Hurricane of Bulls

123jump.com Staff
30 Nov, -0001
New York City

The day's trading is dominated by four deals totaling $13 billion. DreamWorks lowered the 2Q outlook to loss. China

U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

The Nasdaq composite added 20.53 to 2,133.41, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 78.49 to 10,527.63, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 was up 7.35 to 1,219.21.

The 10-year Treasury dropped 12/32, or $3.75 per $1,000 invested, to yield 4.142%. The 30-year bond declined 21/32 to yield 4.383%. Yields move inversely to prices.

The airline sector is advancing in Monday's early trading hours and the sector is currently up 2.2%.

Tech shares also rally, especially semiconductor, disk drive and Internet spaces, which made the biggest gain.

Energy stocks are among the biggest decliners as Hurricane Dennis causes oil prices to vary further. The oil service sector declined about 1.3%.

DreamWorks Animation SKG on Monday announced it received an informal request for information from the SEC, concerning trading in its securities and the disclosure of its financial results on May 10. The SEC has informed DreamWorks Animation that the informal investigation should not be construed as an indication that any violations of law have occurred and the company added it intends to cooperate fully with the inquiry.

Shares of DreamWorks are down 14% to $23.01 after the company abandoned a $500 million secondary offering and warned of disappointing financial results.

Oil company Pogo Producing Co. said it has agreed to acquire Northrock Resources Ltd., a unit of Unocal Corp. in a $1.8 billion cash deal. Pogo's shares lost 1.4% to $54.01, while shares of Unocal edged up 0.3% to $65.93.

Goldman Sachs Group’s private equity division and Germany’s Allianz AG are negotiating over acquiring a stake over $1 billion in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is one of the biggest state-run banks. The stake each of the two banks would get in ICBC is not yet clear.

Merck trades up 0.2% as jury selection began in Texas for the first wrongful-death suit filed over the company's discontinued drug Vioxx. Merck withdrew Vioxx from the market last fall after it was suspected of causing cardiovascular problems in some patients.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

European markets closed higher benefiting from strong gains in the technology and utility shares and crude-oil prices below $59 a barrel helping airlines and carmakers. Markets were also helped by strong close of U.S. stocks Friday. Germany’s DAX 30 advanced 1.1% after the German opposition party, The Christian Democrats, was reported to reveal election platform. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6%, and London’s FTSE 100 added 0.2%.

Asian stocks finished mostly higher returning to solid gains in reaction to strong U.S. market close Friday, positive U.S. jobs data and falling crude-oil prices. In early Asian trading crude-oil futures dipped to $58.66 a barrel, 77 cents down, as the expected hurricane Dennis was downgraded to a tropical storm. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1%, Hong Kong’s Heng Sang added 1.4%, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 2%. Through the region only China’s Shanghai Composite and Thailand’s SET ended down. In early trading the greenback quoted near 112.20.

European stocks advanced at mid-day trading following a strong close in U.S. markets Friday, gains in technology shares after the report of LG Philips, and crude-oil prices below $59 a barrel supporting airlines and carmakers. Averages in Germany added 1.1%, in France gained 0.6%, and in the U.K. rose 0.3% as business returned to normal after the attacks last week.

ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS

The U.S. dollar was lower against other major currencies in European trading. The euro quoted at $1.2043and the pound traded at $1.7514. The Japanese yen fell against the dollar; it bought 111.86 yen, down from 112.23. In mid-day trading in NY the dollar bought 111.73 yen and the pound was worth $1.7570. Gold futures climbed. In London gold closed at $425.80 bid per ounce, silver finished at $7.07 per ounce.

Oil futures fell more than a dollar after hitting a record high of $62.10 last week as worries about damage to U.S. oil and gas facilities eased following the passage of Hurricane Dennis. August delivery dropped $1.13 to $58.50 a barrel, and London Brent slid $1.19 to $57.01.

Gold futures advanced in morning trading with August delivery up 70 cents to $424.50 per troy ounce. Indexes tracking the metals sector are also up with the Amex Gold Bugs Index 1% higher.

The U.S. dollar fell from last-week 14-month highs against the euro and 19-month highs against the pound as weaker-than expected jobs report hindered the greenback’s rally and investors waited for U.S. trade data later in the week. The euro gained ground after the EU Constitution was approved and the dollar dropped to $1.2010 per euro, down from $1.8666. The dollar was 0.4% down vs. the pound at $1.7453.

EARNINGS AND CORPORATE NEWS

PepsiCo, Apple Computer Inc. and General Electric Co. are due to release earnings this week.

ECONOMIC NEWS

No major economic data is scheduled for release Monday.
International Trade Balance Data, or the difference between imports and exports of both tangible goods and services, is scheduled to be released Wednesday. Economists see trade difference for May at $57 billion, level with the previous April’s reading, when the nation’s trade gap increased to $57 million, or a billion less than expected. Exports in April soared 4.1% to $163.4 billion, while exports grew by 3% to $106.4 billion.
Also on Wednesday, the weekly Petroleum inventory data for the week ended, is scheduled to be released.

Consumer Price index reading for June is due on Thursday. Analysts forecast CPI to rise 0.3% in June. Excluding food and energy, the measure is seen to have risen by 0.2%. CPI for May showed a 0.1% decrease vs. expectations of a 0.1% positive growth. The May CPI reading showed the first downward shift in 10 months. The core CPI data, excluding food and energy, marked a 0.1% growth against expectations of a 0.2% growth.

The customary Jobless Claims data is slated to be released Thursday. Analysts expect Jobless Claims for the week ended July 9th to stay unchanged at 319,000.

Retail sales for the month of June are expected to have advanced by 0.9%. Excluding auto, analysts see 0.5% growth in retail sales. The reading is expected on Thursday.

Business Inventory data to be released on Friday is forecasted to mark a growth of 0.4% in May.

Producer Price, which is to be released on Friday, is expected to advance by 0.5% for June. Producer Prices in May fell 0.6%, the decline coming about mainly due to a 3.5% drop in energy prices. Excluding the volatile components, namely food and energy, the core Producer Price index edged up 0.1% for the month.

Hewlett-Packard, technology giant, is releasing a new photo printer today based on a new technology for inkjet printers which will significantly increase speed and decrease printing costs. The new photo printer will deliver the printed photo within 14 seconds compared with current 30 seconds. The company has also announced a slew of new digital products.

Celanese, manufacturer of chemicals and intermediates, projected 2Q adjusted earnings at the ‘high end’ of its outlook from 39 to 44 cents a share based on strong fundamentals. The company sees 2005 earnings between $1.64 and $1.69.

Halifax, information technology services provider, posted 4Q net loss of 16 cents per share compared with a profit of $1.24 a share last year.

DreamWorks Animation, media company, announced preliminary 2Q loss of 7 to 9 cents a share compared with earlier forecast of ‘no profit’ citing an increase in return reserves for its 2004 titles. The company lowered 2005 earnings to 80 to 90 cents per share from previous $1 to $1.25 a share.

Infocrossing, provider of business servicing, cut its 2Q earnings outlook to a penny per share down from an earlier forecast of 11 cents per share citing lower usage-based billings and delays in receipt of new contracts. The company withdrew its 2005 forecast.

Komag, thin-film media maker, lifted its 2Q revenue by 20% over the prior quarter on stronger thin-film disk shipments. Analysts expect earnings of 77 cents per share.

Helen of Troy, consumer products designer and developer, reported 1Q earnings decline to 33 cents a share from 44 cents a year ago on lower-than expected sales missing expectations of 39 cents a share. The company reiterated full-year earnings of $2.50 to $2.60 a share

Mylan, pharmaceutical producer, reported preliminary 1Q net income of 14 to 16 cents a share. The company backed its 2006 and 2007 adjusted earnings outlook.

LG Philips, flat screen maker, said its 2Q net income plunged 94% on weaker prices for LCDs but compared with the1Q when it posted a loss of $76 million, swung to a profit.

Posco, steelmaker, reported 38% profit increase for the second quarter on higher steel prices.

Pilgrim’s Pride, chicken products maker, raised its 3Q earnings outlook to the range of $1.17 to $1.22 a share vs. previously announced 81 cents to $1 per share. The lifted expectations are due to better results in U.S. and Mexico chicken operations.