Despite excellent earnings from many of the most visible stocks and confirmation of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for another term, stocks took a broad-based beating yesterday. Key stocks like Procter & Gamble (PG), 3M (MMM), Ford (F), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), and Nokia (NOK) all exceeded analysts’ quarterly earnings estimates, but their achievements seemed to [...]
The signs of improvement we found in our December consumer spending survey have continued gaining momentum. ChangeWave’s January 5-12 survey of 2,776 U.S. consumers points to a surge in spending going forward. Nearly three-in-ten U.S. consumers (29%) now say they’ll spend more over the next 90 days than they did a year ago up 4-pts [...]
Friday started on a positive note with an upward revision of fourth-quarter GDP to an annualized quarter-over-quarter growth of 5.7% versus an expected growth rate 4.7%. The report went on to show that core personal consumption expenditures increased at an annualized quarterly rate of 1.4% and that, too, was stronger. This is good news that [...]
After an opening stumble, stocks rallied on news that pending sales of existing homes rose in December more than forecasters had predicted. Upgrades of Alcoa (AA) and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) by Citigroup (C) brought support for the materials stocks, and an upgrade of Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) by UBS (UBS) helped steel stocks. Homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI) [...]
Despite strong gains in China, a smaller-than-expected loss of jobs in the ADP employment report, and a positive January ISM services index, stocks closed mixed-to-lower yesterday on light volume. Instead the focus was on an earnings miss by Dow component Pfizer (PFE), which seemed to upset the markets. Pfizer was the weakest component on the [...]
The most commonly repeated word yesterday was fear: Fear that the world’s economies would again be thrust into a new round of deflation, fear that the U.S. dollar would work against the country’s efforts for a turnaround, and fear that three European nations could default on bond payments. And, to top it all off, U.S. [...]
On Friday, investors experienced a volatile session that started on the downside following a worse-than-expected January employment report. But a late-day rally in stocks, pushed by short-covering and profit-taking in the dollar, reversed stock indices for the first time in weeks. Earlier in the week, a flight to the dollar following a crisis in the [...]
Financial stocks took a broadside yesterday that not only drove down the sector, but also caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) to close under 10,000 for the first time since Nov. 4. Bank of America (BAC), off 3.5%, using the biggest price decline in the Dow, and the other Dow financial stocks, were the [...]
ChangeWave’s latest Alternative Energy survey shows strong growth in 2010 for the Wind and Solar sectors, coupled with momentum for Smart Grid technologies. Not surprisingly, the industry’s upbeat growth picture is still largely reliant on government stimulus investments and other government incentives to keep it moving forward. A total of 195 respondents who work in [...]
On Tuesday, stocks rallied on reports that Germany would lead an effort to bail out Greece. And even though a bailout of one country of the EU caused optimistic buying, the EU will still have to consider problems with Spain and Portugal. Despite the complexities of another global financial mess, the stock rally sent the [...]
