and growth in China picks up, Braakman said.

The continued stimulus for the economy from the Federal Reserve should also help support the economy and corporate earnings. The U.S. central bank is currently buying $85 billion of bonds every month to support the economy.


The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -7.45 points or ▼ -0.05% on Monday, 21 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15392.2 ▼ -7.45 ▼ -0.05%
Nasdaq___ 3920.05 ▲ 5.77 ▲ 0.15%
S&P_500__ 1744.66 ▲ 0.16 ▲ 0.01%
30_Yr_Bond 3.681 ▲ 0.027 ▲ 0.74%

NYSE Volume 3,048,798,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,716,672,620

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6654.2 ▲ 31.62 ▲ 0.48%
DAX_____ 8867.22 ▲ 2.12 ▲ 0.02%
CAC_40__ 4276.92 ▼ -9.11 ▼ -0.21%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5351.5 ▲ 30.5 ▲ 0.57%
Shanghai_Comp 2229.24 ▲ 35.46 ▲ 1.62%
Taiwan_Weight 8419.32 ▼ -21.87 ▼ -0.26%
Nikkei_225____ 14693.57 ▲ 132.03 ▲ 0.91%
Hang_Seng____ 23438.15 ▲ 98.05 ▲ 0.42%
Strait_Times___ 3195.76 ▲ 2.86 ▲ 0.09%
NZX_50_Index__ 4802.56 ▲ 43.97 ▲ 0.92%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-ekes-small-gain-204520662.html

S&P 500 ekes out a small gain to set a new record

S&P 500 ekes out new record closing level as US corporate earnings roll in

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

The Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out the smallest of gains to set a record high Monday as investors assessed third-quarter earnings news.

Earnings will hold investors' attention this week as major U.S. companies including McDonald's, Boeing and Procter & Gamble report their results. Rising profits have been one of the key supports for this year's rally in stocks.

Toymaker Hasbro and the V.F. Corporation, which owns clothing brands including Wrangler and The North Face, were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 after reporting earnings that beat analysts' expectations. McDonalds dipped after reporting disappointing revenue.

The S&P 500 closed up a fraction of a point at 1,744.66, an all-time high, its third consecutive record close. Stocks climbed last week after Washington reached a deal to end a 16-day government shutdown and avert a default on the nation's debt.

The index is up 22 percent so far this year, putting it on track for its best year since 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 7.45 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,392.20. The Nasdaq composite rose 5.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,920.05.

Stocks will likely continue adding to their gains, at least until the end of the year, as investors get more confident that the market's rally is sustainable, said Joe Bell, a senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"We've had a pretty decent run here," Bell said. "It wouldn't surprise me if we saw the momentum slow a bit through the end of October and then have a nice rally through November and December."

McDonald's fell 61 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $94.59 after the world's biggest hamburger chain's revenue fell short of Wall Street analyst's expectations.

Hasbro surged after reporting that its net income rose 17 percent as sales increased. Its adjusted results and revenue topped analysts' estimates. The stock climbed $2.48, or 5.2 percent, to $49.72. V.F. Corporation rose $6.93, or 3.4 percent, to $211.23 after its earnings beat analysts' expectations.

Netflix jumped in after-hours trading after the company said its net income quadrupled to $32 million, or 52 cents a share. That beat analyst expectations for 48 cents a share.

Companies in the S&P 500 are expected to report earnings growth of 3.2 percent for the July-to-September period, according to the latest data from S&P Capital IQ. About 60 percent of companies that have reported earnings have beaten analysts' expectations.

"Earnings so far have been excellent," said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust. "Earnings are coming in and beating (expectations) by a penny here and there, and we're very comfortable with that."

Company earnings will likely continue to grow as the outlook for the global economy brightens, as Europe continues to recover from its recession and growth in China picks up, Braakman said.

The continued stimulus for the economy from the Federal Reserve should also help support the economy and corporate earnings. The U.S. central bank is currently buying $85 billion of bonds every month to support the economy.

The government's monthly jobs report for September will be released Tuesday, giving investors more information about the strength of the U.S. economy. The report, which is typically released on the first Friday of every month, was delayed because of the government shutdown.

Economists predict that the U.S. economy added 180,000 jobs in September, according to data provider FactSet. Investors may discount the report though, as it is being published more than two weeks late.

"It's old information, it's not as current as it normally is," said Kate Warne, a market strategist at investment adviser, Edward Jones.

Homebuilders slumped after Americans bought fewer previously occupied homes in September than the previous month, held back by higher mortgage rates and rising prices. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of re-sold homes fell 1.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million.

KB Home fell 60 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $16.57. D.R. Horton dropped 35 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $18.67.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note edged up to 2.61 percent from 2.58 percent Friday.

In commodities trading, the price of oil dipped below $100 for the first time since early July after a government report showed that U.S. supplies continue to rise. Oil fell $1.59, or 1.6 percent, to $99.22 a barrel. Gold rose $1.20, or 0.1 percent, to $1,315.80 an ounce.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” General Electric rose 59 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $26.14 after Citigroup added the company to its U.S. Focus List, citing the company's buyback program and cost-cutting plans among some of the reasons to own the stock.

”” Gannett, the media company that owns USA Today, fell 59 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $26.90 after the company reported lower earnings and revenue for the third quarter.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The prospect of more economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to a fourth consecutive record close Tuesday.

Investors also were encouraged by strong earnings from major U.S. companies such as Whirlpool, Delta Air Lines and Kimberly-Clark.

The U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, lower than the 180,000 jobs forecast. The report was delayed for 2 ½ weeks because of a 16-day partial government shutdown.

Analysts are also expecting the upcoming jobs report for October to be weak because the shutdown may have dampened hiring.

In the absence of stronger jobs growth, the economy will struggle to grow quickly and that means the Fed is unlikely to stop its stimulus effort anytime soon.

"We've probably got another relatively soft report ahead of us," said Jeff Kleintop, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial. "That's likely to keep the Fed on hold for some time and the market seems to like that."

The Fed has been buying $85 billion of bonds a month to keep long-term interest rates low and spur economic growth. The stimulus has been a key driver of a 4 ½-year rally in stocks that has pushed the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average to record levels this year.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index rose 10.01 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,754.67. The Dow gained 75.46 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,467.66. The Nasdaq composite advanced 9.52 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,929.57.

Investors are also watching company earnings for the third quarter.

S&P 500 companies are forecast to report average earnings growth of 3.5 percent for the third quarter, according to the latest estimate from S&P Capital IQ. That would be the slowest rate of growth since the third quarter a year ago.

While growth has slowed, about two-thirds of companies are reporting earnings that are beating forecasts from Wall Street analysts.

"So far, the bottom line earnings are beating the reduced expectations," said Darrell Cronk, a regional Chief Investment Officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 75.46 points or ▲ 0.49% on Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15467.66 ▲ 75.46 ▲ 0.49%
Nasdaq___ 3929.57 ▲ 9.52 ▲ 0.24%
S&P_500__ 1754.67 ▲ 10.01 ▲ 0.57%
30_Yr_Bond 3.609 ▼ -0.072 ▼ -1.96%

NYSE Volume 3,805,794,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,840,978,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6695.66 ▲ 41.46 ▲ 0.62%
DAX_____ 8947.46 ▲ 80.24 ▲ 0.90%
CAC_40__ 4295.43 ▲ 18.51 ▲ 0.43%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5371.2 ▲ 19.7 ▲ 0.37%
Shanghai_Comp 2210.65 ▼ -18.59 ▼ -0.83%
Taiwan_Weight 8418.27 ▼ -1.05 ▼ -0.01%
Nikkei_225____ 14713.25 ▲ 19.68 ▲ 0.13%
Hang_Seng____ 23315.99 ▼ -122.16 ▼ -0.52%
Strait_Times___ 3210.21 ▲ 14.45 ▲ 0.45%
NZX_50_Index__ 4831.79 ▲ 29.23 ▲ 0.61%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-stimulus-hopes-lift-p-211302223.html

Fed stimulus hopes lift S&P 500 to another record

S&P 500 index sets record for 4th straight day on hopes of continued Fed stimulus

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

The prospect of more economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 index to a fourth consecutive record close Tuesday.

Investors also were encouraged by strong earnings from major U.S. companies such as Whirlpool, Delta Air Lines and Kimberly-Clark.

The U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, lower than the 180,000 jobs forecast. The report was delayed for 2 ½ weeks because of a 16-day partial government shutdown.

Analysts are also expecting the upcoming jobs report for October to be weak because the shutdown may have dampened hiring.

In the absence of stronger jobs growth, the economy will struggle to grow quickly and that means the Fed is unlikely to stop its stimulus effort anytime soon.

"We've probably got another relatively soft report ahead of us," said Jeff Kleintop, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial. "That's likely to keep the Fed on hold for some time and the market seems to like that."

The Fed has been buying $85 billion of bonds a month to keep long-term interest rates low and spur economic growth. The stimulus has been a key driver of a 4 ½-year rally in stocks that has pushed the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average to record levels this year.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index rose 10.01 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,754.67. The Dow gained 75.46 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,467.66. The Nasdaq composite advanced 9.52 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,929.57.

Investors are also watching company earnings for the third quarter.

S&P 500 companies are forecast to report average earnings growth of 3.5 percent for the third quarter, according to the latest estimate from S&P Capital IQ. That would be the slowest rate of growth since the third quarter a year ago.

While growth has slowed, about two-thirds of companies are reporting earnings that are beating forecasts from Wall Street analysts.

"So far, the bottom line earnings are beating the reduced expectations," said Darrell Cronk, a regional Chief Investment Officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

Netflix had a volatile day.

The company's stock opened higher after Netflix reported late Monday that its earnings quadrupled and it attracted more subscribers in the third quarter. The gains faded throughout the day and the stock closed down $32.47, or 9 percent, at $322.52.

The stock has gained 248 percent this year, making it the second-best performer in the S&P 500 after Best Buy. Despite the good results, analysts at Jefferies Group say Netflix's valuation is hard to justify given the cost of content, heavy competition and likelihood that the company will have to raise capital to fund its operations.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.52 percent, its lowest level since late July, from 2.60 percent late Monday.

The yields on long-term Treasury notes are used to set the rates on consumer loans such as mortgages. Falling rates should help the housing sector by keeping the cost of home financing low.

The drop in yields "is very much supportive for the mortgage markets," said Anastasia Amoroso, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds. "That is definitely a tailwind for the housing market and the consumer."

Homebuilders K.B. Home rose 62 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $17.19. D.R. Horton climbed 56 cents, or 3 percent, to $19.23

Stocks of homebuilders also got a boost from a report that showed spending on U.S. construction projects rose at a solid pace in August, helped by further gains in residential building.

In commodities trading, the price of crude oil fell $1.42, or 1.4 percent, to $97.80 a barrel as recent data indicated there is plenty of supply to meet current demand. The price of gold rose $26.80, or 2 percent, to $1,342.60 an ounce.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” Whirlpool rose $15.22, or 11.6 percent, to $146.19 after the company said its third-quarter net income more than doubled.

”” Delta Air Lines rose 80 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $25.49. The airline made more than a billion dollars in the third quarter as more passengers paid a little bit extra to fly. Delta also said it was seeing strong holiday bookings.

”” Kimberly-Clark rose $4.14, or 4.2 percent, to $102.97 after the maker of Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers said its third-quarter net income rose 6 percent.

”” Coach fell $4.08, or 7.5 percent, to $50.10 after the maker of luxury handbags and accessories said its quarterly net income fell. The company is struggling with weaker sales in North America.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

A four-day streak of record closes ended for the Standard & Poor's 500 index Wednesday after Caterpillar reported weak earnings and falling oil prices hurt energy stocks.

Caterpillar, which makes mining and construction equipment, is considered an important barometer of the global economy. The plunge in Caterpillar's third-quarter profit discouraged investors and stalled a two-week surge in the stock market. Energy stocks dropped as the price of oil fell to its lowest in almost four months.

The S&P 500 had surged 6 percent over the previous two weeks. The index climbed as lawmakers inched toward a deal to end a 16-day partial government shutdown and avert a potential U.S. default. Investors also became more convinced that the Federal Reserve will refrain from easing back on its economic stimulus until possibly next year.

"We need to let a little bit of air out of the balloon here," said Alec Young, a global equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "We've seen a huge rally, so there's a bit of short-term-exhaustion."

The S&P 500 dropped 8.29 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,746.38, ending its longest streak of record closes since mid-May.

Energy stocks fell the most of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500. Oil slipped $1.42, or 1.4 percent, to $97.80 a barrel, on higher U.S. supplies of crude and weak demand for fuel.

Along with weaker earnings, Caterpillar issued a lower profit forecast. Its stock dropped $5.41, or 6.1 percent, to $83.76.

Broadcom was another company that disappointed Wall Street with its third-quarter earnings. The communications chip maker fell 78 cents or 2.9 percent, to $26.36, reported adjusted results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but the company's earnings forecast was weak.

It wasn't all bad news from corporate America.

Boeing raised its profit estimate for the full year because deliveries of commercial planes continue to accelerate. The plane maker's stock climbed $6.54, or 5.3 percent, to $129.02.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 54.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,413.33 The Nasdaq composite dropped 22.49 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,907.07.

While some earnings disappointed investors on Wednesday, most are reporting profits that are better than expected. About sixty percent of the companies in the S&P 500 that have reported third-quarter earnings have beaten analysts' forecasts, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.

"Obviously we've had one casualty today with Caterpillar but, so far, most companies have beaten market expectations," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings growth of 3.5 percent for the July-to-September quarter over the same period a year earlier. Revenue is expected to rise by 3.9 percent.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.50 percent from 2.51 percent late Tuesday.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -54.33 points or ▼ -0.35% on Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15413.33 ▼ -54.33 ▼ -0.35%
Nasdaq___ 3907.07 ▼ -22.49 ▼ -0.57%
S&P_500__ 1746.38 ▼ -8.29 ▼ -0.47%
30_Yr_Bond 3.582 ▼ -0.027 ▼ -0.75%

NYSE Volume 3,695,265,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,866,661,880

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6674.48 ▼ -21.18 ▼ -0.32%
DAX_____ 8919.86 ▼ -27.6 ▼ -0.31%
CAC_40__ 4260.66 ▼ -34.77 ▼ -0.81%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5356.8 ▼ -14.4 ▼ -0.27%
Shanghai_Comp 2183.11 ▼ -27.54 ▼ -1.25%
Taiwan_Weight 8393.62 ▼ -24.65 ▼ -0.29%
Nikkei_225____ 14426.05 ▼ -287.2 ▼ -1.95%
Hang_Seng____ 22999.95 ▼ -316.04 ▼ -1.36%
Strait_Times___ 3204.8 ▼ -5.41 ▼ -0.17%
NZX_50_Index__ 4876.4 ▲ 44.61 ▲ 0.92%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-drop-caterpillar-earnings-falling-203322533.html

Stock drop on Caterpillar earnings, falling oil

Stocks drop, pulling S&P 500 below record; Caterpillar slumps, falling oil hurts energy stocks

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

A four-day streak of record closes ended for the Standard & Poor's 500 index Wednesday after Caterpillar reported weak earnings and falling oil prices hurt energy stocks.

Caterpillar, which makes mining and construction equipment, is considered an important barometer of the global economy. The plunge in Caterpillar's third-quarter profit discouraged investors and stalled a two-week surge in the stock market. Energy stocks dropped as the price of oil fell to its lowest in almost four months.

The S&P 500 had surged 6 percent over the previous two weeks. The index climbed as lawmakers inched toward a deal to end a 16-day partial government shutdown and avert a potential U.S. default. Investors also became more convinced that the Federal Reserve will refrain from easing back on its economic stimulus until possibly next year.

"We need to let a little bit of air out of the balloon here," said Alec Young, a global equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "We've seen a huge rally, so there's a bit of short-term-exhaustion."

The S&P 500 dropped 8.29 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,746.38, ending its longest streak of record closes since mid-May.

Energy stocks fell the most of the 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500. Oil slipped $1.42, or 1.4 percent, to $97.80 a barrel, on higher U.S. supplies of crude and weak demand for fuel.

Along with weaker earnings, Caterpillar issued a lower profit forecast. Its stock dropped $5.41, or 6.1 percent, to $83.76.

Broadcom was another company that disappointed Wall Street with its third-quarter earnings. The communications chip maker fell 78 cents or 2.9 percent, to $26.36, reported adjusted results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, but the company's earnings forecast was weak.

It wasn't all bad news from corporate America.

Boeing raised its profit estimate for the full year because deliveries of commercial planes continue to accelerate. The plane maker's stock climbed $6.54, or 5.3 percent, to $129.02.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 54.33 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,413.33 The Nasdaq composite dropped 22.49 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,907.07.

While some earnings disappointed investors on Wednesday, most are reporting profits that are better than expected. About sixty percent of the companies in the S&P 500 that have reported third-quarter earnings have beaten analysts' forecasts, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.

"Obviously we've had one casualty today with Caterpillar but, so far, most companies have beaten market expectations," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

S&P 500 companies are expected to report earnings growth of 3.5 percent for the July-to-September quarter over the same period a year earlier. Revenue is expected to rise by 3.9 percent.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.50 percent from 2.51 percent late Tuesday.

The yield, which is used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans including mortgages, is the lowest it's been since mid-July. It has fallen 0.5 percent since reaching a high for the year of 3 percent on Sept. 5. Investors have bought Treasurys, pushing down their yield, as the outlook for economic growth has weakened since the government shutdown.

The slowdown has an upside, though. Many analysts and economists expect the Fed to continue its economic stimulus until next year to help the economy maintain its momentum after the government shutdown. The central bank is currently buying $85 billion in bonds every month to keep interest rates low. That stimulus program has underpinned a 4 ½ year rally in stocks.

In commodities, the price of gold fell $8.60, or 0.6 percent, to $1,334 an ounce.

Among other stocks making big moves:

”” Corning surged $2.17, or 14.1 percent, to $17.52 after the company announced a new tie-up with a Samsung Electronics subsidiary that will boost the glass maker's earnings immediately.

”” Safeway rose $2.68, or 8.1 percent, to $35.58 following a report from Reuters late yesterday that "a handful" of buyout firms, including Cerberus Capital Management, are exploring a deal for all, or part, of the supermarket chain.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Another dose of strong corporate earnings, this time from Ford, Southwest Airlines and others, helped push the stock market higher on Thursday.

It's one of the busiest weeks on Wall Street for corporate earnings. Roughly a third of the S&P 500 will report results, including some of the world's best-known companies.

For investors, this week has also been a welcome return to business as usual. Wall Street has been focused for weeks on what's going on in Washington, with the government shutdown, the near-breach of the nation's borrowing limit and questions about what's next for the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program.

So far, corporate earnings have come in pretty much as most money managers expected. Companies are reporting bigger profits, but most of the growth has come from cost-cutting, a trend that hasn't changed very much since the financial crisis.

"We're in a slow-growth economy and companies need to do everything to boost earnings," said Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,509.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 5.69 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,752.07, about two points below the record high of 1,754.67 it reached on Tuesday.

The Nasdaq composite was up 21.89 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,928.96.

Among companies reporting earnings, Ford earned an adjusted profit of 45 cents per share ”” a record for the third quarter ”” as sales rose 12 percent to $36 billion. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker sold 1.5 million cars and trucks in the period, up 16 percent. Wall Street analysts had expected Ford to earn 37 cents per share, according to FactSet. Ford rose 24 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $17.76.

Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest domestic air carrier, reported sharply higher earnings. Southwest said it had an adjusted profit of 34 cents per share, up from 13 cents a year ago. Southwest rose 61 cents, or 4 percent, to $17.02.

AT&T fell 65 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $34.63. The telecommunications company said late Wednesday it had an adjusted profit of 66 cents in the third quarter, a penny above analysts' forecasts, however revenue fell slightly short of what analysts expected.

Two technology giants, Microsoft and Amazon, reported results after the stock market closed Thursday. Both beat analysts' expectations. Amazon rose 5 percent and Microsoft jumped 6.5 percent in after-market trading.

Wall Street also had some positive news out of China. A Chinese manufacturing index rose to a seven-month high in October, suggesting continued momentum for the rebound in the world's second-biggest economy.

With the S&P 500 trading near a record high and corporations finding it difficult to increase their sales, several market watchers have said they aren't sure how much further stocks can go from here.

There are signs that stocks are getting expensive. Investors are currently paying more than $16 for every $1 of earnings in the S&P 500, up from $14 at the beginning of the year.

"We're at this stage where we need to start to see the fundamentals improve," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist with Prudential Financial.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 95.88 points or ▲ 0.62% on Thursday, 24 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15509.21 ▲ 95.88 ▲ 0.62%
Nasdaq___ 3928.96 ▲ 21.89 ▲ 0.56%
S&P_500__ 1752.07 ▲ 5.69 ▲ 0.33%
30_Yr_Bond 3.613 ▲ 0.031 ▲ 0.87%

NYSE Volume 3,597,835,750
Nasdaq Volume 2,012,617,000

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6713.18 ▲ 38.7 ▲ 0.58%
DAX_____ 8980.63 ▲ 60.77 ▲ 0.68%
CAC_40__ 4275.69 ▲ 15.03 ▲ 0.35%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5373.7 ▲ 16.9 ▲ 0.32%
Shanghai_Comp 2164.32 ▼ -18.78 ▼ -0.86%
Taiwan_Weight 8413.72 ▲ 20.1 ▲ 0.24%
Nikkei_225____ 14486.41 ▲ 60.36 ▲ 0.42%
Hang_Seng____ 22835.82 ▼ -164.13 ▼ -0.71%
Strait_Times___ 3217.95 ▲ 13.15 ▲ 0.41%
NZX_50_Index__ 4834.94 ▼ -41.45 ▼ -0.85%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/higher-profits-ford-others-drive-192736132.html

Higher profits from Ford, others drive stocks up

Stocks rise on Wall Street, helped by better earnings from Ford, Southwest Airlines, others

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

Another dose of strong corporate earnings, this time from Ford, Southwest Airlines and others, helped push the stock market higher on Thursday.

It's one of the busiest weeks on Wall Street for corporate earnings. Roughly a third of the S&P 500 will report results, including some of the world's best-known companies.

For investors, this week has also been a welcome return to business as usual. Wall Street has been focused for weeks on what's going on in Washington, with the government shutdown, the near-breach of the nation's borrowing limit and questions about what's next for the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program.

So far, corporate earnings have come in pretty much as most money managers expected. Companies are reporting bigger profits, but most of the growth has come from cost-cutting, a trend that hasn't changed very much since the financial crisis.

"We're in a slow-growth economy and companies need to do everything to boost earnings," said Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at Rosenblatt Securities.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.88 points, or 0.6 percent, to 15,509.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 5.69 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,752.07, about two points below the record high of 1,754.67 it reached on Tuesday.

The Nasdaq composite was up 21.89 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,928.96.

Among companies reporting earnings, Ford earned an adjusted profit of 45 cents per share ”” a record for the third quarter ”” as sales rose 12 percent to $36 billion. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker sold 1.5 million cars and trucks in the period, up 16 percent. Wall Street analysts had expected Ford to earn 37 cents per share, according to FactSet. Ford rose 24 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $17.76.

Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest domestic air carrier, reported sharply higher earnings. Southwest said it had an adjusted profit of 34 cents per share, up from 13 cents a year ago. Southwest rose 61 cents, or 4 percent, to $17.02.

AT&T fell 65 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $34.63. The telecommunications company said late Wednesday it had an adjusted profit of 66 cents in the third quarter, a penny above analysts' forecasts, however revenue fell slightly short of what analysts expected.

Two technology giants, Microsoft and Amazon, reported results after the stock market closed Thursday. Both beat analysts' expectations. Amazon rose 5 percent and Microsoft jumped 6.5 percent in after-market trading.

Wall Street also had some positive news out of China. A Chinese manufacturing index rose to a seven-month high in October, suggesting continued momentum for the rebound in the world's second-biggest economy.

With the S&P 500 trading near a record high and corporations finding it difficult to increase their sales, several market watchers have said they aren't sure how much further stocks can go from here.

There are signs that stocks are getting expensive. Investors are currently paying more than $16 for every $1 of earnings in the S&P 500, up from $14 at the beginning of the year.

"We're at this stage where we need to start to see the fundamentals improve," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist with Prudential Financial.

In other corporate news:

”” Visa rose $4.02, or 2 percent, to $202.91. The payment processing company raised its quarterly dividend by 21 percent to 40 cents per share.

”” Xerox plunged $1.12, or 10 percent, to $9.61 after the company cut its full-year outlook and missed analysts' estimates.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Strong third-quarter results from technology companies drove investors into stocks on Friday, giving the market its third straight weekly gain.

After reporting results that topped expectations, Microsoft rose 6 percent and Amazon.com rose 9 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index hit a record. The Nasdaq is the highest it's been in 13 years.

The gains were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, led by telecommunications with an increase of 1 percent.

Most companies that have reported third-quarter earnings are beating financial analysts' estimates. Even so, earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to grow just 4.5 percent over the same period a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ, a research firm. At the start of the year, earnings were expected to rise at more than twice that pace.

Some market watchers are calling for caution, saying that a significant part of the profit growth has come from cutting expenses, not increasing revenue, as the global economy remains sluggish.

"The question is: What is the outlook for earnings?" Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, said. "There is only so much you can do with cost-cutting."

Major U.S. stock indexes have soared this year. The S&P 500 is up 23 percent, the Nasdaq composite 31 percent. In addition to higher earnings, investors have been encouraged by continued economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Many had expected the Fed to pull back from its stimulus before the end of year, but now think the central bank will hold off until next year, possibly until March.

The Fed is buying $85 billion worth of U.S. government and other bonds with the aim of keeping interest rates low.

The stimulus program has helped investors brush aside a few warning signs about the market. Stocks look fully priced by some measures comparing them to earnings, for instance. And revenue growth is slowing. Revenue for S&P 500 companies is expected to grow just 2 percent for all of 2013, half the growth of the year before.

Economic news Friday suggested they may struggle to increase sales for a while yet.

The U.S. government that reported orders for long-lasting factory goods, excluding aircraft and military-related products, fell 1.1 percent.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 61.07 points or ▲ 0.39% on Friday, 25 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15570.28 ▲ 61.07 ▲ 0.39%
Nasdaq___ 3943.36 ▲ 14.4 ▲ 0.37%
S&P_500__ 1759.77 ▲ 7.7 ▲ 0.44%
30_Yr_Bond 3.593 ▼ -0.02 ▼ -0.55%

NYSE Volume 3,152,649,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,186,544,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6721.34 ▲ 8.16 ▲ 0.12%
DAX_____ 8985.74 ▲ 5.11 ▲ 0.06%
CAC_40__ 4272.31 ▼ -3.38 ▼ -0.08%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5385.7 ▲ 12 ▲ 0.22%
Shanghai_Comp 2132.96 ▼ -31.37 ▼ -1.45%
Taiwan_Weight 8346.62 ▼ -67.1 ▼ -0.80%
Nikkei_225____ 14088.19 ▼ -398.22 ▼ -2.75%
Hang_Seng____ 22698.34 ▼ -137.48 ▼ -0.60%
Strait_Times___ 3205.24 ▼ -12.71 ▼ -0.39%
NZX_50_Index__ 4863.35 ▲ 28.41 ▲ 0.59%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-rise-profit-gains-microsoft-154019548.html

Stocks rise on profit gains from Microsoft, others

US stocks close higher on strong results from Microsoft, Amazon; Nasdaq is at a 13-year high

By Bernard Condon, AP Business Writer

Strong third-quarter results from technology companies drove investors into stocks on Friday, giving the market its third straight weekly gain.

After reporting results that topped expectations, Microsoft rose 6 percent and Amazon.com rose 9 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index hit a record. The Nasdaq is the highest it's been in 13 years.

The gains were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose, led by telecommunications with an increase of 1 percent.

Most companies that have reported third-quarter earnings are beating financial analysts' estimates. Even so, earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index are expected to grow just 4.5 percent over the same period a year ago, according to S&P Capital IQ, a research firm. At the start of the year, earnings were expected to rise at more than twice that pace.

Some market watchers are calling for caution, saying that a significant part of the profit growth has come from cutting expenses, not increasing revenue, as the global economy remains sluggish.

"The question is: What is the outlook for earnings?" Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities, said. "There is only so much you can do with cost-cutting."

Major U.S. stock indexes have soared this year. The S&P 500 is up 23 percent, the Nasdaq composite 31 percent. In addition to higher earnings, investors have been encouraged by continued economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Many had expected the Fed to pull back from its stimulus before the end of year, but now think the central bank will hold off until next year, possibly until March.

The Fed is buying $85 billion worth of U.S. government and other bonds with the aim of keeping interest rates low.

The stimulus program has helped investors brush aside a few warning signs about the market. Stocks look fully priced by some measures comparing them to earnings, for instance. And revenue growth is slowing. Revenue for S&P 500 companies is expected to grow just 2 percent for all of 2013, half the growth of the year before.

Economic news Friday suggested they may struggle to increase sales for a while yet.

The U.S. government that reported orders for long-lasting factory goods, excluding aircraft and military-related products, fell 1.1 percent.

Also, the University of Michigan said its index of U.S. consumer sentiment fell in October as concern grew that the partial government shutdown this month and the political fight over the nation's borrowing limit would slow growth.

The Dow rose 61.07 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 15,570.28. The S&P 500 rose 7.70 points, 0.4 percent, to 1,759.77. The S&P also closed at a record high Tuesday.

The Nasdaq composite rose 14.40 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,943.36. That was its highest close since September 2000.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Microsoft beat analysts' forecasts for revenue and earnings, giving hope to investors that its shift to devices and services from PC-based software will be successful. Microsoft rose $2.01, or 6 percent, to $35.73 after reporting a 17 percent increase in third quarter net income late Thursday.

Amazon.com was up $31.18, or 9 percent, to $363 as investors continue to shrug off its losses. The online retailer reported late Thursday that its revenue surged 24 percent to $13.8 billion in the third quarter, more than financial analysts had expected.

Zynga rose 19 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.73 after the Internet gaming company reported it had cut its losses in the third quarter. The maker of "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" is trying to appeal more to users of smartphones and tablet computers under a new CEO.

In bond trading, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a benchmark for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, edged down to 2.51 percent from 2.52 percent. The yield has fallen sharply since Sept. 5, when it hit 3 percent, and is the lowest it's been in three months.

4063

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The Standard & Poor's 500 index notched another record close on Monday by a tiny margin as good news from J.C. Penney helped offset disappointing earnings from several U.S. companies.

J.C. Penney was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 after the retailer's CEO said sales were improving. Merck fell after the drugmaker sharply lowered its earnings forecast for the year and reported a plunge in third-quarter earnings. Roper Industries, a medical and industrial equipment manufacturer, dropped after lowering its full-year earnings estimate.

The S&P 500 has closed at an all-time high six times in October. The index was boosted earlier in the month by a deal in Washington that ended a partial government shutdown and prevented a potential default on the U.S. government's debt. Stocks have also climbed because companies have been able to keep increasing their earnings even as the economy failed to escape stall speed.

Earnings are expected to rise by about 4.5 percent at S&P 500 companies, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. While that is the slowest rate of growth in a year, companies are still beating the estimates of Wall Street analysts. About two-thirds of the companies that have published third-quarter earnings so far have exceeded analysts' expectations.

"Earnings are beating a low bar," said Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock. "You have an economy that's not producing a lot of top-line growth, but it's allowing margins to remain elevated for longer than people thought."

The S&P 500 rose 2.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,762.11. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 1.35 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,568.93. The Nasdaq composite closed down 3.23 points, or 0.1 percent, at 3,940.13.

Stocks have been supported this year by ongoing economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve. This week investors will get more insight into the central bank's thinking.

Analysts don't expect to see any big changes come out of a meeting of Fed policymakers this week. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion in bonds every month to help keep down long-term interest rates and to encourage borrowing, spending and hiring.

"The Fed is not likely to surprise the markets at this week's meeting, by any means," said Michael Sheldon, the Chief Market Strategist at RDM Financial. "For now, it's steady as she goes."

The 16-day government shutdown that ended earlier this month likely curtailed economic growth in the fourth quarter. Also, many government agencies stopped publishing economic reports during the shutdown, making it harder for policy makers to get a clear picture of the economy.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -1.35 points or ▼ -0.01% on Monday, 28 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15568.93 ▼ -1.35 ▼ -0.01%
Nasdaq___ 3940.13 ▼ -3.23 ▼ -0.08%
S&P_500__ 1762.11 ▲ 2.34 ▲ 0.13%
30_Yr_Bond 3.602 ▲ 0.009 ▲ 0.25%

NYSE Volume 3,224,470,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,870,121,120

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6725.82 ▲ 4.48 ▲ 0.07%
DAX_____ 8978.65 ▼ -7.09 ▼ -0.08%
CAC_40__ 4251.61 ▼ -20.7 ▼ -0.48%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5437.3 ▲ 51.6 ▲ 0.96%
Shanghai_Comp 2133.87 ▲ 0.91 ▲ 0.04%
Taiwan_Weight 8407.83 ▲ 61.21 ▲ 0.73%
Nikkei_225____ 14396.04 ▲ 307.85 ▲ 2.19%
Hang_Seng____ 22806.58 ▲ 108.24 ▲ 0.48%
Strait_Times___ 3207.85 ▲ 2.61 ▲ 0.08%
NZX_50_Index__ 4863.35 ▲ 28.41 ▲ 0.59%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-makes-small-gain-204110821.html

S&P 500 makes small gain to log another record

S&P 500 makes small gain to log sixth record close this month; JC Penney jumps on sales news

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

The Standard & Poor's 500 index notched another record close on Monday by a tiny margin as good news from J.C. Penney helped offset disappointing earnings from several U.S. companies.

J.C. Penney was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 after the retailer's CEO said sales were improving. Merck fell after the drugmaker sharply lowered its earnings forecast for the year and reported a plunge in third-quarter earnings. Roper Industries, a medical and industrial equipment manufacturer, dropped after lowering its full-year earnings estimate.

The S&P 500 has closed at an all-time high six times in October. The index was boosted earlier in the month by a deal in Washington that ended a partial government shutdown and prevented a potential default on the U.S. government's debt. Stocks have also climbed because companies have been able to keep increasing their earnings even as the economy failed to escape stall speed.

Earnings are expected to rise by about 4.5 percent at S&P 500 companies, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. While that is the slowest rate of growth in a year, companies are still beating the estimates of Wall Street analysts. About two-thirds of the companies that have published third-quarter earnings so far have exceeded analysts' expectations.

"Earnings are beating a low bar," said Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock. "You have an economy that's not producing a lot of top-line growth, but it's allowing margins to remain elevated for longer than people thought."

The S&P 500 rose 2.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,762.11. The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 1.35 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,568.93. The Nasdaq composite closed down 3.23 points, or 0.1 percent, at 3,940.13.

J.C. Penney, which is trying to recover from a botched corporate makeover led by its former CEO, rose 60 cents, or 8.8 percent, to $7.39. The stock, which is still down 63 percent this year.

Merck fell $1.19, or 2.6 percent, to $45.35 after reporting that its third-quarter profit plunged 35 percent. Roper Industries fell $8.78, or 2.6 percent, to $124.26 after the company's earnings fell short of estimates. Roper also cut its earnings forecast.

Homebuilders fell after the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes fell in September to the lowest level in nine months, reflecting higher mortgage rates and home prices. D.R. Horton dropped 11 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $19.66. KB Home fell 22 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $17.68.

Stocks have been supported this year by ongoing economic stimulus from the Federal Reserve. This week investors will get more insight into the central bank's thinking.

Analysts don't expect to see any big changes come out of a meeting of Fed policymakers this week. The Fed is currently buying $85 billion in bonds every month to help keep down long-term interest rates and to encourage borrowing, spending and hiring.

"The Fed is not likely to surprise the markets at this week's meeting, by any means," said Michael Sheldon, the Chief Market Strategist at RDM Financial. "For now, it's steady as she goes."

The 16-day government shutdown that ended earlier this month likely curtailed economic growth in the fourth quarter. Also, many government agencies stopped publishing economic reports during the shutdown, making it harder for policy makers to get a clear picture of the economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.52 percent from 2.51 percent.

In commodities trading, the price of gold edged down 30 cents to close at $1,352.20 an ounce. Oil rose 83 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $98.68 a barrel.

Among other stocks making big moves:

”” Burger King rose $1.14, or 5.8 percent, to $20.90 after the hamburger chain said its third-quarter net income surged as it sharply reduced its expenses.

”” CF Industries gained $8.74, or 4.2 percent, to $218.36 after the company agreed to sell its phosphate business to the fertilizer producer Mosaic.

”” Bristol-Myers Squibb rose $3.25, or 6.7 percent, to $52.02 after the company reported positive results from an early-stage study of its cancer drug nivolumab.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Investors drove the Dow Jones industrial average to an all-time high Tuesday on expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its economic stimulus program in place.

The Dow rose 111.42 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,680.35. The Dow also got a big boost from IBM, which announced that it would buy $15 billion more of its own stock.

The Fed is in the middle of a two-day policy meeting at which it's expected to maintain its $85 billion worth of bond purchases every month. That program is aimed at stimulating economic growth by keeping borrowing rates very low. The Fed will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon.

"The expectation that the Fed remains clearly on hold is the catalyst for this march higher," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.

IBM rose $4.77, or 2.7 percent, to $181.12, accounting for about a quarter of the Dow's gain.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 9.84 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,771.95, its seventh record high this month.

About half the companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for the third quarter. So far, most are doing better than investors expected. Companies in the index are forecast to log third-quarter earnings growth of 4.5 percent, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.

The Nasdaq composite rose 12.21 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,952.34.

The Nasdaq Stock Market was hit with another glitch. Nasdaq indexes weren't updated from 11:53 a.m. to 12:37 p.m. because of a technical problem that was caused by human error, the exchange operator said in a statement. Trading of Nasdaq-listed stocks wasn't affected.

On Sept. 4, the Nasdaq had a brief outage in one of its quote dissemination channels, but trading wasn't disrupted. On Aug. 22 the exchange suffered a three-hour trading outage that was also attributed to problems with the exchange's price disseminating system.

Two economic reports came in relatively weak, which may have encouraged some investors by suggesting that any slowdown in the Fed's stimulus could be a ways off.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 111.42 points or ▲ 0.72% on Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15680.35 ▲ 111.42 ▲ 0.72%
Nasdaq___ 3952.34 ▲ 12.21 ▲ 0.31%
S&P_500__ 1771.95 ▲ 9.84 ▲ 0.56%
30_Yr_Bond 3.622 ▲ 0.02 ▲ 0.56%

NYSE Volume 3,335,774,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,857,700,880

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6774.73 ▲ 48.91 ▲ 0.73%
DAX_____ 9022.04 ▲ 43.39 ▲ 0.48%
CAC_40__ 4278.09 ▲ 26.48 ▲ 0.62%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5410.7 ▼ -26.6 ▼ -0.49%
Shanghai_Comp 2128.86 ▼ -5 ▼ -0.23%
Taiwan_Weight 8420.98 ▲ 13.15 ▲ 0.16%
Nikkei_225____ 14325.98 ▼ -70.06 ▼ -0.49%
Hang_Seng____ 22846.54 ▲ 39.96 ▲ 0.18%
Strait_Times___ 3208.82 ▲ 0.97 ▲ 0.03%
NZX_50_Index__ 4852.59 ▼ -10.76 ▼ -0.22%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dow-closes-record-high-fed-204226767.html

Dow closes at a record high as Fed meeting begins

Dow Jones industrial average climbs to a record high as investors expect Fed to keep stimulus

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

Investors drove the Dow Jones industrial average to an all-time high Tuesday on expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its economic stimulus program in place.

The Dow rose 111.42 points, or 0.7 percent, to 15,680.35. The Dow also got a big boost from IBM, which announced that it would buy $15 billion more of its own stock.

The Fed is in the middle of a two-day policy meeting at which it's expected to maintain its $85 billion worth of bond purchases every month. That program is aimed at stimulating economic growth by keeping borrowing rates very low. The Fed will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon.

"The expectation that the Fed remains clearly on hold is the catalyst for this march higher," said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.

IBM rose $4.77, or 2.7 percent, to $181.12, accounting for about a quarter of the Dow's gain.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 9.84 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,771.95, its seventh record high this month.

About half the companies in the S&P 500 have reported earnings for the third quarter. So far, most are doing better than investors expected. Companies in the index are forecast to log third-quarter earnings growth of 4.5 percent, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.

The Nasdaq composite rose 12.21 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,952.34.

The Nasdaq Stock Market was hit with another glitch. Nasdaq indexes weren't updated from 11:53 a.m. to 12:37 p.m. because of a technical problem that was caused by human error, the exchange operator said in a statement. Trading of Nasdaq-listed stocks wasn't affected.

On Sept. 4, the Nasdaq had a brief outage in one of its quote dissemination channels, but trading wasn't disrupted. On Aug. 22 the exchange suffered a three-hour trading outage that was also attributed to problems with the exchange's price disseminating system.

Two economic reports came in relatively weak, which may have encouraged some investors by suggesting that any slowdown in the Fed's stimulus could be a ways off.

Retail sales fell 0.1 percent in September, the weakest showing since March, as auto sales dipped. Americans' confidence in the economy fell this month to the lowest level since April. People were worried about the impact of the 16-day partial shutdown of the U.S. government.

"The data that has been the most attractive to (stock) markets seems to be the data that maintains the status quo," said Brad Sorensen, the director of market and sector analysis at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.50 percent from 2.52 percent Monday.

In commodities trading, oil fell 48 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $98.20 a barrel. Gold dropped $6.70, or 0.5 percent, to $1,345.50 an ounce.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market retreated from all-time highs Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy still needed help from its stimulus program.

In its latest policy statement, the nation's central bank said it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds every month and keep its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero. The bond purchases are designed to keep borrowing costs low to encourage hiring and investment.

The Fed said it would "await more evidence" that the economy was improving before starting to pull back its stimulus program.

The Fed's announcement was mostly expected by investors. Since the Fed's last meeting in September, the economy suffered a blow because of the 16-day partial shutdown of the U.S. government and the near-breach of the nation's borrowing limit.

As a result, investors thought it would be highly unlikely the Fed would make any changes to its stimulus program until was more evidence that the U.S. could grow without the central bank's help.

The soonest the Fed could revisit its bond-buying program will be at its mid-December meeting. However, Ben Bernanke's term as Fed chairman ends in February and his successor, Janet Yellen, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. It is seen as unlikely Bernanke would take on such a large project like pulling back on the bond-buying program when he only has months left in the position.

"We're looking at March of next year at the earliest" before the Fed will start to pull back, said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 61.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,618.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.64 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,763.31. The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs Tuesday.

The Nasdaq composite fell 21.72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,930.62.

Bond prices also fell after the Fed's announcement. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.54 percent from 2.50 percent the day before.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -61.59 points or ▼ -0.39% on Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15618.76 ▼ -61.59 ▼ -0.39%
Nasdaq___ 3930.62 ▼ -21.72 ▼ -0.55%
S&P_500__ 1763.31 ▼ -8.64 ▼ -0.49%
30_Yr_Bond 3.632 ▲ 0.01 ▲ 0.28%

NYSE Volume 3,542,601,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,878,871,000

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6777.7 ▲ 2.97 ▲ 0.04%
DAX_____ 9010.27 ▼ -11.77 ▼ -0.13%
CAC_40__ 4274.11 ▼ -3.98 ▼ -0.09%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5425.4 ▲ 14.7 ▲ 0.27%
Shanghai_Comp 2160.46 ▲ 31.6 ▲ 1.48%
Taiwan_Weight 8465.06 ▲ 44.08 ▲ 0.52%
Nikkei_225____ 14502.35 ▲ 176.37 ▲ 1.23%
Hang_Seng____ 23304.02 ▲ 457.48 ▲ 2.00%
Strait_Times___ 3230.44 ▲ 21.62 ▲ 0.67%
NZX_50_Index__ 4868.08 ▲ 15.49 ▲ 0.32%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-fall-fed-says-us-190830278.html

Stocks fall after Fed says US still needs support

Stocks fall after Fed says US still needs support; Homebuilders down on weak housing outlook

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

The stock market retreated from all-time highs Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy still needed help from its stimulus program.

In its latest policy statement, the nation's central bank said it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds every month and keep its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero. The bond purchases are designed to keep borrowing costs low to encourage hiring and investment.

The Fed said it would "await more evidence" that the economy was improving before starting to pull back its stimulus program.

The Fed's announcement was mostly expected by investors. Since the Fed's last meeting in September, the economy suffered a blow because of the 16-day partial shutdown of the U.S. government and the near-breach of the nation's borrowing limit.

As a result, investors thought it would be highly unlikely the Fed would make any changes to its stimulus program until was more evidence that the U.S. could grow without the central bank's help.

The soonest the Fed could revisit its bond-buying program will be at its mid-December meeting. However, Ben Bernanke's term as Fed chairman ends in February and his successor, Janet Yellen, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. It is seen as unlikely Bernanke would take on such a large project like pulling back on the bond-buying program when he only has months left in the position.

"We're looking at March of next year at the earliest" before the Fed will start to pull back, said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 61.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 15,618.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.64 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,763.31. The Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs Tuesday.

The Nasdaq composite fell 21.72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,930.62.

Bond prices also fell after the Fed's announcement. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.54 percent from 2.50 percent the day before.

Stocks of home construction companies fell after the Fed said in its policy statement that "the recovery in the housing sector slowed somewhat in recent months." Last month, the Fed said housing "has been strengthening."

KB Home fell 47 cents, or 3 percent, to $17.49. Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers fell 56 cents, or 2 percent, to $33.56 and PulteGroup fell 21 cents, or 1 percent, to $18.00.

Despite the decline Wednesday, October has been a big month for the stock market. With just two days of trading left, the S&P 500 is up 4.9 percent, putting the index on track for its best month since July.

Investors also had another dose of quarterly earnings to work through.

General Motors rose $1.17, or 3 percent, to $37.23. After taking out one-time effects, the nation's largest automaker earned $1.7 billion, or 96 cents per share, beat analysts' expectations of 94 cents per share.

Western Union plunged $2.39, or 12 percent, to $16.85. The money transfer company said late Wednesday that it may not see any profit growth in 2014 due to increasing regulation and compliance costs.

Facebook soared in after-hours trading after the company reported higher income than analysts were expecting. Facebook rose $5.87, or 12 percent, to $54.88. The social media network said it earned an adjusted profit of 25 cents per share for the third quarter, six cents better than what analysts were expecting. Revenue jumped 60 percent to $2.02 billion.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

October, with its history of big crashes on Wall Street, didn't scare off investors this time. To the contrary, the stock market seemed unstoppable.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a record high seven times and ended the month up 4.5 percent. The market climbed even after October began with the 16-day government shutdown and the threat of a potentially calamitous U.S. default.

"The market didn't waver in the face of the shutdown," said Anton Bayer, CEO of Up Capital Management, an investment adviser. "That was huge."

After being rattled by a series of down-to-the-wire budget battles in recent years, investors have become inured to the ways of Washington lawmakers. Instead of selling stocks, they kept their focus on what they say really matters: the Federal Reserve.

The central bank is buying $85 billion of bonds every month and keeping its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero to promote economic growth. The Fed stimulus has helped generate a stock market rally that has been going on since March 2009.

With October's gains, the S&P 500 is now up 23.2 percent for the year and is on track for its best year since 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average is 18.6 percent higher, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 29.8 percent.

The S&P 500 has climbed 160 percent since bottoming out at 676.53 in March 2009 during the Great Recession.

Some analysts say the precipitous rise in stocks may now make the market vulnerable to a drop.

"Because stocks have gone up so much, people will get nervous about another big sell-off at some stage," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan funds.

Some investors will be relieved to see October behind them. The Stock Trader's Almanac refers to October as "the jinx month" because of its fraught history.

The Dow lost 40 points on Oct. 28, 1929, a day that became known as Black Monday and heralded the start of the Depression. Almost 60 years later, on Oct. 19, 1987, the Dow suffered its biggest percentage loss, plunging nearly 23 percent in the second Black Monday. The index also plummeted 13 percent on Oct. 27, 1997.

There was no such drama on Wall Street on Thursday. Stocks were mostly flat as investors took in disappointing corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 slipped 6.77 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,756.54. The Dow dropped 73.01 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,545. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,919.71.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER ▼ -73.01 points or ▼ -0.47% on Thursday, 31 October 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15545.75 ▼ -73.01 ▼ -0.47%
Nasdaq___ 3919.71 ▼ -10.91 ▼ -0.28%
S&P_500__ 1756.54 ▼ -6.77 ▼ -0.38%
30_Yr_Bond 3.631 ▼ -0.001 ▼ -0.03%

NYSE Volume 3,826,002,250
Nasdaq Volume 2,239,651,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6731.43 ▼ -46.27 ▼ -0.68%
DAX_____ 9033.92 ▲ 23.65 ▲ 0.26%
CAC_40__ 4299.89 ▲ 25.78 ▲ 0.60%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5420.3 ▼ -5.1 ▼ -0.09%
Shanghai_Comp 2141.61 ▼ -18.85 ▼ -0.87%
Taiwan_Weight 8450.06 ▼ -15 ▼ -0.18%
Nikkei_225____ 14327.94 ▼ -174.41 ▼ -1.20%
Hang_Seng____ 23206.37 ▼ -97.65 ▼ -0.42%
Strait_Times___ 3210.67 ▼ -19.77 ▼ -0.61%
NZX_50_Index__ 4909.73 ▲ 41.65 ▲ 0.86%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/no-october-jinx-time-stock-205743876.html

No October jinx this time for the stock market

No October jinx: Stocks kept on rising, hitting 7 all-time highs, despite government shutdown

By Steve Rothwell, AP Markets Writer

October, with its history of big crashes on Wall Street, didn't scare off investors this time. To the contrary, the stock market seemed unstoppable.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a record high seven times and ended the month up 4.5 percent. The market climbed even after October began with the 16-day government shutdown and the threat of a potentially calamitous U.S. default.

"The market didn't waver in the face of the shutdown," said Anton Bayer, CEO of Up Capital Management, an investment adviser. "That was huge."

After being rattled by a series of down-to-the-wire budget battles in recent years, investors have become inured to the ways of Washington lawmakers. Instead of selling stocks, they kept their focus on what they say really matters: the Federal Reserve.

The central bank is buying $85 billion of bonds every month and keeping its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero to promote economic growth. The Fed stimulus has helped generate a stock market rally that has been going on since March 2009.

With October's gains, the S&P 500 is now up 23.2 percent for the year and is on track for its best year since 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average is 18.6 percent higher, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 29.8 percent.

The S&P 500 has climbed 160 percent since bottoming out at 676.53 in March 2009 during the Great Recession.

Some analysts say the precipitous rise in stocks may now make the market vulnerable to a drop.

"Because stocks have gone up so much, people will get nervous about another big sell-off at some stage," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan funds.

Some investors will be relieved to see October behind them. The Stock Trader's Almanac refers to October as "the jinx month" because of its fraught history.

The Dow lost 40 points on Oct. 28, 1929, a day that became known as Black Monday and heralded the start of the Depression. Almost 60 years later, on Oct. 19, 1987, the Dow suffered its biggest percentage loss, plunging nearly 23 percent in the second Black Monday. The index also plummeted 13 percent on Oct. 27, 1997.

There was no such drama on Wall Street on Thursday. Stocks were mostly flat as investors took in disappointing corporate earnings.

The S&P 500 slipped 6.77 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,756.54. The Dow dropped 73.01 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,545. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,919.71.

Avon slumped $4.90, or 21.9 percent, to $17.50 after the beauty products company reported a third-quarter loss, reflecting lower sales and China-related charges. The company also said the Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a much larger penalty than it expected to settle bribery allegations.

Visa fell $7.15, or 3.5 percent, to $196.67. Its quarterly profits fell 28 percent as it set aside money for taxes. Visa also expects a slow recovery for the economy.

Overall, company earnings are beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts and lifting stock prices. Companies are benefiting from low borrowing costs and stable labor expenses, which are enabling them to boost earnings even as sales remain slack.

Earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to grow 5.3 percent in the third quarter, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That compares with 4.9 percent in the second quarter, and 2.4 percent in the same period a year ago.

The stock market is likely to keep climbing as long as the central bank keeps up its stimulus, said Up Capital's Bayer. But stocks could fall as much as 20 percent when the Fed starts to cut back on its bond-buying program, he said.

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market started November on a strong note as investors reacted to an expansion in U.S. manufacturing last month.

The improvement came during what could have been a difficult month for the U.S. economy, with a partial government shutdown that lasted 16 days and a narrowly averted default on the U.S. government's debt, which could have rattled financial markets.

"With what happened in the last two months, it's amazing how strong this market has been," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing index increased to 56.4, the highest level since April 2011. That was better than the 55.1 figure economists were expecting, according financial data provider FactSet.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.80 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,615.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,761.64. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,922.04.

Energy stocks lagged the market after Chevron reported that its third-quarter income fell 6 percent, missing analysts' estimates, due to weakness in the company's oil refining business. Chevron fell $1.95, or 1.6 percent, to $118.01.

The energy sector was also weighed down by a drop in the price of oil. Crude oil fell $1.77, or 1.8 percent, to $94.61 a barrel.

The positive start to this month's trading comes after a strong October for the stock market. The S&P 500 closed at a record high seven times during the month, most recently on Tuesday. It ended October with a gain of 4.5 percent.

However, some investors have expressed skepticism that stocks can keep up this rapid pace pace heading into the last two months of the year.

The S&P 500 is up 23 percent so far this year, while the average annual return on the S&P 500 is around 8 percent. Stocks are also starting to look expensive by some measures. Investors are paying more than $16 for every $1 of earnings in the S&P 500, the highest that ratio has been since February 2011.

"I don't think this market is cheap by any means," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial. "We've been urging caution for some time now."

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 69.8 points or ▲ 0.45% on Friday, 1 November 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15615.55 ▲ 69.8 ▲ 0.45%
Nasdaq___ 3922.04 ▲ 2.34 ▲ 0.06%
S&P_500__ 1761.64 ▲ 5.1 ▲ 0.29%
30_Yr_Bond 3.696 ▲ 0.065 ▲ 1.79%

NYSE Volume 3,703,160,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,917,593,750

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6734.74 ▲ 3.31 ▲ 0.05%
DAX_____ 9007.83 ▼ -26.09 ▼ -0.29%
CAC_40__ 4273.19 ▼ -26.7 ▼ -0.62%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5406.5 ▼ -13.8 ▼ -0.25%
Shanghai_Comp 2149.56 ▲ 7.95 ▲ 0.37%
Taiwan_Weight 8388.18 ▼ -61.88 ▼ -0.73%
Nikkei_225____ 14201.57 ▼ -126.37 ▼ -0.88%
Hang_Seng____ 23249.79 ▲ 43.42 ▲ 0.19%
Strait_Times___ 3201.2 ▼ -9.47 ▼ -0.29%
NZX_50_Index__ 4913.83 ▲ 4.11 ▲ 0.08%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-start-november-positive-note-203055509.html

Stocks start November on a positive note

US stocks start November on a strong note, helped by report on manufacturing expanding

By Ken Sweet, AP Markets Writer

The stock market started November on a strong note as investors reacted to an expansion in U.S. manufacturing last month.

The improvement came during what could have been a difficult month for the U.S. economy, with a partial government shutdown that lasted 16 days and a narrowly averted default on the U.S. government's debt, which could have rattled financial markets.

"With what happened in the last two months, it's amazing how strong this market has been," said Bob Doll, chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing index increased to 56.4, the highest level since April 2011. That was better than the 55.1 figure economists were expecting, according financial data provider FactSet.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.80 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,615.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.10 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,761.64. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.34 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,922.04.

Energy stocks lagged the market after Chevron reported that its third-quarter income fell 6 percent, missing analysts' estimates, due to weakness in the company's oil refining business. Chevron fell $1.95, or 1.6 percent, to $118.01.

The energy sector was also weighed down by a drop in the price of oil. Crude oil fell $1.77, or 1.8 percent, to $94.61 a barrel.

The positive start to this month's trading comes after a strong October for the stock market. The S&P 500 closed at a record high seven times during the month, most recently on Tuesday. It ended October with a gain of 4.5 percent.

However, some investors have expressed skepticism that stocks can keep up this rapid pace pace heading into the last two months of the year.

The S&P 500 is up 23 percent so far this year, while the average annual return on the S&P 500 is around 8 percent. Stocks are also starting to look expensive by some measures. Investors are paying more than $16 for every $1 of earnings in the S&P 500, the highest that ratio has been since February 2011.

"I don't think this market is cheap by any means," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial. "We've been urging caution for some time now."

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.62 percent from 2.56 percent.

On Friday morning, the Nasdaq's options market was halted due to a technical glitch. Regular stock trading was not affected.

Among stocks making big moves:

”” The Container Store more than doubled on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company raised $225 million in its initial public offering, pricing 12.5 million shares at $18 each. The stock soared $18.20 to $36.20.

”” First Solar jumped $8.83, or 18 percent, to $59.14. The solar panel maker said it had an adjusted profit of $2.28 per share for the third quarter, blowing past analysts' estimates of $1.13 per share, according FactSet.

4674

 

[bigdog]

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

The stock market's gains on Monday were a mile wide and an inch deep.

Major indexes posted slight but widespread gains. So while there was no dramatic rally and no records were set, all 10 industries tracked in the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose. Twice as many stocks rose as fell. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose more than one percent, the biggest gain among U.S. market benchmarks.

And some industries rose sharply, including steelmakers, homebuilders, and airlines.

While Monday's gains were modest, they continued a powerful rally in the market that has driven the S&P 500 index up nearly 24 percent this year. The S&P 500 closed at records seven times in October, most recently on Oct. 29, when it set its current all-time high of 1,771.95

On Monday the S&P 500 increased 6.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,767.93. Energy stocks had by far the biggest gains among 10 industries in the S&P 500, followed by technology and consumer discretionary stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.57 points, or 0.15 percent, to 15,639.12 and the Nasdaq composite also gained 14.55 points, or 0.37 percent, to 3,936.59.

Homebuilders gained after Tri Pointe Homes said it would combine with Weyerhaeuser's home building business in a $2.7 billion deal. Last week homebuilders fell after the Federal Reserve said in a policy statement that the recovery in that sector has "slowed somewhat" in recent months.

Tri Pointe rose 77 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.15. D.R. Horton rose 31 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $18.82. KB Home rose 28 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $16.88.

Steelmakers rose after Goldman Sachs said the steel sector appears to be "heading to a sustainable recovery." AK Steel Holding rose 40 cents, or almost 9 percent, to $5. US Steel rose $1.13, or 4.4 percent, to $26.91. Steel Dynamics Inc. rose 41 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $18.85.

So far during the third-quarter earnings season, 68 percent of companies that have reported have beaten analysts' estimates, according to S&P Capital IQ. But 60 of the 78 companies that provided fourth-quarter forecasts came in lower than analysts were expecting.

"Generally earnings have been OK, but revenues have been a little bit light," said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager for the Clover Small Value Fund at Federated Investors.

"Management teams seem to be getting it done through cost-cutting rather than vibrant organic growth. The economy is growing slowly, stubbornly slowly," Creatura said.

With just 14 companies reporting earnings on Monday, some investors were on the sidelines. The pace picks up on Tuesday. Investors were also looking ahead to Twitter's highly anticipated public offering Thursday and the Labor Department's employment survey on Friday.

The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER ▲ 23.57 points or ▲ 0.15% on Monday, 4 November 2013
Symbol …........Last ......Change.....
Dow_Jones 15639.12 ▲ 23.57 ▲ 0.15%
Nasdaq___ 3936.59 ▲ 14.55 ▲ 0.37%
S&P_500__ 1767.93 ▲ 6.29 ▲ 0.36%
30_Yr_Bond 3.691 ▼ -0.005 ▼ -0.14%

NYSE Volume 3,191,128,750
Nasdaq Volume 1,777,975,880

Europe
Symbol... .....Last ….....Change.......
FTSE_100 6763.62 ▲ 28.88 ▲ 0.43%
DAX_____ 9037.23 ▲ 29.4 ▲ 0.33%
CAC_40__ 4288.59 ▲ 15.4 ▲ 0.36%

Asia Pacific
Symbol...... ….....Last .....Change…......
ASX_All_Ord__ 5384.2 ▼ -22.3 ▼ -0.41%
Shanghai_Comp 2149.63 ▲ 0.07 ▲ 0.00%
Taiwan_Weight 8354.14 ▼ -34.04 ▼ -0.41%
Nikkei_225____ 14201.57 ▼ -126.37 ▼ -0.88%
Hang_Seng____ 23189.62 ▼ -60.17 ▼ -0.26%
Strait_Times___ 3203.94 ▲ 2.74 ▲ 0.09%
NZX_50_Index__ 4910.68 ▼ -3.16 ▼ -0.06%

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-higher-market-continues-edge-221226912.html

Stocks higher as market continues to edge upward

US stocks post modest but broad gains; Small-company stocks, homebuilders are among standouts

By Joshua Freed, AP Business Writer

The stock market's gains on Monday were a mile wide and an inch deep.

Major indexes posted slight but widespread gains. So while there was no dramatic rally and no records were set, all 10 industries tracked in the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose. Twice as many stocks rose as fell. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose more than one percent, the biggest gain among U.S. market benchmarks.

And some industries rose sharply, including steelmakers, homebuilders, and airlines.

While Monday's gains were modest, they continued a powerful rally in the market that has driven the S&P 500 index up nearly 24 percent this year. The S&P 500 closed at records seven times in October, most recently on Oct. 29, when it set its current all-time high of 1,771.95

On Monday the S&P 500 increased 6.29 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,767.93. Energy stocks had by far the biggest gains among 10 industries in the S&P 500, followed by technology and consumer discretionary stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.57 points, or 0.15 percent, to 15,639.12 and the Nasdaq composite also gained 14.55 points, or 0.37 percent, to 3,936.59.

Homebuilders gained after Tri Pointe Homes said it would combine with Weyerhaeuser's home building business in a $2.7 billion deal. Last week homebuilders fell after the Federal Reserve said in a policy statement that the recovery in that sector has "slowed somewhat" in recent months.

Tri Pointe rose 77 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.15. D.R. Horton rose 31 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $18.82. KB Home rose 28 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $16.88.

Steelmakers rose after Goldman Sachs said the steel sector appears to be "heading to a sustainable recovery." AK Steel Holding rose 40 cents, or almost 9 percent, to $5. US Steel rose $1.13, or 4.4 percent, to $26.91. Steel Dynamics Inc. rose 41 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $18.85.

So far during the third-quarter earnings season, 68 percent of companies that have reported have beaten analysts' estimates, according to S&P Capital IQ. But 60 of the 78 companies that provided fourth-quarter forecasts came in lower than analysts were expecting.

"Generally earnings have been OK, but revenues have been a little bit light," said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manager for the Clover Small Value Fund at Federated Investors.

"Management teams seem to be getting it done through cost-cutting rather than vibrant organic growth. The economy is growing slowly, stubbornly slowly," Creatura said.

With just 14 companies reporting earnings on Monday, some investors were on the sidelines. The pace picks up on Tuesday. Investors were also looking ahead to Twitter's highly anticipated public offering Thursday and the Labor Department's employment survey on Friday.

Eleven other companies are also expected to bring IPOs this week. That means this week will be tied for the busiest of the year.

IPOs often track stock market valuations. The more investors pay for stocks listed now, the more companies figure investors will pay for newly issued shares, too.

"Twitter has really reawakened the retail investor," said Kim Forrest, an analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "Maybe they're responsible for the market drifting up the way it has today."

Airline stocks rose after reports that US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines, which are seeking a merger, are in talks with the Justice Department to resolve antitrust concerns before a trial later this month.

The news helped push Delta Air Lines to touch an all-time high of $27.78. It closed higher by 80 cents, or 3 percent, at $27.44. Delta and JetBlue Airways were the biggest gainers in the Dow Jones transportation index, which set its own an all-time high. JetBlue rose 28 cents, or 3.9 percent, to close at $7.55.

BlackBerry plunged $1.27, or more than 16 percent, to $6.50 after calling off its effort to find a buyer and replacing its CEO. The smartphone maker has been losing customers to Apple's iPhones and phones that run Google's Android software.

Food distributor Sysco rose after its earnings beat analyst estimates. Its stock rose $1.40, or 4.3 percent, to $33.96.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.60 percent from 2.62 percent.