On The Fly: U.S. Market Wrap-Up for Wednesday, April 14
The futures were higher in pre market trading on the heels of better-than-expected quarterly earnings from both Intel and JP Morgan. There was little reaction to the CPI numbers which were in-line with expectations, but the market opened higher. The market immediately rose to a level and hovered for the first hour. There was market speculation the Fed Chairman Bernanke would use his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee to change the Fed’s “extended period” language for interest rates. However, when he confirmed they would remain low the market took off. The averages advanced to their highs of the day where they remained for most of the afternoon…The Dow rose 103.69 to 11,123.11, the S&P gained 13.35 to 1,210.65, and the Nasdaq added 38.87 to 2,504.86…Among the biggest gainers: Adeona Pharmaceuticals (AEN) surged 25% to $1.90 after reporting that a study of its Zinthionein ZC in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment had “positive results.” Kulicke and Soffa Industries (KLIC) soared 19.7% to $9.41 after forecasting third-quarter revenue of $205M, compared with an average analyst estimate of $141.3M. Oppenheimer & Co. increased its share-price forecast to $10 from $8. The losers included: Mosaic (MOS) which slumped 2.4% to $55.40 after Goldman Sachs (GS) downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy. Philip Morris (PM) dropped 2.2% to 51.29 after a Citigroup analyst said it may miss Q1 EPS estimates. CURRENCY: The dollar closed 0.56% higher on the yen at 93.20 and 0.52% lower on the euro at 0.7322…COMMODITIES: Crude oil closed up 1.79 to 85.84...Natural gas added 0.04 to 4.20...Gold was higher by 6.20 at 1,159.00…ECONOMIC DATA: The consumer price index inched up 0.1% month-over-month in March, exactly in-line with the consensus estimate. Excluding food and energy, the CPI was unchanged, versus the consensus of a 0.1% uptick…Retail sales increased 1.6% month-over-month in March, versus the consensus estimate of a 1.2% gain...Business inventories climbed 0.5% in February, exactly in-line with the consensus estimate...Mortgage purchase applications sank 10.5% during the week of April 14...There was a 2.2M draw in crude oil inventories during the week of April 9, versus the consensus of a 1.3M build. The Fed's Beige Book said the economy improved in 11 of 12 districts, labor markets were generally weak, and commercial real estate was slow around the country...Tomorrow…Empire State Mfg Survey, Jobless Claims, Industrial Production, Philadelphia Fed Survey, EIA Natural Gas Report, and Housing Market Index are due. EARNINGS…Notable companies reporting Thursday before the opening bell include: Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS), PPG Industries (PPG), Rex Stores (RSC), and Simmons First National (SFNC). :theflyonthewall.com
WELL BEHAVED WOMEN, RARELY MAKE HISTORY!
