Posts Tagged ‘Trading’

Broker Upgrades : MSFT, BHI & ERTS

MicrosoftSome big names picked up broker upgrades today. Here are a few of the companies that received upgrades:

  • Microsoft (MSFT) : Microsoft was upgraded today by EVA Dimensions, LLC to Buy from Overweight. MSFT stock closed the trading session at $29.85, down 0.9%.
  • Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) : Baker Hughes was upgraded by Citigroup to Hold from Sell. BHI stock finished the trading session down 1.3% at $47.32.
  • Electronic Arts (ERTS) : Electronic Arts received a broker upgrade today from Piper Jaffray which boosted its rating on the stock to Neutral from Underweight. The stock closed the day at $19.30, up 1.2%.

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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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Pier 1 Fourth Quarter Earnings Preview

pier1Home furnishing retailer Pier 1 Imports (PIR) is trading slightly higher today ahead of tomorrow’s fourth quarter earnings report.

With hopes building that the economic recovery is on solid footing, Wall Street will be looking for Pier 1 earnings as an indicator of just how much money people are putting back into their homes.

For the quarter, analysts have forecast Pier 1 to report earnings of $0.31 per share. During the same period last year the company had a loss of $0.33 per share.

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Gold prices up on the day

goldGold is trading up nicely today.

Gold prices have moved up $9.50 an ounce today to $1,114.0o an ounce. As the recession has hit the dollar hard, gold prices have been steadily moving higher, and it looks to close out the first quarter with its sixth consecutive quarterly gain.

The dollar has been pretty weak, and continued to move lower today on news that the economy shed more jobs during March that analysts had forecast.

The 6 quarter streak for rising gold prices is the longest gold rally since 1979.

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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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Disney (DIS) up sharply after posting strong Q4 earnings

disneyThis afternoon entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings, and posted strong numbers that easily outpaced analyst estimates for the quarter.

Going into this afternoon’s earnings report, analysts had been expecting the company to post earnings of 41 cents per share. The company’s actual earnings came in higher, with a reported 47 cents per share.

For the same period last year the company had 40 cents in earnings.

Late day traders are pushing shares up 3% in after hours trading.

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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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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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