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February 3rd, 2012
U.S. stocks advanced, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward its highest level since May 2008, after a report showed that employment growth topped estimates and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent.
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and FedEx Corp. (FDX) rallied at least 1.5 percent to pace gains among companies most- dependent on economic growth. Alcoa Inc. (AA) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) added more than 1.9 percent as commodity producers advanced. Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) rose 5.5 percent as profit beat estimates. Gilead Sciences Inc. surged 9.1 percent on positive data from an experimental hepatitis C drug.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.3 percent to 1,342.27 at 10:22 a.m. New York time. The benchmark gauge has climbed 2 percent since Jan. 27, poised for a fifth straight weekly increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 152.89 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,858.30 today.
“Spectacular,” Ron Florance, managing director of investment strategy for Wells Fargo Private Bank, said in a telephone interview from Phoenix. His firm manages $169 billion. “It’s a very, very strong jobs number. It shows that companies have confidence that they see global demand growth through their products and services. The numbers indicate continued economic strength. That will support risk assets.”
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January 31st, 2012
Dow Jones – U.S. stock futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will cap the best January since 1997, as most countries in Europe agreed to tighter budget controls and Greece made progress on debt talks.
Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley increased at least 1.1 percent, following gains in European lenders. Eli Lilly & Co. rallied 2.1 percent as the drugmaker’s profit beat projections. Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, slumped 3.2 percent amid disappointing results.
S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 0.5 percent to 1,315.40 at 9:13 a.m. New York time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 50 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,652.
“Most market participants will raise their glasses to usher out what has proved to be a decent January for performance, data and sentiment,” said Jim Reid, a global strategist at Deutsche Bank AG in London.
Global stocks rose today as European Union leaders, meeting in Brussels yesterday, completed a fiscal-discipline treaty that speeds sanctions on high-deficit states. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said he’s “strongly committed” to reaching a debt-swap pact with bondholders. Residential real estate prices fell more than forecast in November, showing distressed properties are hampering improvement in the U.S. housing market.
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January 23rd, 2012
Dow Jones Futures – U.S. stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward the highest level since May, as banks rallied and European finance ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss new budget rules and a Greek debt swap.
Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. added at least 2.1 percent to pace gains among financial companies. Sears Holdings Corp. jumped 8.6 percent, gaining 59 percent in five days. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) climbed 5.2 percent as the natural-gas producer plans to cut production. Halliburton Co., the world’s largest provider of hydraulic fracturing services, slumped 3.9 percent as its profit margin in North America declined.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.3 percent to 1,319.46 at 10:45 a.m. New York time. The gauge is 20 percent above last year’s Oct. 3 closing low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22.02 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,742.50.
“It’s going to be more about here than Europe,” Tom Wirth, who helps manage $1.5 billion as senior investment officer for Chemung Canal Trust Co., in Elmira, New York, said in a telephone interview. “If the stress of Europe starts to alleviate and people’s fears start to wane, they are going to start focusing more on the domestic market. If earnings can hold their own, we can see the price-earnings multiple expand.”
The S&P 500 rose all four days U.S. exchanges were open last week as data bolstered confidence in the American economy and companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Union Pacific Corp. topped analysts’ income projections. Of the 52 companies in the S&P 500 that reported results since Jan. 9, 34 posted per-share earnings that beat projections, Bloomberg data show.
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January 3rd, 2012
Stocks surged, driving the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since July, and commodities rallied on signs of increasing manufacturing output around the world. The dollar weakened and U.S. Treasuries fell.
The Dow increased 179.82 points, or 1.5 percent, to 12,397.38 and the S&P 500 jumped 1.6 percent to 1,277.06, the highest close since Oct. 28, at 4 p.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) added 1.6 percent and closed at a five-month high. The dollar slipped versus all 16 major peers, while 10- year Treasury yields increased seven basis points to 1.95 percent. Oil settled at an almost eight-month high near $103 a barrel as 23 of 24 commodities in the S&P GSCI Index rose.
Financial, industrial and commodity shares led the S&P 500’s gain as the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index expanded at the fastest pace in six months and government data showed construction spending grew at more than twice the forecast rate. Factory output (AIGPMI) in Australia grew for the first time in six months and reports in the past two days showed a pickup in Chinese and Indian manufacturing.
“You’re starting to see people want to take more risks,” Frank Ingarra, who helps manage the Can Slim Select Growth Fund at Greenwich, Connecticut-based NorthCoast Asset Management LLC, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $1.4 billion. “Manufacturing data has been pretty decent.”
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December 7th, 2011
Dow Jones – Never before has the euro influenced U.S. stocks as much as this year, a sign that American equities aren’t going anywhere until Europe’s credit crisis is solved.
The link between the Dow Jones Industrial Average and swings in the currency reached a record on Dec. 2, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The so-called correlation coefficient showing how much two markets rise and fall in tandem hit 0.85, the highest level since the euro was founded in 1999, data on 60-day rolling averages show. A reading of 1 means assets are moving in lockstep.
Speculation about whether Greece, Ireland and Portugal will avoid default is drowning out results from companies such as Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Target Corp. in Minneapolis. While record earnings (SPX) and an improving economy should be pushing the Dow toward its October 2007 record of 14,164.53, they’re not because Europe is overshadowing the good news, said Kevin Rendino, a money manager at New York-based BlackRock Inc.
“What’s getting in the way is a bunch of politicians and a bunch of budget deficits,” Rendino, whose firm oversees $3.3 trillion, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “It’s all we think about. It’s all we talk about. It’s incredibly frustrating because in the U.S., we have a bunch of highly profitable businesses, an OK economy, companies sitting on a bunch of cash and earning as much as they ever have,” he said.
“And everyone is sitting on their hands because they’re waiting to see what happens in Europe.”
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November 30th, 2011
Stocks surged, giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average its biggest rally since March 2009, and the euro strengthened as six central banks made additional funds available to ease strains from Europe’s debt crisis. Treasuries fell while commodities jumped.
The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 3.7 percent at 4 p.m. New York time and is up 7.6 percent in three sessions. The Dow gained 4.2 percent to 12,045.68, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index capped its best four-day gain in three years. The dollar weakened against all 16 major peers, with the euro up 0.9 percent to $1.3441. The cost for European banks to fund in dollars retreated from the highest since 2008. Oil jumped to almost $101 a barrel and copper rose 5.5 percent.
The central banks of the U.S., the euro region, Canada, the U.K., Japan and Switzerland agreed to cut the cost of providing dollar funding via swap arrangements, the Federal Reserve said, and agreed to make other currencies available as needed. China said earlier today it will cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5 percentage points, while data on U.S. business activity and the employment and housing markets topped economists’ estimates.
“I’m in a better mood today than I’ve been in a while,” Burt White, who helps oversee about $315 billion as chief investment officer at LPL Financial Corp. in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “This coordinated effort is a huge one. It is not a European problem, it’s a global problem. If we don’t get Europe solved, it’s going to send pretty big ripples across the globe. We really could see some upside for the market, if this momentum continues.”
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November 30th, 2011
U.S. stocks rose, sending benchmark gauges higher for a third day, after central banks acted together to make additional funds available to lenders as Europe’s crisis threatens global economic growth.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) advanced 3.4 percent after the Federal Reserve and five central banks lowered interest rates on dollar swaps and China cut banks’ reserve requirements. Wells Fargo (WFC) & Co. and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) increased at least 3.1 percent. Alcoa Inc., Halliburton Co. and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) rallied more than 4.5 percent to pace gains among companies that are most-dependent on economic growth.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 2.7 percent to 1,227.76 at 9:39 a.m. New York time. The benchmark gauge rallied 3.2 percent in three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 321.13 points, or 2.8 percent, to 11,876.76 today.
“Central banks around the world are going back to easing or supporting the marketplace,” Mark Bronzo, who helps manage $24 billion at Security Global Investors in Irvington, New York, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a step in the right direction especially because it’s coordinated. These actions may help global growth not to follow Europe into a recession.”
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November 29th, 2011
U.S. stocks rose, after the biggest gain in a month for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the biggest increase since 2003 in a gauge of American consumer confidence bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy.
Yahoo! Inc. climbed 2.3 percent as two people with knowledge of the matter said private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners is considering a bid. Hewlett-Packard Co. gained 2.5 percent after RBC Capital Markets raised its recommendation for the computer maker. Tiffany & Co. slumped 8.8 percent after the world’s second-largest luxury jewelry retailer cited “weaknesses” in sales in Europe and the eastern U.S.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent to 1,201.67 at 10:17 a.m. New York time, after the benchmark gauge gained 2.9 percent yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 95.86 points, or 0.8 percent, to 11,618.87 today.
“The economic reports have shown that the U.S. has been insulated from all the noise coming out of Europe,” Paul Zemsky, the New York-based head of asset allocation for ING Investment Management, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $550 billion. “Consumers are not really bothered by that, at least not yet. We expect the data to be good. It’s going to be fits and starts, but they continue to move along the right direction in Europe.”
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