The 30 year mortgage rate ticked up from last week’s lows and caused applications to fall by 7.4%.
Comments »Goldman: Stocks to Begin a ‘Steady Upward Trajectory’
“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said stocks will probably begin a “steady upward trajectory” over the next few years as any declines in economic growth are already reflected in share prices.
“Given current valuations, we think it’s time to say a ‘long good-bye’ to bonds, and embrace the ‘long good buy’ for equities as we expect them to embark on an upward trend over the next few years,” Peter Oppenheimer, chief global equity strategist at Goldman Sachs in London, wrote in a report today.
The prospects for returns in equities versus bonds “are as good as they have been in a generation,” he wrote.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) is trading at 11.2 times estimated earnings, compared with an average of 11.8 over the past five years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The index dropped 11 percent last year as policy makers tried to stop Greece’s sovereign-debt crisis from spreading.
“Periods of sustained falls in the market are typically better times to buy for the long run,” Oppenheimer wrote. “Partly, of course, this is also a function of valuations typically improving after a period of sustained losses in the market. Nonetheless, the key point is that in particularly bad economic periods, once the news is fully priced, investment outcomes tend to improve.”
Comments »Asia Sold Off Last Night on Weak Commodity Prices and a Strong Euro
“U.S. equity index futures advanced, commodities gained and the dollar weakened before data that may show U.S. home sales near a two-year high and after Oracle Corp. (ORCL) beat profit estimates.
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent as of 10:51 a.m. in London, signaling the equity gauge may climb for the fourth time in five days. The Dollar Index (DXY) fell 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI (SPGSCI) gauge of commodities advanced 0.2 percent….”
Comments »Asia Trades Mixed While Europe and U.S. Futures Trade Close to the Unch Line
Market Update
Comments »3:00 pm : Momentum behind the broad market’s upward climb has stalled. That has left the major equity averages mired in negative territory with modest losses as they enter the final hour of the day.
Looking ahead to what’s on tap for tonight and tomorrow, both Oracle (ORCL 29.74, -0.02) and Jabil Circuit (JBL 26.44, -0.69) will release their quarterly numbers after the close. Tomorrow morning brings the latest from General Mills (GIS 38.76, +0.04). The latest monthly existing home sales numbers will be released Wednesday at 10:00 AM ET. Weekly oil inventory numbers will be posted at 10:30 AM ET.
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 9 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Airgas Inc ARG 85.28 48,235 Colgate-Palmolive CL 95.75 170,007 6.125% CorTS Am Gen Cap A XFP 21.90 4,350 Lions Gate Entertainment LGF 14.78 1,796,390 Nike Inc NKE 112.75 319,762 Philip Morris Intl PM 86.65 519,897 SunTrust Bks Inc.Cl A Wt. STI/WS/A 5.76 2,700 Williams Cos WMB 31.77 2,754,501 YUM! Brands YUM 69.50 368,309 New Lows 12 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ ASA Gold & Prec Metals ASA 25.01 39,307 Alexandria RE Eqs Pfd E AREpE 24.38 6,000 AngloGold Ashanti AU 37.07 230,030 EldoradoGold EGO 12.83 576,919 GrafTech Intl GTI 11.60 192,931 Harmony Gold Mining HMY 10.63 156,199 IamGold IAG 12.93 574,649 NTT DOCOMO Inc DCM 16.78 35,868 Nuveen Glbl Val Opp Fd JGV 15.84 35,435 Polypore Int PPO 33.80 317,716 Public Storage Pfd T PSApT 24.78 61,598 Transalta Corp TAC 19.15 22,631
NASDAQ
New Highs 21 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Affymax AFFY 12.21 233,977 Alexion Pharm ALXN 90.00 163,776 Carmike Cinemas CKEC 12.35 27,029 ChinaEdu Corp CEDU 7.85 900 CoBiz Fincl COBZ 7.08 169,967 Extreme Networks EXTR 3.89 105,573 Galena Biopharma GALE 1.94 2,815,449 Guaranty Federal Bancshrs GFED 9.10 100 J Alexanders JAX 9.96 1,968 Joe's Jeans JOEZ 1.30 732,100 Liquidity Services LQDT 47.88 171,969 M/A-COM Tech Solutions MTSI 22.43 7,954 MutualFirst Fincl MFSF 9.95 5,719 Northrim Bancorp NRIM 21.14 2,227 Pacific Mercantile Bncp PMBC 4.85 500 Premier Exhibitions PRXI 3.38 96,428 PrimeEnergy PNRG 28.55 200 Provident Fincl Hldgs PROV 11.00 5,400 SI Fincl Group SIFI 11.59 2,082 Starbucks SBUX 53.83 777,892 Utd Community Fincl UCFC 1.84 8,794 New Lows 10 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ AVEO Pharmaceuticals AVEO 12.15 17,044 Anthera Pharmaceuticals ANTH 2.90 68,366 B Communications BCOM 9.55 1,156 Digital Ally DGLY 0.46 600 MDC Partners (Cl A) MDCA 11.43 4,770 NewLead Hldg Ltd NEWL 1.18 42,804 Pure Bioscience PURE 0.31 15,716 SMART Technologies SMT 3.00 54,645 Superconductor Tech SCON 0.65 88,337 WPCS Intl WPCS 1.28 15,816Comments »
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Select Sector SPDR-Ind XLI ARCA 37.47 +24.0 4.92
Freeport McMoran FCX NYSE 38.22 +12.9 1.48
Microsoft MSFT NASD 31.88 +11.3 1.46
Caterpillar CAT NYSE 110.92 +11.3 1.22
Wells Fargo WFC NYSE 33.94 +9.8 1.76
Advance Auto Parts AAP NYSE 88.69 +9.2 2.37
Wal-Mart Stores WMT NYSE 60.80 +8.7 2.49
PepsiCo PEP NYSE 64.81 +8.4 2.54
Barrick Gold ABX NYSE 43.07 +7.8 1.82
DirecTV Group Inc DTV NASD 47.90 +7.2 1.92
Pfizer PFE NYSE 21.83 +6.9 1.95
Nike Inc NKE NYSE 112.63 +6.9 1.92
Mosaic MOS NYSE 58.15 +6.5 1.38
United Parcel Service B UPS NYSE 80.47 +6.4 1.68
Goldman Sachs GS NYSE 125.05 +6.2 1.21
YUM! Brands YUM NYSE 69.42 +6.0 2.51
Vodafone Grp VOD NASD 27.00 +5.6 2.70
Equinix EQIX NASD 139.12 +5.6 2.19
Newmont Mining NEM NYSE 53.00 +4.9 1.46
AT&T T NYSE 31.62 +4.8 1.85
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 594.40 -175.7 0.83
Google GOOG NASD 627.86 -45.0 0.49
iShrs MSCI Emerg Mkts EEM ARCA 43.04 -33.7 0.43
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 9.79 -26.0 0.81
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 44.65 -20.2 0.60
Qualcomm QCOM NASD 66.59 -16.7 0.50
Citigroup C NYSE 37.18 -14.5 0.78
iShrs Russell 2000 IWM ARCA 82.89 -13.7 0.75
El Paso Corp EP NYSE 29.29 -13.4 0.22
PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ NASD 66.56 -12.7 0.66
Chevron CVX NYSE 109.46 -11.8 0.55
Tiffany & Co TIF NYSE 73.98 -11.5 0.80
Oracle ORCL NASD 29.80 -11.3 0.56
MetLife MET NYSE 38.40 -11.0 0.39
Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG NYSE 411.50 -11.0 0.34
IBM IBM NYSE 204.07 -10.9 0.66
Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 20.25 -10.8 0.48
Intel INTC NASD 27.69 -10.7 0.47
Amazoncom AMZN NASD 183.34 -10.2 0.70
Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 64.92 -9.9 0.45
Comments »
U.S. Equity Preview: WPZ, DIS, TIF, TRGT, SF, KORS, AMZN, & ADBE
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) fell 4.2 percent to $33.05. The largest maker of graphic design software forecast lower profit than some analysts had projected, signaling that the new version of Creative Suite may not bring as much of a boost as anticipated.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) decreased 0.9 percent to $183.88. The largest Internet retailer will buy Kiva Systems Inc., a material handling technology company, for $775 million in cash.
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (KORS) (KORS US) increased 2.7 percent to $46.55. The luxury-goods maker and retailer raised its forecast of fourth-quarter earnings excluding some items to a range of 14 cents to 16 cents a share, up from 10 cents to 12 cents.
Stifel Financial Corp. (SF) : The St. Louis-based financial-services company paid $13 million to settle a lawsuit with five Wisconsin school districts.
Targacept Inc. (TRGT) decreased 11 percent to $6.59. AstraZeneca Plc (AZN US) said it won’t seek regulatory approval of an experimental antidepressant licensed from Targacept after the compound failed in its last two late-stage studies.
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) gained 2.2 percent to $70.20. The world’s second-largest luxury jewelry retailer forecast 2012 earnings per share of at least $3.95, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $3.92. The company also estimated 2012 sales of $4 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $3.9 billion.
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) dropped 1 percent to $43.01. The largest U.S. entertainment company said the box-office flop “John Carter” will lead to a quarterly operating loss of $80 million to $120 million for its film division. The film itself is forecast to lose about $200 million, Disney said in an e- mailed statement.
Williams Partners LP (WPZ) : The U.S. pipeline operator agreed to acquire a unit of Caiman Energy for about $2.5 billion to establish a “major footprint” in the natural-gas rich area of the Marcellus Shale.
Comments »Gapping Up and Down This Morning
Gapping up
PSTI +7%, BPAX +13.7%, GMAN +11.1%, KORS +4.6%, FMCN +4.5%, LGF +1.8%, WMB +1.1%, TAT +6.3%, VOD +1.9%, ANF +0.9%,
BAC+1% , AGU +0.6%, HOG +0.6%,
Gapping down
FRO -7%, AIXG -4.2%, RGP -4.1%, ADBE -4%, MT -3.1%, ARGN -2.8%, BBL -2.8%, BHP -2.7%, ASTM -2%, DB -1.4%, DIS -1%, HBC -2.3%, ING -2.3%,
BCS -1.8%, HMY -2.1%, CLF -2%, SLV -1.8%, GOLD -1.6%, GLD -1%, GDX -0.8%, SDRL -2.4%, E -2.1%, STO -1.8%, TOT -1.8%, CHK -1.4%, BP -1.2%,
FRO -4.6%, CA -1.4% , DPZ -1.9%, AMZN -0.9%, ASTM -2%
Comments »In Play and On the Wires
Housing Starts: Prior 699k, Market Expects 705k, Actual 698k ….Building Permits: Prior 676k, Market Expects 675k, Actual 717k
Report: BHP Issues a Warning on China
Inflation in the U.K. Slows Less Than Expected
“U.K. inflation slowed less than economists forecast in February as higher alcohol and food costs helped keep consumer-price gains above the Bank of England’s upper limit.
Consumer prices rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier, the least since November 2010, compared with 3.6 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median estimate of 36 economists was for a reading of 3.3 percent last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey…”
Comments »Asia Trades Flat to Down, Europe Trades Down a Full Percentage Point, and U.S. Futures Reach for 1% on the Downside
Noticed the Drop in Volatility? There Have Been 12 Other Similar Instances…
A Look at the TVIX Short Squeeze
Today’s Money Flows
ISSUE GAINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
Apple AAPL NASD 593.82 +177.5 1.17
iShrs Russell 2000 IWM ARCA 83.61 +79.7 2.74
Select Sector SPDR-Energy XLE ARCA 74.80 +64.5 4.24
Goldman Sachs GS NYSE 124.59 +31.9 1.81
Abbott Labs ABT NYSE 60.15 +24.7 3.12
Select Sector SPDR-Ind XLI ARCA 37.97 +23.2 8.54
Citigroup C NYSE 37.58 +17.4 1.30
Bank Of America BAC NYSE 9.99 +15.7 1.10
Qualcomm QCOM NASD 65.88 +14.0 2.04
JPMorgan Chase JPM NYSE 44.79 +11.9 1.43
Coca-Cola KO NYSE 70.01 +10.3 3.63
pricelinecom PCLN NASD 691.70 +9.7 1.18
Chevron CVX NYSE 110.50 +9.4 1.58
PwrShrs QQQ Tr Series 1 QQQ NASD 66.66 +9.0 1.31
Berkshire Hathaway B BRK/B NYSE 81.52 +8.5 2.37
Nike Inc NKE NYSE 111.38 +8.1 1.92
Vitamin Shoppe VSI NYSE 42.42 +6.5 15.66
United Technologies UTX NYSE 85.10 +5.8 2.21
Disney DIS NYSE 43.28 +5.6 3.21
Hewlett-Packard HPQ NYSE 24.48 +5.5 2.79
ISSUE DECLINERS SYMBOL EXCH LAST PRICE MONEY FLOW RATIO
(in millions)
SPDR S&P 500 SPY ARCA 140.48 -51.3 0.75
IBM IBM NYSE 204.83 -19.2 0.58
Procter & Gamble PG NYSE 67.17 -17.7 0.23
Verizon Communications VZ NYSE 39.50 -17.6 0.25
AT&T T NYSE 31.45 -16.4 0.39
Microsoft MSFT NASD 32.51 -15.2 0.36
Ventas VTR NYSE 57.11 -14.5 0.07
Johnson & Johnson JNJ NYSE 64.94 -12.5 0.34
Intel INTC NASD 27.59 -12.2 0.36
General Electric GE NYSE 20.15 -11.2 0.58
McDonald's MCD NYSE 97.62 -10.1 0.48
Broadcom BRCM NASD 38.67 -9.5 0.50
United Parcel Service B UPS NYSE 79.90 -9.5 0.65
Pfizer PFE NYSE 21.87 -9.3 0.35
Google GOOG NASD 627.87 -8.8 0.87
DuPont DD NYSE 53.26 -8.7 0.30
Cisco Systems CSCO NASD 20.02 -8.6 0.46
eBay EBAY NASD 37.26 -8.1 0.52
Wal-Mart Stores WMT NYSE 60.64 -7.6 0.51
Merck MRK NYSE 37.91 -7.2 0.32
Comments »
52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 53 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Abbott Labs ABT 60.15 1,988,546 AboveNet ABVT 84.54 976,205 Acadia Realty Trust AKR 22.45 17,910 Amer Vanguard AVD 20.23 30,103 Atlas Energy ATLS 35.39 201,573 BB&T Corp BBT 31.71 713,206 Ball Corp BLL 41.66 86,390 WR Berkley WRB 36.80 158,684 CBS Corp B CBS 31.86 487,258 Calpine CPN 17.60 437,758 Canadian Pacific Railway CP 79.53 79,274 Cantel Med CMN 23.85 9,565 Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG 411.00 81,421 CoreSite Realty COR 23.32 11,266 CubeSmart CUBE 11.99 27,787 Demandware Inc DWRE 27.85 195,912 Dominos Pizza DPZ 42.21 613,184 Douglas Emmett DEI 22.78 105,665 EPAM Systems EPAM 17.30 34,532 Eagle Materials EXP 35.98 55,686 Extra Space Storage EXR 27.81 28,453 Gabelli Hlthcr & Well GRX 8.15 1,890 Gap Inc GPS 26.04 2,099,680 Gruma ADS GMK 10.97 5,160 Guidewire Software GWRE 33.07 15,776 Hels Advantage Inco Fd HAV 9.07 6,788 Herbalife HLF 72.00 153,303 IHS Inc IHS 98.10 13,622 Kilroy Realty KRC 45.82 32,098 MaquarieInfrastr MIC 32.94 31,336 McCormick & Co Vtg MKC/V 52.20 500 Mednax MD 75.86 11,304 Metro Health Ntwks MDF 8.97 72,041 Mine Safety MSA 41.07 6,238 Mitsubishi UFJ Fincl Grp MTU 5.30 117,168 Newcastle Inv 8.05% C NCTpC 24.95 500 Nike Inc NKE 112.50 370,275 Nuveen Missouri Ser 2015 NOMpC 10.20 4,100 Plains Exploration PXP 47.00 189,059 Primerica PRI 25.89 5,436 Rose Rock Midstream RRMS 25.46 50,713 SpectraEnergy SE 32.27 175,482 Sumitomo Mitsui Fincl ADS SMFG 7.03 16,520 Targa Resources Partners NGLS 43.20 80,353 Tesoro TSO 30.12 324,079 Toll Brothers TOL 25.07 397,532 USG USG 18.12 478,700 U.S. Silica Holdings SLCA 20.91 36,083 United Parcel Service B UPS 79.97 1,295,940 US Bancorp USB 31.98 1,063,251 UnitedHealth Group UNH 56.31 909,784 Vaalco Engy EGY 9.22 214,366 Wabtec WAB 78.18 12,173 New Lows 2 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ STR Holdings Inc. STRI 4.88 56,288 Standard Register SR 1.26 80,781
NASDAQ
New Highs 74 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Adams Golf ADGF 10.80 106,850 Advisory Board ABCO 87.56 22,053 Allied Motion AMOT 7.90 13,177 Ameris Bancorp ABCB 13.14 10,768 Ames National ATLO 22.50 1,164 Associated Banc-Corp. Wt ASBCW 2.50 1,400 BBCN Bancorp BBCN 11.38 37,238 Builders FirstSource BLDR 4.17 75,125 Cadence Design Systems CDNS 12.47 347,835 Calumet Specialty Prdts CLMT 24.97 32,378 Carmike Cinemas CKEC 11.98 31,551 Cathay General Bancorp CATY 18.25 51,314 Citizens Republic Bancorp CRBC 15.74 68,117 Clean Energy Fuels CLNE 21.63 831,176 ClickSoftware CKSW 12.58 68,797 Cogent Comm Group CCOI 19.62 49,273 Columbia Banking System COLB 22.95 29,354 Cyberonics CYBX 39.41 17,731 Diamond Hill Fincl Trends DHFT 10.90 2,050 Dynavax Techs DVAX 4.62 205,958 Eagle Bancorp EGBN 17.24 2,456 Equinix EQIX 143.15 91,539 Exar EXAR 7.81 31,229 F5 Networks FFIV 135.83 327,978 First Merchants FRME 11.89 13,278 First Tr NASDAQ100EqWt QQEW 26.88 3,186 Fresh Market TFM 49.58 9,209 GeoResources GEOI 35.97 80,610 Gladstone 7.125% Pfd A GAINP 26.00 2,165 H&E Equipment Services HEES 20.81 27,568 Hain Celestial Group HAIN 43.79 44,017 Hancock Hldg Co HBHC 36.35 37,849 Henry Schein HSIC 76.67 40,690 Heritage Oaks Bancorp HEOP 4.30 3,500 Horizon Tech Finance HRZN 16.90 16,736 ICU Medical ICUI 48.93 4,807 Intl Bancshares IBOC 21.25 61,957 Jive Software JIVE 26.30 26,613 Lexicon Pharmaceuticals LXRX 1.88 194,815 Liberty Interactive B LINTB 19.30 100 M/A-COM Tech Solutions MTSI 22.06 14,682 magicJack VocalTec CALL 26.49 102,424 Mercantile Bank MBWM 14.02 3,634 Neteasecom NTES 55.86 103,852 Northrim Bancorp NRIM 21.00 401 Patrick Industries PATK 9.98 40,767 PwrShs S&P SmCp Finl PSCF 29.75 100 pricelinecom PCLN 692.10 232,867 ProShares UltraPro QQQ TQQQ 115.51 251,599 Qualcomm QCOM 65.90 1,493,533 Ruths Hsptlty Gr RUTH 7.18 31,980 SS&C Techs Hldgs SSNC 23.24 62,830 SVB Fincl Group SIVB 67.09 56,025 Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP 52.67 94,276 Seacoast Banking of FL SBCF 1.94 31,322 Shuffle Master SHFL 18.24 107,934 Simulations Plus SLP 4.69 9,232 Sourcefire FIRE 49.85 164,967 Spectranetics SPNC 9.97 39,707 Sterling Finl Washington STSA 21.62 15,827 Summit Financial SMMF 4.51 1,085 Threshold Pharmaceuticals THLD 7.61 1,849,769 TriCo Bancshares TCBK 17.30 4,393 tw telecom TWTC 23.00 633,921 UMB Fincl UMBF 46.18 26,844 US Ecology ECOL 20.09 16,298 Utd Bankshares UBSI 30.76 36,948 Utd Community Fincl UCFC 1.65 8,812 Vanguard Russ 1000 Growth VONG 67.68 790 Vanguard Russ 1000 Value VONV 61.70 300 Vanguard Russell 3000 VTHR 64.69 9,458 Verisk Analytics Inc VRSK 45.68 140,433 WPP Group PLC (ADS) WPPGY 68.66 25,576 Wright Medical Group WMGI 19.06 75,829 New Lows 11 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ BluePhoenix Solutions BPHX 1.27 5,617 Cardiome Pharma CRME 1.04 1,805,058 Celsion Corp CLSN 1.63 107,161 D Medical Industries DMED 0.44 5,548 MDC Partners (Cl A) MDCA 11.47 10,736 Mission NewEnergy MNEL 0.57 70,168 Peregrine Pharma PPHM 0.56 200,026 Porter Bancorp PBIB 1.61 4,081 ProShr Ul Sh QQQ SQQQ 11.23 311,922 Stereotaxis STXS 0.66 29,922 WPCS Intl WPCS 1.35 45,356Comments »
