- Close Dow -21.48 at 10,580.14, Nasdaq +9.60 at 2,032.58, S&P +1.24 at 1,144.91: - It was a fairly quiet day, but a good one...after a lower open, the broader market showed a bias to the up side all day...the Dow was lower, but that was due primarily to Boeing (BA 42.44 -1.38) and United Technologies (UTX 89.88 -2.42)...both had been hit earlier this week after the Pentagon cancelled a helicopter program, then today transportation orders were reported down 10%...that was the reason for the overall 1.8% drop in January Durable Goods New Orders...excluding transportation, orders were up 2.0%, and there was strength across the board...the New Claims and Home Sales data were mixed but uninspiring...after the initial disappointment from the economic data, the indices drifted higher...technology stocks led the way, but the gains were broad...advancers led decliners by about 3-to-2, which is impressive for a modest up day...few sectors were down other than transportation...later in the day, the Justice Department said it would block Oracle's (ORCL 13.28 +0.09) bid for PeopleSoft (PSFT 21.78 -0.35), which boosted ORCL but had no broad impact...Genentech (DNA 103.10 +7.02) got a boost when the FDA approved its cancer drug Avastin...volume was very light, so the lack of selling pressure after the recent weakness in the indices is the story of the day...broad, modest gains on a quiet day is helpful at this time... NYSE Adv/Dec 2077/1203... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1906/1244.
- 15:14 ET Bond Market Summary : The bond market was fairly well-behaved today, staying within the past few weeks' recent range, which has pinned the ten-year yield between 3.990% and 4.125% intra-day. Treasuries staged a mid-day rally, pushing yields as low as 4.025% before reversing, testing the day's low, and rebounding a bit heading into the close. Stated simply, today's sell-off was a negative reaction to positive economic data, and a response to the ten's inability to break through 4% with any conviction. Trading died down late in the session as traders await tomorrow's preliminary GDP, U of Michigan Sentiment, and PMI figures. Fed Governor Bies spoke uneventfully late in the afternoon, regurgitating the "modest job growth/solid economic activity/no concerns regarding dips in consumer confidence" mantra. Later at 5 PM ET, Fed Governor Bernanke speaks at a DC function, although nothing revelatory is expected. The tens are currently -08/32nds yielding; twos are unchanged yielding 1.673%; threes are -01/32nds yielding 2.152%; fives are -04/32nds yielding 2.993%; thirties are -14/32nds yielding 4.915%.
- 14:37 ET PSFT: JUSTICE DEPT SAYS TO BLOCK ORACLE BID TO BUY PEOPLESOFT ON ANTITRUST GROUNDS -- Reuters 21.60 -0.53:
- 13:35 ET CSCO color 23.78 +0.20: Following the release of this morning's Jan Durable Goods orders, Bear Stearns says that with the new strength in communications equipment order activities (data represents a large 73% sequential increase when seasonality is factored in), they think calendar Q1 results should be tracking in-line or slightly stronger than expectations; firm's checks seem to confirm this assessment, and at Cisco they believe that after a relatively weak start for this qtr, activities have picked up by late-Feb (a small exception is the optical biz due to lumpiness in orders); firm believes the co's Q3 (April) rev is tracking in-line with expectations, or a 3% sequential growth.
- 11:30 ET High Short Interest Point Gainers : BDY +0.94 (46% of the float), BSTE +0.46 (44% of the float), SHFL +2.95 (35% of the float), CME +3.29 (27% of the float), AHS +0.50 (26% of the float), NCEN +0.57 (26% of the float), CRDN +3.01 (20% of the float), WGO +0.71 (19% of the float), HOV +3.14 (19% of the float), AVCI +2.68 (5% of the float).
- 10:50 ET ESI: Hearing tier-1 firm out in defense, suggesting could be mail fraud issue, and not as big a deal as being made out to be 37.30 -1.20: Market reaction to these comments likely responsible for the $0.90 recovery stock has seen over the past 10 minutes.
- 08:56 ET WSJ article cites concerns over chemical stocks : The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column suggests the last quarter was good to chemical stocks and probably misleading about the sector's long-term chances. According to the article, it may be years before
U.S. North America rated by S&P have defaulted on bond or bank-loan payments in the past four years. - 08:54 ET Gold Oil and Dollar Summary : The
Euro (1.2408) as European policymakers urge the ECB to cut interest rates in order to curb their currency's gains. The greenback also grew strength against the Gold (392.83) plunged to a low of 393 yesterday on the Dollar's rally, only to close slightly above its technical support area near 395. It is trading lower this morning with its next support level at 390 in sight...
Guy Boscart,