Posts Tagged ‘DOW’

Caterpillar Posts Better Than Expected Q1 Earnings

CaterpillarStrong first quarter earnings from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) have helped pushed the market higher to start off the week.

Shares of Caterpillar are up 4.5% on the day to $71.91, up $3.13 following better than expected results this morning before the market opened.

Analysts were forecasting $0.39 per share, and the company easily outpaced those estimates with a reported $0.50 per share.

Revenues were a bit shy of analyst estimates, but the stock is surging after it raised its forecast for full year 2010 to $2.50 to $3.25 a share, up from its previous forecast of $2.50 per share.

S&P boosted its price target on the stock to $80 a share, and maintained its Buy rating on the company.

The company noted that the global economy is definitely improving, and as a result construction has been rebounding. This helped pushed the overall market higher today, with the DOW up over 25 points in afternoon trading.

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Google Sells Off Following Q1 Earnings Report

googleThis afternoon after the market closed, search engine giant Google Inc. (GOOG) reported better than expected earnings for its first quarter.

As we noted in our Google earnings preview, analysts had forecast earnings of $6.60 for the quarter. Google outpaced analyst earnings by posting earnings of $6.76 a share.

Despite posting better than expected earnings figures, the stock traded down nearly 5% in after hours trading as investors reacted negatively to the company’s rising costs.

Total costs and expenses rose to $4.3 billion from $3.6 billion during the same period last year. Most of the increase in expenses came from hiring close to 800 new employees during the quarter.

Visit bloggingstocks for a more in depth analysis of Google’s first quarter results.

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Some big names hit new 52 week highs today: F, MSFT, AUY

tradersAll of the major indexes closed today’s session in the red, but that was not enough to keep some big name stocks from hitting new highs in today’s trading action.

Ford Motor (NYSE: F) hit a new 52 week high today of 9.14 before afternoon profit taking came in and pushed shares lower. The stock has been very strong lately, and recently was considered to be the stock of the year from the writers of CrossingWallStreet. Shares finished the day down slightly at $8.94, down 0.45%.

Technology giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) also rose to a new 52 week high today. Shares of the company hit a day today of $30.14. Shares of MSFT finished today trading session up 0.4% to $30.11, just three pennies off its new 52 week high.

Gold prices continue to rise, and Yamaha Gold (NYSE: AUY) has been benefiting from the recent gold rush, setting a new 52 week high earlier in the session at 13.49. After hitting another new high today, the profit takers came in and sold the stock off a bit, which ended the day slightly lower at $13.15, down 0.23%. Gold prices rose as high as 1146.5 but closed down 70 cents to 1,140.5.

What are your favorite stocks right now? Which stocks do you see rising to new highs in the near future?

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Retail Earnings Previews: Gamestop (GME), Sears Holding (SHLD) and Gap (GPS)

wall-streetWe have three big name stocks due to report earnings tomorrow. Here is a quick glance at what Wall Street is expecting to see.

1. Gamestop (NYSE: GME): The video game retailer is due to report its third quarter numbers tomorrow morning before the opening bell. Analysts are expecting the company to show earnings of 30 cents per share. For the same period last year, the company had earnings of 34 cents per share. The stock is trading up 0.6% on the day.

2. Sears Holding (NASDAQ: SHLD): The retailer is going to be reporting its third quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts are expecting to see a loss of $1.09. For the same period last year the company had a loss of 90 cents a share. The stock is trading down 1.2% on the day. The company will be reporting its numbers before the market opens.

3. Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS): The clothing retailer is going to be reporting its third quarter results tomorrow, and Wall Street is looking to see the company show 44 cents per share. For the same period last year the Gap had earnings of 35 cents per share. The stock is trading down 0.8% in today’s market.

A big day for retailers, and will give us a better view of just how strong the current recovery actually is.

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Strong earnings send market higher

All of the major index’s were higher today, following a strong round of earnings report this morning.

The DOW closed the day up 0.7%, NASDAQ up 0.8% and the S&P rose 0.5%.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings last night following the market close, and easily outpaced analyst estimates. Analysts had been expecting to see the company report 41 cents per share, but the actual report was much higher at 46 cents per share.

Retailer J.C. Penny (NYSE: JCP) reported third quarter earnings this morning that fell a penny short of analyst estimates, but fell in the upper range of the company’s earlier earnings forecast.

DIS stock traded up 4.8% on the day, while JCP gained 6.2% on the day.

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Market lower on weak new home sales

tradersThe markets are trading in the red today, being pulled down by investor concern over the most recent data regarding the housing market.

According to the Commerce Department this morning, September sales of new homes dropped by 3.6%. September’s annual rate was 402,000 units, which was below the expected 440,000 annual units.

The average price for a new home was also lower, falling 9.1 percent on a year-over-year basis to $204,800. On the bright side, that is up 2.5 percent from August.

The housing market has been rebounding a bit lately, but things could turn around quickly should the current $8,000 tax incentive expire at the end of next month. It has been given credit for helping boost sales, but analysts are worried what will happen if Congress does not extend the program.

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Some big names set new highs today (AMZN, RSH, MS, TJX)

tradersThe market ended the day in the red, but several companies went against the trend and rose to new 52 week highs today.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose to a new 52 week high today of $125.68 and ended the session up 5.2% to 124.6399. The company is still riding high on last week’s solid earnings report. The company was expected to show earnings of 33 cents per share, but came in with a reported 45 cents.

RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) soared after posting strong third quarter earnings this morning. The stock finished the day up 15.9% on solid third quarter earnings, during which it earned 30 cents per share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) ended the day in the red, but traded up to a new 52 week high earlier in the session of $35.78. The stock closed the day down 0.5% at $34.80.

TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) started the week off strong, rising to a new 52 week high today of $40.64. The stock is moving higher following a report from Barron’s last week which estimated the stock could easily see another 15% price jump.

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Google (GOOG) to take aim at Apple (AAPL)’s iTunes

googleGoogle (NYSE: GOOG) has not confirmed the details just yet, but it appears all but certain that the search engine giant will be launching a music search next week that will allow users to search for music and gives the ability to download selected tracks.

Music downloads has been a major driving force for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) through its iTunes service, and Google is looking to grab a piece of that pie. According to sources, users will be able to go onto the new Google music site and search for a particular song or artist. Suppose you search for the band U2, you will get a list of available songs, which if clicked will launch the song into a streaming player, and also provide the user the option to download the music.

Google stock has traded up to a new 52 week high today, trading as high as $559.35, and is currently trading up 0.9% to $556.73, up $5.01.

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General Electric and Bank of America pull down the market

bearThe market closed in the red today, as poor earnings from General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) brought out the bears.

The DOW closed the session down 0.67%, the NASDAQ ended the day down 0.76%, while the S&P slipped by 0.8%.

General Electric started off the day off on a bad note when the company reported revenues that came up short of analyst estimates. GE was able to outpace analyst estimates for its earnings in the third quarter by posting 23 cents per share verse analyst estimates of 20 cents per share, but that was not enough to outweigh its missed revenues. The company reported $37.8 billion in revenues verse analyst estimates for $40.3 billion. Shares of GE closed the day down 4.2% to $16.08, down $0.71 on the day and wiping out $7.5 billion in market capitalization.

Bank of America was expected to show a loss for its third quarter of 21 cents per share, but the actual numbers came in worse than expected with a 26 cent loss in the quarter. The stock was hit hard today following the report, with shares falling 4.6% to $17.26, down $0.84 on the day.

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New 52 Week Highs:

There were several big name stocks that were able to set new 52 week highs today, despite the down market and include the following; Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), and Mattel (NYSE: MAT).

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Analyst upgrades and downgrades:

Stocks upgraded today include:

  • Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) upgraded by Caris to Buy from Above Average with $27 price target
  • Safeway (NYSE: SWY) upgraded by Kevin Dann to Buy from Neutral and boosted its price target on the stock to $27 from $19 per share.
  • Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) received an upgrade today by Benchmark Co. to a Buy from Hold, while lifting its price target on the stock to $625 from $500.

Stocks downgraded today include:

  • Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) downgraded by Caris to Above Average from Buy with a $56 price target on the stock.
  • Nokia (NYSE: NOK) downgraded by Gabelli to Hold from Buy.

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Stock upgrades and downgrades: DKS, STT, JPM, SLB, BTU, APC, BHI, BJS

A lot of big name stocks received upgrades and downgrades today. Here are a few such stocks:

Analyst upgrades:

  • Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) was upgraded today to Neutral from Underperform by Buckingham.
  • State Street Corp (NYSE: STT) was upgraded by CLSA to Outperform from Underperform and the broker lifted its price target on the stock to $62 from $45.
  • JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) received an upgrade today from Fox-Pitt to Outperform from In Line with a $55 price target.
  • Schlumberger (NYSE SLB) was upgraded by Citigroup today to Buy from Hold and the broker boosted its price target on the stock to $80 from $56.

Analyst downgrades:

  • Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) was downgraded by Davenport from a Buy to Neutral
  • Andarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) downgraded by JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight
  • Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) was lowered today by Citigroup to a Sell from Hold and the broker left its price target on the stock steady at $39.
  • BJ Services (NYSE: BJS) downgraded by Citigroup to Sell from Hold and the broker lowered its price target on the stock to $14 from $16.

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