On The Fly: Midday Wrap
Stocks on Wall Street were lower at midday after beginning the session lower and moving mostly sideways during the morning hours. The averages have struggled during the second half of the week as they stand just short of all-time highs. The market was unable to gather any upside momentum despite a better than expected reading from the University of Michigan consumer confidence report. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer confidence index for July had a reading of 85.1, versus the expected reading of 84.0. In Europe, Eurozone finance officials cleared the latest Greek bailout payment, as largely expected. In Asia, Japan's core CPI rose 0.4% in June on an annual basis, following a flat figure in May. Japanese equities fell for the second consecutive day, with the Nikkei down 3% overnight. COMPANY NEWS: Starbucks (SBUX) reported third quarter earnings per share and same-store sales that beat consensus estimates. Jefferies, Oppenheimer, and Goldman Sachs all raised their respective price targets on Starbucks shares, which gained nearly 7%... Amazon.com (AMZN), which also reported earnings last night, and shares initially sold off after the company unexpectedly reported quarterly losses. Jefferies, Oppenheimer and Cantor all made postive comments on the company's long-term prospects this morning and Amazon shares rose about 2% near noon... The Department of Justice announced last night that Halliburton (HAL) has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company then said it plans to repurchase up to $3.3B of stock in a modified “Dutch auction” tender offer and the shares rose nearly 4%. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Activision Blizzard (ATVI), which gained 14% after agreeing to buy back the majority of Vivendi's (VIVHY) stake in its stock for $13.60 per share, or $5.8B. Also higher were shares of electric automaker Tesla (TSLA), which climbed more than 4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock and took its price target on the shares up to $160 from $50. Among the noteworthy losers were shares of online travel company Expedia (EXPE), which plunged 25% after the company reported second quarter earnings that significantly trailed analysts' consensus estimates. Also lower was Zynga (ZNGA), which dropped 15% after reporting second quarter earnings and saying it would not pursue a license for real money gaming in the U.S. INDICES: Near noon, the Dow was down 104.85, or 0.67%, to 15,450.76; the Nasdaq was down 6.50, or 0.18%, to 3,598.69; and the S&P 500 was down 7.29, or 0.43%, to 1,682.96. :theflyonthewall
