Dow, S&P 500 have their best January since 1997
But Amazon.com shares slump as revenue misses estimates. Chicago purchasing managers are less optimistic. Home prices drop to 2003 levels. Exxon and Radio Shack earnings disappoint. Mattel cheers.
Updated: 6:46 p.m. ETStocks struggled for much of the day, but a rebound from late-morning lows ensured that the Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) had their best January performances in 15 years.
The Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) had its best start to a new year since 2001.
The gains came despite losses for the market over the last few days. And whatever momentum the market had at today's close may have been lost after Amazon.com (AMZN) shares slumped sharply after hours on disappointing earnings and guidance.
But there will be great interest in the documents coming with Facebook's initial public offering. The company is expected to file its initial papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday morning.
Like Monday, the market proved that it has some resilience. The Dow closed down 21 points to 12,633. The S&P 500 was off 1 point to 1,312; the Nasdaq gained 2 points to 2,814.
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The market fell back in the morning, with the Dow off as many as 86 points, after a series of disappointing domestic reports. A Conference Board report on consumer confidence was weaker than expected. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index fell in November from a year ago for the seventh straight month. The Chicago Purchasing Managers' January index was lower than expected as well.
Earnings from Exxon Mobil (XOM), United Parcel Service (UPS) and, especially, a preliminary earnings announcement from Radio Shack (RSH) disappointed. Radio Shack said sales of Sprint (S) phones were lower than expected.
Amazon.com seen making new investments
Amazon.com's fourth-quarter revenue of $17.4 billion missed analyst estimates by more than $780 million. In addition, the company said it could see a first-quarter operating loss.
The shortfalls are the result of huge investments in fulfillment centers to support its online retail business; content for video streaming and other media businesses; and technology infrastructure for its cloud computing service.
Shares fell more than 9% after hours but settled in with about an 8.7% loss to $177.50 after rising $2.29 to $194.44 in regular trading. With today's close, Amazon shares have fallen more than 21% as analysts and investors fret about the pace at which the company spends to get ahead.
The Internet retailer said it earned 38 cents a share in the fourth quarter, down from 91 cents a year ago. Analysts had expected 19 cents a share.
The revenue was a big problem -- $17.43 billion, up 35% from a year ago's $12.95 billion. But analysts had expected $18.21 billion.
It wasn't clear where the shortfall occurred. The mostly likely culprit was Europe. The company only reports North American and international sales. North American revenue was up 37% in the quarter; international revenue was up 31%. It's believed that German sales weren't as strong as expected.
Operating profit declined 4% in North America but 46% in its international business.
The company said sales of its Kindle tablet and e-reader devices tripled from a year ago.
The shares finished January up 12.3% for the month but may give back much of the gain on Wednesday.
The Dow finishes higher for fourth straight month
The Dow finished with a 3.4% gain for the month, with the S&P 500 up 4.4% and the Nasdaq up 8%.
Not only did the Dow enjoy its best January in 15 years, but it finished higher for the fourth month in a row. The S&P 500 was up for the second straight month and third in the last four. The Nasdaq's gain was its first after two small losses.
At the same time, today's selling of the Dow and S&P 500 should give pause. The Dow and S&P 500 finished lower for the fourth day in a row and have fallen five times in the last six sessions. The Nasdaq's gain was its fourth in six days. The S&P 500 looks like it has found near-term resistance at about 1,326.
Utilities and financials lead the market
Seven of the 10 sectors of the S&P 500 were higher today, led by utility, financial and technology stocks. Tech shares were helped by Apple (AAPL), which hit a new all-time high of $458.24. The shares pulled back to $456.48, up $3.47. Shares were slightly lower after hours.
American Express (AXP), United Technologies (UTX)and Bank of America (BAC) were the percentage leaders among the 30 Dow stocks.
IBM (IBM), Exxon and Caterpillar (CAT) subtracted nearly 53 points from the blue-chip index. Sixteen of the 30 Dow stocks were higher.
| Energy prices -- New York close | ||||||||||||
| Tues. | Mon. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |||||||||
| Crude oil (-CL) | $98.48 | $98.78 | -0.35% | -0.35% | ||||||||
| (per barrel) | ||||||||||||
| Heating oil (-HO) | $3.0628 | $3.0378 | 5.10% | 5.10% | ||||||||
| (per gallon) | ||||||||||||
| Natural gas (-NG) | $2.5030 | $2.7130 | -16.26% | -16.26% | ||||||||
| (per mil. BTU) | ||||||||||||
| Unleaded gasoline (-RB) | $2.8909 | $2.8727 | 8.79% | 8.79% | ||||||||
| (per gallon) | ||||||||||||
| Brent crude | $110.98 | $110.75 | 3.35% | 3.35% | ||||||||
| (per barrel) | ||||||||||||
| Retail gasoline | $3.4430 | $3.4290 | 5.32% | 5.32% | ||||||||
| (per gallon; AAA) | ||||||||||||
Crude oil and copper move lower
Crude oil (-CL) settled down 18 cents to $98.60 a barrel and helped push many energy stocks lower. Natural gas (-NG) fell to $2.517 per million British thermal units. That's a 7.2% decline.
For the month, crude oil in New York was down 0.4% for the month. Natural gas fell 16.3% because of the warm winter and a supply glut. But retail gasoline, measured by AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, was up 5.3% for the month.
In addition to Exxon's decline, Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) were lower. BP (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) were higher.
Gold (-GC) settled up $6.80 to $1,737.80 an ounce. Silver (-SI), however, was off 26.5 cents to $33.262 an ounce. Copper (-HG) dropped 9.75 cents to $3.79 a pound. Silver and copper were trading lower in electronic markets.
Gold was up 10.9% for the month, with silver up 19.2% and copper up 10.3%.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) finished up 11 cents to $46.21.
The dollar moved higher against the euro. Interest rates were lower. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.799% from Monday's 1.837%.
European stocks move higher, despite lack of a Greek deal
The reports offset relatively good news from Europe.
Twenty-five of 27 nations in the European Union agreed to strict fiscal controls that would include fines for missing deficit limits.
But Greece and its private bondholders still haven't completed negotiations for a debt restructuring. Stocks in Germany, France and the United Kingdom were higher.
Exxon Mobil earnings don't impress
Oil giant Exxon Mobil said profit rose 2% in the fourth quarter to $9.4 billion as crude prices climbed. The company said earnings rose 12 cents from a year ago to $1.97 a share, beating the average expectation of $1.95 a share, according to analysts. The company also said it completed a $5 billion share buyback during the quarter.
Revenue was $121.6 billion in the quarter, up 15.6% from a year ago but less than the consensus estimate of about $124.4 billion. Still, it was roughly the same as the gross domestic product of Vietnam. For the year revenue hit $486.4 billion, up 27% from 2010. The revenue is larger than the GDP of Argentina and smaller than the GDP of Belgium.
Shares were down $1.75 to $83.74 because of production declines in six continents. Fourth-quarter oil and natural-gas production fell 8.8%.
UPS sees softness in the global economy; Mattel boosts its dividend
United Parcel Service shares fell 50 cents to $75.65. The company reported record fourth-quarter results today. Holiday shipping helped boost sales. Revenue grew 6% to $14.2 billion in the quarter while earnings rose to $1.28 a share to exceed the average analyst estimate of $1.26 a share. The company said U.S. business was a touch stronger than international volume.
Toymaker Mattel (MAT) said revenue rose 1.4% in the fourth quarter to $2.15 billion. The maker of Barbie reported earnings of $1.07 a share to exceed estimates of $1 a share as worldwide sales grew 7% from the prior year. The toymaker also said it will increase its dividend by 35% to 31 cents a share. Shares jumped $1.47 to $31.
Eli Lilly (LLY) reported that fourth-quarter revenue sank after the drugmaker lost its patent on the schizophrenia drug Zyprexa. The company reported that profit slumped 27% to $858.2 million last quarter. Earnings slipped to 87 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 81 cents. But shares were up 49 cents to $39.74.
Drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) also reported revenue hurt by the loss of a patent, and shares fell 18 cents to $21.40. Profit slipped to $1.44 billion from $2.89 billion a year earlier after the company lost patent protection on its popular cholesterol drug Lipitor. The company reported earnings of 50 cents a share, beating the Street estimate by 3 cents.
Lousy news on home prices
Home prices fell for the third straight month in November in nearly all cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index. The declines show that most homeowners are not reaping the benefits from some signs of an improving housing market.
Prices dropped from October in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. The biggest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. Phoenix was the only city to show an increase. November's decline partly reflects the typical fall slowdown after the peak buying season.
Still, prices declined in 18 of the 20 cities compared with the same month in 2010. Only Washington and Detroit posted year-over-year increases. And prices have fallen 33% nationwide since the housing bust, to 2003 levels.
Separately, the Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. homeownership rate fell to 66.15% in 2011, the lowest level since 1997's 65.7%. The number got as high as 69% in 2006.
| Short hits from the markets -- New York close | ||||||||||||
| Tues. | Mon. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |||||||||
| Treasury yields | ||||||||||||
| 13-week Treasury bill | 0.0500% | 0.050% | 400.00% | 400.00% | ||||||||
| 5-year Treasury note | 0.711% | 0.732% | -14.34% | -14.34% | ||||||||
| 10-year Treasury note | 1.799% | 1.837% | -3.85% | -3.85% | ||||||||
| 30-year Treasury bond | 2.934% | 2.983% | 1.56% | 1.56% | ||||||||
| Currencies | ||||||||||||
| U.S. Dollar Index | 79.417 | 79.302 | -1.37% | -1.37% | ||||||||
| British pound | 1.5788 | 1.5716 | 1.61% | 1.61% | ||||||||
| (in U.S. $) | ||||||||||||
| U.S. $ in pounds | £0.633 | £0.636 | -1.58% | -1.58% | ||||||||
| Euro in dollars | $1.31 | $1.31 | 1.42% | 1.42% | ||||||||
| (in U.S. $) | ||||||||||||
| U.S. $ in euros | € 0.761 | € 0.761 | -1.40% | -1.40% | ||||||||
| U.S. $ in yen | 76.45 | 76.37 | -0.84% | -0.84% | ||||||||
| U.S. $ in Chinese | 6.33 | 6.31 | 0.03% | 0.03% | ||||||||
| yuan | ||||||||||||
| Canada dollar | $1.001 | $1.002 | 2.06% | 2.06% | ||||||||
| (in U.S. $) | ||||||||||||
| U.S. dollar | $0.999 | $1.002 | -2.03% | -2.03% | ||||||||
| (in Canadian $) | ||||||||||||
| Commodities | ||||||||||||
| Gold (-GC) | $1,737.80 | $1,731.00 | 10.91% | 10.91% | ||||||||
| (per troy ounce) | ||||||||||||
| Copper (-HG) | $3.790 | $3.827 | 10.30% | 10.30% | ||||||||
| (per pound) | ||||||||||||
| Silver (-SI) | $33.2620 | $33.5270 | 19.15% | 19.15% | ||||||||
| (per troy ounce) | ||||||||||||
| Wheat (-ZW) | $6.6600 | $6.4475 | 2.03% | 2.03% | ||||||||
| (per bushel) | ||||||||||||
| Corn (-ZC) | $6.3900 | $6.318 | -1.16% | -1.16% | ||||||||
| (per bushel) | ||||||||||||
| Cotton | $0.9451 | 0.9487 | 3.09% | 3.09% | ||||||||
| (per pound) | ||||||||||||
| Coffee | $2.1800 | 2.1945 | -5.07% | -5.07% | ||||||||
| (per pound) | ||||||||||||
| Crude oil (-CL) | $98.48 | $98.78 | -0.35% | -0.35% | ||||||||
| (per barrel) | ||||||||||||
TRUTH !!!!! SOME ONE TELL US THE TRUTH FOR ONCE!!!!!!! Hard to do when they don't know it themselves!!!!! This is what happens when you live in a house of cards pretty soon it falls.
Who will they blame next?? first it was the workers were over paid - They fixed that by sending jobs out ? next materials were to high answerer buy overseas- we get harmful chemicals in everything!!!!!!! Then we are told buy American- then our own military buys from china, brazil an god only knows who or what else WHY?? BECAUSE they say we don't have the capabilities to manufacture it our selves!!!!!!!! REASON- KICK BACKS are easier to cover up at all levels if any one opens their mouth the disappear .
Besides that they already shut down our manufacturing end of the economy. Now our abilities to do the job will need to be relearned, to ever get us back to the level we were at an higher. OUR LEADERS PAST AN PRESENT ARE TOTALLY TO BLAME ALONG WITH CORPORATIONS ALL FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR THEY TREAT AS THEIR GOD!!!
Heard a Big Oil Executive talk about taxing during a Congressional hearing some time ago and his answer was plain and simple" Tax us if you like and you will be begging for $5.00 a gallon gas because we will pass it on to the consumer.
Careful what you wish for because they have US by the balls!!!!!!!!!! And politicians by the wallet!!!
"Home prices fell for a third straight month in November in nearly all cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index. The declines show that most homeowners are not reaping the benefits from some signs of an improving housing market"
So what are the "signs" of an improving market? Some bullsh*t lies made up the the National Association of Realtors who wants potential home buyers to thing everything is wonderful? To buy in todays market you need to get the house at least 15-20% below the fair market value asking price just to "maybe" break even when you go to sell especially since you need to factor in a real estate commission of 5-7% etc. Your house is a place to live...period and is not the hyped up investment from years past. Secondly..you house is only worth what you can sell it for at that point in time.
If Canada wants to export their oil, why don't they simply build a pipe to the Hudson bay, it's about a fifth of the distance and we don't have to be involved. A three thousand mile pipe line makes no sense, we have lots of mid west refineries this oil can go to if they want to sell to us, Oklahoma has at least 13 refineries. Something is wrong with the whole XL scheme.
Hey Truthseeker,
Just like a script, the markets erased all of it's ealier losses! It's onIy 3:30 but I'm sure it will hold. Guess today'sdata doesn't matter. The only thing the market sees is the fed will come to the rescue, again. My question is how long can they do this, eventually the "medicine" will become the poison. We'll have to wait and see.
Weak Stocks, weak economy, now consider buying stock in the food industry as Michelle Ombama just instituted new nutrional rules.
Now this is what I think about it and agree with Dave Blumer (article writer):
New nutrition standards? The old ones were not working the way the food police wanted them to work so here comes another round. Don't get me wrong folks, I am FOR everyone eating healthy. What I am unalterably opposed to is the government sticking its big fat nose and butt into another aspect of our lives. The next thing we see will probably be deputy Federal Marshalls or Tsars in every school lunch room enforcing the new standards. Once you allow the government in, there is usually no reversing it. They tell us that this is for the good of the kids. since when does the federal government trump mom and dad?
Home prices drop to 2003 levels.
But has property taxes fallen as well to 2003 levels or is the home owner still paying for bubble appraisal evaluation of 2007? If the housing values continue to fall .. at some point homeowners simply walk away from the house and leave the tax bill to the bankers. And if Freddy and Fanny own 90% of the home loans .. who ends up paying property taxes on a vacant house?Headline:
"When the World Ends, None of You are Invited to the Party (I want Sofia Vergara all to myself) "
Hey Truthseeker,
Talk to CGTI, he thinks the manipulators push the markets down. As he calls them, "scum bags".
I'm in your camp, the fed and the primary dealers are in total control of the markets propping them up with loads of liquidity, they are the ones that will determine the market's direction. Take a look at the news recently...GPD miss, Consumer confidence miss, Chicago Purchasing Managers miss, alot of earnings misses. And Europe hasn't solved anything. It's truly amazing the market is where it is.
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[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 ended this week with a bang, roaring to a new all-time high on the back of stronger-than-expected economic data, influential leadership, and an ongoing appreciation for the Fed's monetary policy support.
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