3SOF

Dow Looks sketchy with today's move lower.  Just bounced off Key support at 12,180.  My thoughts are that with the chart as it stands, a move below this level would signify a very negative tone for the week, and we will see further selling as the week progresses.  nex support below that is at 12,090.

Emerging markets are going to put the nail in the coffin for the markets. I expect a very bad day for the emerging markets starting soon... watch them closely when they open up later today.

Stocks Ease in Rally's Wake.......

3/22/2007


Stocks in the U.S. slipped early Thursday as traders digested their gains of the last three days and continued to comb over the rhetoric from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 30 points, or 0.2%, at 12,418, and the S&P 500 was off 3.5 points, or 0.3%, at 1431. The Nasdaq Composite was slipping 12 points, or 0.5%, to 2444.

Thus far this week, Wall Street has closed higher each day. First a string of mergers was responsible, then it was fairly solid housing news, and on Wednesday the driver was the hope that the Fed might push interest rates lower this year.

During the previous session, stocks were sluggish until the two-day Fed meeting wrapped up, and that spurred the Dow to a 1.3% gain and the Nasdaq to a 2% climb. Now, the Dow is just below the flat line for the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are back in positive territory.

The Fed ignited the prior Day's advance by leaving its target fed funds rate unchanged and removing comments about possible "additional firming" from its policy statement.

Though the central bank warned that core inflation measures have been somewhat elevated, and it expressed concern about weakness in housing, traders focused on the notion that any more rate increases aren't even on the Fed's radar.

After 17 consecutive hikes between mid-2004 and last June, the fed funds target has been steady at 5.25% for six meetings.

Earlier, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 316,000 last week. The less volatile four-week moving average also declined, dropping by 3,750 to 326,000.

Additionally, the Conference Board said its February index of leading indicators fell 0.5%, slightly below expectations. January's figure was revised to a decline of 0.3% from a rise of 0.1%.

Treasury prices were lower following the economic releases. The 10-year was down 3/32, yielding 4.55%, and the 30-year was losing 12/32 to yield 4.74%.

On the corporate side, Motorola (MOT:) was shedding 5.2% a day after saying that it would post a first-quarter loss and fall short of analysts'' sales targets by a wide margin.

Homebuilder KB Home (KBH:) fell after reporting a first-quarter profit of $27.5 million, or 34 cents a share. While earnings topped the Thomson First Call consensus, results were down 83% from a year ago, and the stock was recently falling 67 cents, or 1.4%, to $47.12.

On the research front, Bear Stearns upgraded Procter & Gamble (PG:) to outperform from peer perform, citing valuation. Meanwhile, JPMorgan reduced both GlaxoSmithKline (GSK:) and AstraZeneca (AZN:) to underweight from neutral.

Procter & Gamble was rising 1.1% to $63.62. GlaxoSmithKline was off 1.4% at $55.44, and AstraZeneca was down 1.3% at $55.95.

Elsewhere, commodities prices were higher. The front-month May crude contract was jumping by $1.49 to $61.10 a barrel. Natural gas tacked on 7 cents at $7.23 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals were rising. Gold was up $5 at $665 an ounce, and silver was higher by 13 cents at $13.45 an ounce.

Overseas markets followed U.S. indices higher. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% to 17,419, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.9% to 19,690. London's FTSE climbed 0.6% to 6293, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX jumped 1.7% to 6827.

Bull / Bear / or in the Middle

Been reading a lot lately on this subject and finding lots of interesting stuff on both sides.  Many are looking at past corrections, correlating the charts to the current situation and coming to the conclusion that this is really no different than past corrections and healthy for the market.

Well in most situations I would agree, but I'm currently in the camp that thinks things are a little different this time.  A popular recent correction was the Dow in Oct 1997, below are a couple of charts showing that correction and then what happened later in 1998.  Is it similar to todays situation or not.  I know the US debt is much higher now than it was then and the printing presses have been working overtime.  So I think it is a little different, I can't put the debt on the chart but I did add the USD as an indicator.

Now you will see that in 97-98 the dollar was strong and uptrending, the current situation is a little different and thus I think the outcome may be a little different over the long term.

Uptrend continuing, I will wait and see, best case is we go sloppy sideways for many months, worst case Bear is confirmed.

Mostly trying to sit on hands and wait for the dust to settle.

JMHO and subject to change without notice.

Quasi

Wall Street Cheers Deals.......

4/16/2007


Stocks jumped Monday as a stream of buyouts and solid earnings greeted the bulls to begin a new trading week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 108.33 points, or 0.86%, to 12,720.46, with 26 of the 30 components ending the day with gains. The S&P 500 advanced 15.62 points, or 1.08%, to 1468.47, reaching a 6 1/2-year high. The Nasdaq climbed 26.39 points, or 1.06%, to 2518.33.

The rise allowed the market to build on last week's gains, when the Dow was up 0.4%, the S&P added 0.6% and the Nasdaq increased 0.8%.

The major indices have now rebounded from losses suffered on Feb. 27, when a benchmark index in mainland China sank more than 9% and pressured U.S. markets. The Dow had its worst single-day pullback since the market reopened after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dropping by as much as 546 points at one point.

"For now investors are enjoying the ride," Barry Hyman, equity market strategist with EKN Financial. "There's a lot of liquidity in the system. It says a lot towards the strength of the global economy. Now we have to look for the next catalyst. If this rally is going to continue, we need to see a pickup in some lagging sectors, such as consumer cyclicals."

About 2.69 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancers beating decliners by an 8-to-3 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.78 billion shares, with winners outpacing decliners 7 to 3.

Paul Nolte, director of investments with Hinsdale Associates, noted that volume has been lighter than usual, so the market may not be gaining as much traction as it seems.

"What is happening is the market rises, but on little volume, but declines occur on heavier volume -- to us an indication that investors are more willing sellers than buyers," he said.

Though corporate earnings are starting to flood in, a round of dealmaking dominated the early headlines. The biggest takeover will see student lender Sallie Mae (SLM:) acquired by an investor group led by J.C. Flowers in a $25 billion transaction.

Shares of Sallie Mae soared 18.4% to close at $55.35 after the $60-a-share offer was disclosed.

Elsewhere, Google (GOOG:) set plans late Friday to pay $3.1 billion for Internet ad outfit DoubleClick in a bid to tap into the market for graphics-based advertising. Google rose $7.98, or 1.7%, to $474.27.

Meanwhile, the Day's earnings were generally positive for the top names on the schedule.

Citigroup (C:) said it earned $5 billion, or $1.01 a share, in the latest quarter, down from $5.56 billion and $1.11 a share a year earlier, but adjusted earnings of $1.18 were 9 cents better than estimates. Citigroup added $1.33, or 2.6%, to $52.93.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly (LLY:) topped analysts'' first-quarter expectations and said it should earn $3.30 to $3.40 a share for the full year, up from its earlier target of $3.25 to $3.35. The stock ended up $1.52, or 2.7%, to $58.40.

Wachovia (WB:) posted a first-quarter profit of $2.3 billion, or $1.20 a share, an increase of 33% from the year-ago period. The Thomson First Call consensus was for earnings per share of $1.16. Shares of Wachovia climbed $1.08, or 2%, to $55.06.

Other reporters included toymaker Mattel (MAT:) , which posted a first-quarter profit that beat expectations. Excluding items, Eaton (ETN:) reported a first-quarter profit of $1.62 a share, topping estimates. Mattel dipped 0.9% to $28.10, while Eaton closed higher by 2.8% to $87.50.

Among ratings changes, Friedman Billings and Prudential downgraded shares of MedImmune (MEDI:) to market perform and neutral, respectively. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs upgraded Dow component Merck (MRK:) to neutral from sell.

MedImmune gained $1.25, or 2.8%, to $45.44, after billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he would not oppose a sale of the company. Merck tacked on 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $50.32.

Away from stocks, commodities finished mixed following a volatile session. Crude oil futures slipped by 2 cents at $63.61 a barrel. Gold finished up $4.60 to $694.50 an ounce.

"Once the initial dust settles, investors will have to keep an eye on oil and interest rates," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "Those are two bearish pulls on the market. While they are not on the front burner at the moment, they are simmering in the background. If one or the other begins to boil over, it will be a negative distraction for investors."

On the economic front, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.7% last month, slightly above economists'' expectations. Excluding autos, retail sales were up 0.8% in March, also ahead of forecasts.

In a separate report, the Commerce Department said business inventories rose 0.3% in February, in line with estimates.

Also, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said its Empire State Manufacturing Index rose to a reading of 3.8 in April from 1.9 in March. The index was expected to jump, however, to 10.0.

Treasuries were higher for the day, as the 10-year note rose 8/32 in price, yielding 4.73%, and the 30-year bond added 20/32 to yield 4.89%. The dollar weakened against the world's major currencies.

Overseas, markets were in positive territory. Tokyo's Nikkei surged 1.5% to 17,628, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 2.1% to 20,758. London's FTSE was up 0.8% at 6516, and Frankfurt's DAX gained 1.8% at 7338.

On Tuesday, earnings reporting will pick up, as results are expected from Intel (INTC:) , Yahoo! (YHOO:) , IBM (IBM:) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ:) , among others.

Quote from: setravis on April 16, 2007, 08:47:01 PM
Though corporate earnings are starting to flood in, a round of dealmaking dominated the early headlines. The biggest takeover will see student lender Sallie Mae (SLM:) acquired by an investor group led by J.C. Flowers in a $25 billion transaction.

Shares of Sallie Mae soared 18.4% to close at $55.35 after the $60-a-share offer was disclosed.

I saw this yesterday and was wondering, does this not mean you could pick up shares of Sallie Mae right now for an easy $5 gain???   Why if th market knows the buyout is at $60 is the stock trading at $55??  Seems strange to me.

As for the Dow, I think we could see it test 12800 highs this week, but I would be careful, as I think doing so could be the catalyst for a bit of a sell-off.  The market has been clearly bullish, but may now be a bit extended (and as everyone has been saying, this rally has been on lower volume.  Two ineterpretations of the hourly chart below of the Dow: one is a rising wedge that just broke to the upside (light blue line) the other is a rising channel/wedge that comes in right around 12800 just now.  I'm not saying we couldn't see new highs in th near future, but it seems to me that there will probably be a bit of a struggle between 12600 and 12800 in the next week or two.

Quote from: ScottishTrader on April 17, 2007, 07:14:16 AM

Quote from: setravis on April 16, 2007, 08:47:01 PM
Though corporate earnings are starting to flood in, a round of dealmaking dominated the early headlines. The biggest takeover will see student lender Sallie Mae (SLM:) acquired by an investor group led by J.C. Flowers in a $25 billion transaction.

Shares of Sallie Mae soared 18.4% to close at $55.35 after the $60-a-share offer was disclosed.

I saw this yesterday and was wondering, does this not mean you could pick up shares of Sallie Mae right now for an easy $5 gain???   Why if th market knows the buyout is at $60 is the stock trading at $55??  Seems strange to me.

Seems Strange to me also....
I guess some things that take place in the market ,"I know I'm not wise enough to enlighten you the story"!


Dow's Record Bid Stalled.......

4/17/2007

Gains in Johnson & Johnson (JNJ:) and Coca-Cola (KO:) lifted the Dow Jones Industrial Average within striking distance of its all-time closing high Tuesday, but the blue-chip average came up just short of a record.

At the end of trading, the Dow had added 52.58 points, or 0.41%, to 12,773.04, having briefly topped its best-ever finish of 12,786.64 earlier in the session. Of the 30 members of the index, 20 were higher, led by increases in J&J and Coke, both of which rose following their quarterly earnings reports.

Coke climbed $1.30, or 2.6%, at $51.57, and J&J advanced $1.53, or 2.4%, to $64.55.

Before the opening bell, Coke said first-quarter earnings topped analysts'' estimates by a penny on revenue that jumped 17% from last year to $6.1 billion.

J&J's first-quarter earnings fell to $2.6 billion, or 88 cents a share, from $3.3 billion, or $1.10 a share, a year ago. However, adjusted results topped the Thomson First Call analysts'' consensus of $1.05 a share.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 3.01 points, or 0.2%, to 1471.48, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 1.38 points, or 0.05%, at 2516.95.

Volume and breadth painted a different picture of the session. About 2.95 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with decliners beating advancers by a 9-to-8 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.95 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 3 to 2.

"The lack of breadth was poor, so leadership in this case has narrowed," warned Edgar Peters, chief investment officer with Pan Agora. "In the near-term, that's a sign that we're close to a top. It may lead to nothing, but it's something to be concerned about."

Still, the major indices have completely rebounded from losses suffered on Feb. 27, when a benchmark index in mainland China sank more than 9% and pressured U.S. markets. The Dow had its worst single-day pullback since the market reopened after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dropping by as much as 546 points at one point.

For the year, the Dow has now added 2.5%, the S&P 500 has risen 3.7%, and the Nasdaq has pieced together a gain of 4.2%.

Helping the overall mood were positive data on inflation and the housing sector. The Labor Department's consumer price index for March showed no big surprises. The CPI was up 0.6%, matching expectations. The core index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.1%, slightly below estimates.

Core inflation, a closely monitored figure, is now up 2.5% over the past 12 months, down 0.2 percentage points from February's level. The data follow the recent producer price index, which rose a greater-than-expected 1% last month. The core PPI was unchanged.

Elsewhere on the economic docket, the government said U.S. housing starts jumped 0.8% in March to 1.518 million annualized units. Building permits also rose 0.8%, to 1.544 million, last month. On average, economists expected March starts to total 1.50 million, and for permits to dip to a 1.51 million annual pace.

"The March up tick is a bit of a surprise, but the trend is still clearly downward, and we expect a renewed softening in April," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics. "With a huge inventory overhang, there is no reason for homebuilders yet to do anything but cut back further."

Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, noted that core consumer price inflation remains above Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's target range of 1% to 2%, adding that relief from this inflation isn't likely before fall of this year.

"The Federal Reserve will not likely be able to accomplish both moderate inflation and reasonable [gross domestic product] and employment growth," he said. "Faced with choosing between instigating a recession or an inflation spiral it cannot much slow, the best policy course will be to do nothing."

In other economic news, the Fed said industrial production fell 0.2% in March, compared with estimates of a 0.1% rise. Capacity utilization declined to 81.4% from a revised 81.6%, also below expectations.

Treasury prices rose following the data. The 10-year note ended up 13/32, yielding 4.68%, and the 30-year bond was adding 22/32, yielding 4.84%. The dollar was lower against the world's major currencies.

Traders digested the latest torrent of earnings reports. Aside from Dow members, many financial names were also out with results. Wells Fargo (WFC:) , SunTrust Banks (STI:) , KeyCorp (KEY:) and Regions Financial (RF:) all topped estimates.

U.S. Bancorp (USB:) , however, came in below the consensus target. Shares lost 34 cents, or 1%. to $34.56.

After Tuesday's close, three tech heavyweights released their results. IBM (IBM:) posted a first-quarter profit of $1.84 billion, or $1.21 a share, up 8% from the year-ago quarter and in line with expectations. Intel (INTC:) also matched forecasts for first-quarter earnings.

Yahoo! (YHOO:) posted stronger-than-expected earnings, but a revenue miss sent shares sliding after hours.

Away from stocks, commodities lost momentum and finished lower on the day. Crude oil futures fell 51 cents at $63.10 a barrel, and gold gave back $1 to $693.50 an ounce.

Overseas, stocks were mixed in Asia and in Europe. Tokyo's Nikkei shed 0.6% to 17,527, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on 0.2% at 20,789. London's FTSE lost 0.3% at 6499, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX was up 0.2% at 7349.

Dow Claws Way to Record.......

4/18/2007


The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new all-time high Wednesday, as component stocks JPMorgan Chase (JPM:) and United Technologies (UTX:) ran up after their latest quarterly earnings reports.

The Dow rose 30.80 points, or 0.24%, to 12,803.84, and exceeded its old best-ever finish of 12,786.64 set on Feb. 20. Still, of the 30 members of the index, only 11 finished with gains.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was hit by a slump in Internet heavyweight Yahoo! (YHOO:) and fell 6.45 points, or 0.26%, to 2510.50. Yahoo! disappointed investors with its earnings report after the previous close, and its shares dropped 11.8% to close at $28.31.

The S&P 500 was higher by 1.02 points, or 0.07%, to close at 1472.50.

"Obviously, the market continued to focus on the good news, which is the strong earnings so far," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist with Avalon Partners. "The market is ignoring some of the negatives, such as the price of oil and the falling dollar. Somewhere along the line, we'll start to reflect on the negatives, but for now the mood is strong."

Despite the losses suffered on Feb. 27, when a benchmark index in mainland China sank more than 9% and pressured U.S. markets, the major indices are higher for the year. Thus far, the Dow has added 2.7%, the S&P 500 has risen 3.8%, and the Nasdaq has pieced together a gain of 3.9%.

Helping lift the Dow was JPMorgan, who beat estimates by a wide margin and set plans for a $10 billion stock buyback. Fellow Dow member United Technologies topped analysts'' earnings and revenue expectations for the latest quarter and reaffirmed its forecast for the fiscal year.

JPMorgan added $1.89, or 3.8%, to $52.07. United Technologies tacked on 74 cents, or 1.1%, to finish at $66.92.

While volume was strong, breadth still remained an issue for bulls. About 2.97 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with decliners beating advancers by a 9-to-7 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.08 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 3 to 2.

"That tells me we're setting ourselves up for a fall," said Cardillo. "We had a fairly substantial correction and then made that back over a short amount of time. The odds are piling up towards a vivacious pullback."

Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer with Oaktree Asset Management, said that despite the market's rally, traders need to be cautious for the near term.

"The recent market strength can be attributed to traders focusing too much on first-quarter earnings reports," he said. "The market will have to face the reality that we're in a softening economy, with stubborn inflation, weaker manufacturing, a weaker housing market, slowing business spending, a weak U.S. dollar and rising commodity prices."

Aside from Yahoo!, another stock that finished lower was IBM (IBM:) , who said first-quarter profits met estimates as revenue rose 7%. However, IBM was downgraded by Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, and the stock lost $2.32, or 2.4%, to $94.80.

Providing something of an offset was Intel (INTC:) , whose shares rose 37 cents, or 1.8%, to $21.35 after its own quarterly numbers. Both IBM and Intel are in the Dow.

As a new day dawned, the earnings parade continued to gather steam. Among them, Motorola's (MOT:) first quarter was in line with expectations, but the company warned that its current quarter results could fall short of the consensus target. Still, shares added 27 cents, or 1.5%, to $18.22.

Other reporters included The Bank of New York (BK:) , whose adjusted first-quarter earnings of 59 cents a share beat estimates by 2 cents. Netflix (NFLX:) missed targets by 2 cents a share and offered weaker-than-expected guidance.

Shares of The Bank of New York slipped 12 cents, or 0.3%, to $41.45. Netflix tumbled $2.26, or 9.4%, to end the day at $21.70.

Away from stocks, Treasuries were on the rise. The 10-year note was up 7/32 in price, yielding 4.65%, and the 30-year bond was ahead by 16/32, yielding 4.81%. The dollar continued to soften against the euro and the yen.

Energy prices inched higher following the latest weekly report on inventory levels. Crude futures rose 3 cents to close at $63.13 a barrel, while natural gas ended up 8 cents at $7.50 per million British thermal units.

The Energy Department's latest weekly inventory figures showed a decline of just 1 million barrels in crude inventories. Gasoline stocks fell by a greater-than-expected 2.7 million barrels, while distillates were lower by only 800,000 barrels.

Metals prices were little changed. Gold added 80 cents to $693.30 an ounce, and silver was off 5 cents at $13.97 an ounce.

Overseas, markets were mixed in Asia and dropping in Europe. Tokyo's Nikkei added 0.8% to 17,667, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.06% to 20,777. London's FTSE shed 0.6% to 6460, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX was losing 0.9% to 7282.

The earnings torrent will continue at full force on Thursday. Among those scheduled to report are Google (GOOG:) , Advanced Micro Devices (AMD:) , American Express (AXP:) , homebuilder D.R. Horton (DHI:) and Merck (MRK:) .

Dow Storms to New High.......

4/20/2007


The New York market bounced Friday, led by a 1.2% surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed at a record high for the third straight session.

After two days of minor advances, the Dow caught a bid and jumped 153.35 points to 12,961.98. Overall, the index recorded its seventh consecutive gain, and just two of its stocks declined.

Elsewhere, the S&P 500 was up 13.62 points, or 0.93%, at 1484.35, and the Nasdaq added 21.04 points, or 0.84%, to 2526.39.

Upbeat profit news, especially from Internet search provider Google (GOOG:) , had the bulls in charge from early on.

"We've had incredible earnings that have blown away targets, which is definitely driving the market," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist with Windham Financial. "Expectations were so low and results are coming in so much higher. So far, the internals look pretty good. This is the first day all the sectors have really kicked in."

Among subsector indices, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index added 2.1%, the Amex Gold Bugs Index gained 1.2%, and the S&P Retail Index climbed 1.1%. On the losing side, the Amex Airline Index tumbled 1.5%.

For the week, stocks rose. The Dow added 2.8%, the S&P 500 was up 2.1%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.4%.

About 3.16 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancers beating decliners by a 3-to-1 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.11 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 2 to 1. That broke a three-day streak where more stocks fell than climbed.

"With the market breadth lagging the last three days, the question now is if the headwinds will still hit us," said Larry Wachtel, senior market analyst with Wachovia Securities. "It's hard for me to believe we're going to continue going up and up in this overbought condition."

Even so, Google provided the market with plenty of momentum. After the previous session's close, the company said it had first-quarter earnings, before items, of $3.68 a share on revenue of $2.53 billion. Both the figures were much stronger than analysts had been forecasting.

Shares of Google climbed $10.83, or 2.3%, to finish the day at $482.48.

Not nearly as fortunate was chipmaker AMD (AMD:) , whose quarterly loss was well off the mark. However, the company gave investors a bit of a good news after saying it wouldn't necessarily be opposed to a private equity deal if the right transaction came along. AMD shed 12 cents, or 0.8%, to $14.16.

As for the new Day's reports, Caterpillar (CAT:NYSE) beat earnings targets and raised its guidance for the full year, noting strength in overseas economic conditions. The news sent the construction giant's shares surging 4.7% to $71.82, making it one the Dow's best performers.

Fellow Dow component Pfizer (PFE:) posted earnings that were better than expected, but the drugmaker took down its full-year forecast for profits, the low end of which would be more than 10 cents short of what Wall Street wanted to see. Pfizer finished lower by 10 cents, or 0.4%, at $26.97.

Meanwhile, Honeywell (HON:) handily topped estimates, while another Dow member, McDonald's (MCD:) , matched the first-quarter earnings target.

Honeywell rose 4.8% to $51.40. McDonald's joined Pfizer as the only other Dow decliner, finishing down 0.9% at $48.36.

American Express (AXP:) said after the prior close that profits rose 21% from the previous year and beat the Thomson First Call consensus. American Express climbed $2.05, or 3.5%, to $61.

Oil-services concern Schlumberger (SLB:) had earnings and revenue that exceeded analysts'' estimates, while software maker SAP (SAP:) had operating income and total sales that were a bit shy of consensus targets. Schlumberger was higher by 1.2% at $75.23, and SAP added 2.5% to close at $50.39.

Away from earnings, H&R Block (HRB:) set plans to sell its Option One mortgage business to a Cerberus Capital affiliate in a roughly $1 billion deal. Shares of H&R Block rose 73 cents, or 3.3%, to $22.56.

Turning to the bond market, Treasuries lost ground in the absence of any economic data. The 10-year note was down 1/32 in price, yielding 4.67%, and the 30-year bond was falling 6/32, yielding 4.85%.

As for commodities, the May crude oil contract, trading for the last time, added $1.55 to close at $63.38 a barrel. Gold gained $7.50 to $695.80 an ounce, and silver was higher by 22 cents to $13.96 an ounce.

Overseas, markets were stronger in Asia and in Europe. Tokyo's Nikkei added 0.5% to 17,452, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 1.3% to 20,566. London's FTSE rose 0.7% to 6486, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX jumped 1.4% to 7342.

Oil Decline Perks Up Dow.......

4/24/2007


A slide in crude futures helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average overcome a pair of cooler-than-expected economic reports and move toward 13,000 Tuesday, but the index ultimately came up short.

When trading ended, the Dow had a gain of 34.54 points, or 0.27%, at 12,953.94. The index fell as many as 18 points before rising briefly to a record intraday high of 12,989.86.

Even so, only 14 of the blue-chip measure's 30 components were in positive territory, led by a rise of 3.5% in IBM (IBM:) .

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite had rocky sessions and closed little changed. The S&P slipped 0.52 point, or 0.04%, to 1480.41, and the Nasdaq tacked on 0.87 point, or 0.03%, to 2524.54.

Partly responsible for the Dow's advance was a selloff in oil. The new front-month June contract pierced the $66 level for a time, but reversed ground and finished lower by $1.31 at $64.58 a barrel. Other energy prices were mixed.

On the New York Stock Exchange, about 3.06 billion shares changed hands, and decliners edged advancers by a 9-to-7 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.25 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 8 to 7.

Among subgroup indices, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index jumped 2.9%, and the Philadelphia Utility Index rose 0.6%.

On the losing side, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Sector Index sank 1.3%, the S&P Retail Index eased 0.4%, and the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index was lower by 0.3%.

When the market opened, a number of solid corporate earnings reports led to early gains. However, the buyers headed for the exits after the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales fell 8.4% in March to 6.12 million annualized units, the largest drop in more than 18 years.

Analysts had been planning on a decline, but only to a 6.50 million pace from 6.69 million in February.

"This looks awful but it is surely just the reversal of the favorable weather effects, which boosted January and February sales," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics. "In the wake of the subprime blowup, it seems reasonable to expect a higher application-rejection rate and tighter terms."

Meanwhile, another disappointment came when the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 104.0 in April, down from 108.2 the previous month. Economists had expected a reading of 105.0.

Treasury prices were higher following the data. The 10-year note climbed 5/32 in price to yield 4.62%, and the 30-year bond added 10/32 to yield 4.80%. The dollar dropped against the yen and the euro.

Among the earnings, DuPont (DD:) topped analysts'' first-quarter estimates and reaffirmed its full-year guidance, while AT&T (T:) was also better than expected.

DuPont gained 67 cents, or 1.4%, to $49.86. AT&T ended down 67 cents, or 1.7%, to $39.10.

Texas Instruments (TXN:) , whose shares rose 7.7% to $34.92 a day after the company lifted its second-quarter projection, wasn't able to provide much support for the tech space.

Also in tech, telecom-equipment maker Alcatel Lucent (ALU:) continues to act like its former stand-alone U.S. component, cautioning that it will likely post a first-quarter operating loss on sluggish sales. Still, shares rose 59 cents, or 4.7%, to $13.16.

Elsewhere, Whirlpool (WHR:) reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.55 a share, handily beating the Thomson First Call consensus. U.S. Steel (X:) also blew away estimates, but revenue came in below expectations.

Whirlpool jumped 13.8% to close at $102.85, a new 52-week high, but U.S. Steel slumped 3.7% to $103.04.

Away from earnings, Toyota (TM:) said first-quarter sales rose 9% from a year ago to 2.35 million vehicles, allowing it, for the moment, to surpass General Motors (GM:) as the world's biggest carmaker by volume. Toyota lost 98 cents, or 0.8%, to $123.89. GM ended up 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $30.77.

Turning to the Day's research reports, A.G. Edwards cut its rating on oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM:) to hold from buy, in part based on the stock's valuation. Shares edged down 60 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $78.60.

Citigroup upgraded chipmaker SanDisk (SNDK:) to buy from hold, taking its stock price target to $52 from $44. Shares of SanDisk gained $1.68, or 4%, to $43.54.

Overseas, markets were mixed in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei ticked lower by 0.02% to 17,452 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on 0.08% to 20,573. Europe was generally weaker, with London's FTSE giving back 0.8% to 6429 and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX losing 0.9% at 7270.

Another Milestone for Dow.......

Close above 13,000 for the first time in its history ! 


4/25/2007


The Dow Jones Industrial Average thundered to yet another record Wednesday, as an upswing in Alcoa (AA:NYSE) and a string of strong corporate earnings helped the index close above 13,000 for the first time in its history.

The Dow jumped 135.95 points, or 1.05%, to 13,089.89, and earlier hit an intraday record of 13,107.45. Overall, 29 of the average's 30 members finished in positive territory, with 3M (MMM:NYSE) the only weak spot.

Boosting the index was news that component stock Alcoa will consider selling its packaging and consumer segment, along with another unit. Alcoa jumped 5.3%, making it the Dow's best performer.

As for the other major indices, the S&P 500 climbed 15.01 points, or 1.01%, to 1495.42, and the Nasdaq Composite was better by 23.35 points, or 0.92%, at 2547.89.

"The market is looking for the good news in things and is ignoring the bad news," said Jim Dunnigan, chief investment officer for PNC Wealth Management. "There's been a lot of overall enthusiasm, thanks to liquidity, positive earnings, M&A activity and economic data. As long as we keep getting positive news, we have a shot to hold these gains."

Volume and breadth improved greatly. About 3.19 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with decliners edging advancers by an 11-to-5 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.70 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 3 to 2.

Among the market's subindices, the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index jumped 3.4% and was one of the Day's top performers. Elsewhere, the S&P Retail Index added 1.3%, the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Sector Index finished higher by 1.2%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index gained 0.8%.

Supporting the tech space was a terrific set of results from Internet retailer Amazon.com (AMZN:) , whose shares surged 27% to $56.81. Amazon said after the prior close that its first-quarter results were much better than had been expected, and it also lifted its revenue forecast for the year.

"We continue to receive better-than-expected earnings reports along with some encouraging economic news and more M&A activity," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer with Oaktree Asset Management. "Earnings are coming in much better than expected, and the market is feeling pretty positive on this news."

The Federal Reserves regional business survey, known as the beige book, also helped to boost the indices following its 2 p.m. EDT release. The report said that U.S. economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace between late February and April. Consumer prices remained generally stable or increased modestly, and consumer spending was generally positive, according to the report.

This being the heart of earnings, dozens of companies reported results. Among them, Boeing (BA:) and General Dynamics (GD:) beat estimates, and WellPoint (WLP:) met Wall Street's targets. Boeing shares added 1.1% for the session, while General Dynamics slid 0.9% and WellPoint sank 4.1%.

Becton Dickinson (BDX:) raised its projections, and Corning (GLW:) guided in line. PepsiCo (PEP:) topped analysts'' consensus views and reaffirmed its outlook for fiscal 2007. All three finished the session with gains.

Following the closing bell, Apple (AAPL:) reported a huge quarter, and Qualcomm (QCOM:Nasdaq) offered an improved outlook.

Turning to the Day's research reports, both Bear Stearns and Calyon Securities reduced their ratings on airline JetBlue (JBLU:) to peer perform and neutral, respectively. Shares of JetBlue shed 40 cents, or 3.7%, to $10.31.

Elsewhere, Citigroup upgraded Whirlpool (WHR:) to hold from sell, a day after the company reported solid quarterly results. Jefferies raised its rating for apparel retailer Limited (LTD:) to buy from hold.

Whirlpool, which jumped nearly 14% during the prior session, advanced another $4.55, or 4.4%, to $107.40. Limited finished up 44 cents, or 1.5%, at $29.30.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods increased a better-than-expected 3.4% in March, compared with a revised rise of 2.4% in February. Economists had anticipated a 2.5% gain. Excluding transportation, orders were up 1.5% in March, also better than forecasts.

Separately, the Commerce Department said new-home sales rose 2.6% last month to 858,000 units. However, the number came in below estimates for an increase to 885,000 units.

Treasuries were weaker. The 10-year note lost 4/32 in price to yield 4.64%, and the 30-year bond was off 9/32 to yield 4.83%.

Meanwhile, energy prices soared after the Energy Department's weekly inventory report. The front-month June contract ended higher by $1.26 to $65.84 a barrel, and natural gas was up 9 cents at $7.69 per million British thermal units.

The report showed a rise of 2.1 million barrels in crude inventories. Gasoline stocks fell by a greater-than-expected 2.8 million barrels, the 11th straight weekly decline, while distillates were nearly unchanged.

Metals prices were little changed. Gold ended down 30 cents to $687.40 an ounce, and silver eased by a penny at $13.77 an ounce.

Overseas, markets were down in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei lost 1.2% to 17,236 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 0.2% to 20,536. Europe was generally stronger, with London's FTSE gaining 0.5% to 6462 and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX adding 1% at 7343.

Providing a lift for Europe was an announcement that the Royal Bank of Scotland will lead a $98 billion effort to keep Barclays (BCS:) from buying Dutch bank ABN Amro (ABN:) .

Barclays and ABN struck a $91 billion agreement earlier this week, but a competing buyout proposal wasn't entirely unexpected. Barclays gained 3% at $58.58, and ABN was higher by 5.2% at $49.86.

The Market Story
Profits Trump Weak Growth, Dollar in Rally.......

4/26/2007


Asian and European economies are growing like weeds, while the U.S. may register its weakest quarter yet in this economic slowdown.

But the combination of weak U.S. economic growth, a weak dollar and better-than-expected profit growth are turning out to be the perfect recipe for U.S. stock investors.

The recent bullish attitude toward positive earnings surprises continued to trump any economic concerns Thursday. Stocks again rallied as traders awaited both Microsoft's third-quarter earnings report and the Commerce Department's first stab at first-quarter GDP.

"Bulletproof is the mindset of the markets right now," says Randy Diamond, trader at Miller Tabak. Diamond says investors expected Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) to surprise to the upside, and they expect the Commerce Department to deliver a weak report.

So far, Microsoft has delivered. The technology company reported a 32% year-over-year rise in its earnings and beat Wall Street expectations. Shares were up 4.5% in after-hours trading. Others delivered strong reports as well. Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) blew past expectations late Wednesday, while 3M (MMM:NYSE) , Ford (F:NYSE) and Exxon (XOM:NYSE) also posted better-than-expected reports Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average screamed past the 13,000 mark Wednesday and didn't look back. The Dow closed up 0.1% at 13,105.50 while the Nasdaq Composite finished 0.3% higher Thursday at 2554.46. The S&P 500 closed down 0.8% at 1494.25.

"If the markets get a positive Microsoft and an in-line GDP number, the bulls will cast their eyes toward another record," says Diamond, referring to a record high close in the S&P 500. The broad index's record high is 1527.46, registered on March 24, 2000, and it is just a little more than 30 points away.

Halfway There

Microsoft has delivered its end of that bargain. Now it's the government's turn.

Analysts expect the Commerce Department's first of three estimates of first-quarter output to register 1.8%, well below trend growth of 3% and lower than the fourth quarter's 2.5% growth.

The pace of consumer spending, which comprises about 70% of GDP, is likely to remain a positive, says John Lonski, chief economist at Moody's Investors Service. He believes spending will grow at about 3% year-over-year in the quarter.

But on the other side of the ledger, housing -- or residential construction spending, about 8% of GDP -- will remain weak, and business investment spending may be softer than in recent quarters, says Lonski. Likewise, economists say trade, or exports -- which had been a driver of higher-than-expected GDP estimates in prior quarters -- may not see another big gain in the first quarter.

Some say the government has measurement problems, and that traders should not pay too close attention to this first estimate. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at IDEAglobal, notes that the Federal Reserve warned that flaws in estimating auto sector industrial production would mean the initial GDP estimate will underestimate the true rate of growth.

But Lonski notes that quibbling over 1.2% or 2.2% may not be so useful. Rather, the GDP report will tell us about the consumer, about inflation in the core PCE deflator, and about the soft business spending that Federal Reserve officials have mentioned in recent speeches and testimony. Whatever the number, "below-trend is practically a foregone conclusion," says Lonski.

What it may finally say is that while investors certainly don't cheer weak growth forever, as long as it is bringing down inflation, staving off rate hikes, and not threatening profits too much, it's just fine.

Dow Still Goes Pow.......

4/27/2007


Wall Street endured a lackluster session Friday after a mixed batch of economic data, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average ultimately edged up to finish a strong week with yet another all-time closing high.

The Dow advanced roughly 15.44 points, or 0.12%, to 13,120.94. Despite the gain, only 12 of its 30 components finished in positive territory, helping to overcome a 2.7% decline in General Motors (GM:) .

The S&P 500 ended lower by 0.18 point, or 0.01%, at 1494.07, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.75 points, or 0.11%, at 2557.21.

After setting three consecutive record closing highs, the Dow gained 1.2% over the five sessions. The S&P 500 was ahead by 0.7%, and the Nasdaq added 1.2%.

The major averages pieced together gains amid an earnings torrent of several large-cap names, as well as mixed data that have left many traders still unsure about inflation and economic growth.

Paul Nolte, director of investments with Hinsdale Associates, doesn't especially like what he sees. "The market isn't trading well at all lately," he said "The advance-decline line has been terrible. Volume has been higher on down days, and there's been a persistence of that. At worst, we're setting in a short-term top, so we're going to see the market come down."

Indeed, volume and breadth ended the week worse than Thursday's levels. About 2.73 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with decliners beating advancers by a 9-to-7 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.13 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 3 to 2.

Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist with Windham Financial, said that the market is now at an overbought level after another strong week, which means it has now been on the rise for the fourth week in a row.

"It's a matter of when we pull back and from what point do we start the decline," said Mendelsohn. "The market has been acting so strange. Traders just keep buying, and they have no fear."

The Dow opened lower after new government data showed that the domestic economy grew at a much weaker rate during the first quarter than expected. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product rose 1.3% last quarter, down from a 2.5% annual pace in the fourth quarter.

Economists expected the reading to show a rise of 1.8%. The year-over-year change in inflation remained at 2.2%, a figure that's still a bit outside the Federal Reserves comfort zone.

The advance GDP report is the first of three that will be released on the quarter.

Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, said that the housing sector and the trade deficit were the main reasons for the lower-than-expected number.

"The trade deficit subtracted 0.52 [points] from growth," he said. "This loss was held down by a dramatic drop in crude oil and refined petroleum product imports in February that cannot be sustained. The trade deficit will subtract from GDP growth for the balance of 2007."

At the same time, the employment cost index rose 0.8%, a bit below the 0.9% forecast. Personal consumption expenditures increased 3.8% in the first quarter, compared with a rise of 4.2% in the fourth.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan's revised consumer sentiment report for April showed a bigger-than-expected rise to 87.1, up from the preliminary 85.3. Analysts expected a reading of 85.5.

Treasuries were little changed following a volatile morning. After starting lower, the 10-year note was flat in price to yield 4.70%, and the 30-year bond was down 1/32 in price to yield 4.88%. The dollar was weakening against the euro and the yen.

Following the last session, Dow component stock Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) helped the industrials continue their climb, saying revenue for its third fiscal quarter ended March 31 jumped 32% to $14.4 billion, topping estimates of $13.9 billion.

The software giant also easily exceeded analysts'' profit estimates, and its shares finished up $1.02, or 3.5%, to $30.12.

Elsewhere, earnings continued to roll in before the new session got under way. Among them, ITT Industries (ITT:) , Waste Management (WMI:) and Burger King (BKC:) all beat estimates.

Chevron (CVX:) posted a first-quarter profit that rose 18% from a year earlier, easily topping Wall Street's targets. Still, Chevron gave back 10 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $78.08.

The chip sector was under pressure following cautious comments from SanDisk (SNDK:) . The company swung to a first-quarter loss, compared to a profit from a year ago, and warned that tough market conditions will weigh on margins into the summer.

SanDisk shares lost $1.19, or 2.6%, to $43.83, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index slumped 1.5%.

On the research front, UBS upgraded XM Satellite Radio (XMSR:) and Sirius (SIRI:) to buy from neutral. XM added 1.7% to close at $11.98, and Sirius rose 2.7% to $3.04.

At Stifel, Amazon.com (AMZN:) was downgraded to hold in the wake of the big run-up that followed its terrific quarterly report earlier this week. Shares dipped 18 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $62.60.

Elsewhere, commodities ended the day higher. Crude oil retraced early losses and jumped $1.40 to finish at $66.46 a barrel. Among precious metals, gold added $3.80 to $681.80 an ounce, and silver was higher by 12 cents to $13.44 an ounce.

Overseas, markets were lower in Asia, where Tokyo's Nikkei lost 0.2% to 17,400 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased 0.7% to 20,526. Europe was generally weaker as well, with London's FTSE losing 0.8% to 6418 and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX off 0.1% at 7378.

Dow Hits Another Record.......

5/1/2007


The New York market was aimless for much of the session Tuesday, but stocks came to life in the afternoon and closed to the upside.

By rising 73.23 points, or 0.6%, to 13,136.14, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its fourth record finish in the last five days. The S&P 500 gained 3.93 points, or 0.3%, to 1486.30, and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 6.44 points, or 0.3%, at 2531.53.

Before running up, stocks had struggled for several hours after the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales fell 4.9% in March, compared with a 0.7% rise the previous month. Sales are now down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics, said that the drop in pending home sales caught the market by surprise, as many were anticipating that sales would rise 0.5%.

"The warm March weather ought to have persuaded more people to go house-hunting, and that in turn ought to have increased the number of contract signings, which is what the pending sales index measures," he said. "This might therefore be the first sign that existing sales will undershoot mortgage applications, perhaps as a result of tighter credit."

At the same time, positive data came from the Institute for Supply Management, who said its factory sector index rose to a reading of 54.7 in April. Economists expected the index to have inched higher to 51 last month from 50.9 in March. April's reading was the highest for the index in nearly a year.

Treasuries were mostly lower. The 10-year note was losing 3/32 to yield 4.64%, and the 30-year bond was down fractionally, yielding 4.81%.

The new session began with a boost from more generally positive earnings reports. Since the first quarter ended March 31, most of the companies offering their results have been better than analysts had been expecting, a fact that helped inspire Wall Street's substantial rally last month.

Among those out with numbers, Sirius (SIRI:) and Qwest (Q:) both beat estimates. However, Sirius eased 1.9% to $2.90, while Qwest gained 2.6% to $9.11.

Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG:) met the consensus profit estimates and said the current quarter should also be in line with forecasts. Still, the stock shed $1.57, or 2.4%, to $62.83.

Also on the losing side was Liz Claiborne (LIZ:) , which posted a big earnings shortfall and said its 2007 profits will be weak. Shares of the apparel maker slid $8.37, or 18.7%, to $36.35.

Agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM:) also pulled back after the company beat sales forecasts for the quarter but missed estimates on the bottom line. The stock was down $2.10, or 5.4%, to $36.60.

Meanwhile, shares of Circuit City (CC:) dropped 5.3% after the electronics retailer said following the prior close that it now expects a first-quarter loss due to weak big-screen television sales. Circuit City also withdrew earnings guidance for the first half of fiscal year 2008, prompting five separate firms to downgrade the stock.

Away from earnings, shares of Dow Jones (DJ:) soared 55% to $56.20 after News Corp. (NWS:) made an unsolicited offer for the company.

News Corp.''s bid is worth $60 a share, a 65% premium above Dow's last closing price.

U.S. automakers were in focus after posting auto and truck sales for April. Ford (F:) said sales dropped 13% last month, while DaimlerChrysler (DCX:) reported a 1.6% rise in sales.

General Motors (GM:) sales were down 2.2%.

On the research front, Credit Suisse upgraded Research In Motion (RIMM:) to neutral from underperform, while Prudential downgraded Sprint (S:) to underweight from neutral and cut its price target on the stock by $1.

RIM was off 0.8% to $132.68. Sprint lost 0.8% to $19.88.

Elsewhere, Prudential upgraded Dow component Verizon (VZ:) to neutral from underweight. The firm also raised its stock price target for Verizon to $37 from $32. The stock was up 33 cents, or 0.9%, to $38.51.

UBS cut several airline names, including Continental Airlines (CAL:) , JetBlue (JBLU:) , Southwest Airlines (LUV:) , US Airways (LCC:) , UAL Corp. (UAUA:) and AMR (AMR:) .

As for commodities, June crude futures dropped $1.31 to close at $64.40 a barrel ahead of the Energy Department's weekly inventory report on Wednesday. Gold futures eased $6.20 to $677.30 an ounce.

Most overseas markets were closed for the May Day holiday. Among those open, Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.7% and London's FTSE was down 0.4%.

Dow Refuses to Quit.......

5/3/2007


A raft of encouraging economic data provided Wall Street with the fuel to continue its rally Thursday, and when the closing bell rang the Dow Jones Industrial Average had again reached a new all-time high.

The Dow rose another 29.50 points, or 0.22%, to 13,241.38, giving the index its sixth record finish in the past seven days.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 gained 6.47 points, or 0.43%, to 1502.39, putting it above 1500 for the first time since 2000. The Nasdaq was better by 7.62 points, or 0.3%, at 2565.46.

Helping to spur the latest advance was news on the economic front. The Institute for Supply Management released its monthly services index, which showed an increase to a reading of 56 from 52.4 in March. Economists were expecting the index to rise slightly to 53.

The report comes two days after the ISM manufacturing index for April was also stronger than expected, going to 54.7 from 50.9 in March. On average, economists were looking for 51.

Elsewhere, the Labor Department said its preliminary read on first-quarter productivity indicated a rise of 1.7%, above projections of a 0.8% gain. Unit labor costs came in far below expectations, with only a 0.6% increase for the quarter.

Separately, the government said initial jobless claims fell by 21,000 to 305,000 last week. The less volatile four-week moving average increased by 4,500 claims to 328,750.

The claims report is the last before Friday's nonfarm payrolls data. Analysts believe the U.S. economy added 100,000 jobs during April and that the unemployment rate rose to 4.5% from 4.4% in March.

Before regular trading got underway, quarterly profit reports were again rolling in. Among those with results, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A:) and CBS (CBS:) both exceeded analysts'' estimates.

Royal Dutch rose 76 cents, or 1.1%, to $71.45. CBS gained 25 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $32.06.

Elsewhere, European drug giant Sanofi-Aventis (SNY:) raised its guidance for this year, while General Motors'' (GM:) first-quarter profit was roughly one-tenth of what it was a year ago after the carmaker took a big loss at its lending division GMAC.

Sanofi-Aventis fell 61 cents, or 1.3%, to $45.86. GM finished lower by $1.75, or 5.4%, to $30.69, making it the worst performer of the Dow's 30 components.

Among ratings changes, HSBC Securities upgraded MasterCard (MA:) to neutral from underweight, a day after the credit card provider handily beat first-quarter earnings targets. The firm also upped its stock price target to $132 a share from $77. The stock jumped $8.47, or 6.7%, to $134.82.

One day after the cable company said it will be taken private by its controlling family in a $10.5 billion transaction, Oppenheimer downgraded its rating for Cablevision (CVC:) to neutral from buy. The firm reiterated its stock price target of $34 a share. Still, Cablevision added 29 cents, or 0.8%, to $36.19.

Government bond prices in the U.S. lost ground. The 10-year Treasury was down 8/32 in price, pushing the yield up to 4.68%, and the 30-year bond fell 15/32, yielding 4.84%.

Commodities were mixed, as crude slid 49 cents to $63.19 a barrel, while gold climbed $9.30 to $684.40 an ounce.

Stocks were mostly higher overseas. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.4% overnight, and South Korea's Kospi added 0.4%. London's FTSE climbed 0.8%, and Frankfurt's Xetra DAX and the Paris Cac 40 were a bit stronger.

Volume and breadth were weaker compared to Wednesday's levels. About 2.88 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancers beating decliners by a 3-to-2 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq reached 2.17 billion shares, with winners outpacing losers 8 to 7.

Among subsector indices, the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index finished with a 1.3% gain, the Amex Gold Bugs Index rose 1%, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index added 0.7%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index gained 0.4%.