Daily Wrap
DJIA +21.05 (+0.14%) to 14,839.80; S&P 500 +3.96 (+0.25%) to 1,597.57; NASDAQ +20.49 (+0.71%) to 2,887.44
Today saw some jockeying for position by the indices as they started the day moving lower and then recovered to close slightly up for the session. In economic news the Case/Shiller index rose 1.2% from the previous month’s reading and topped estimates with a 9.3% vs 9.1% estimate. Chicago PMI on the other hand fell short of estimates recording a 49 vs 52.5 estimate. Consumer confidence came in mainly inline with a 68.1 vs 68.4 estimate.
Before the open, Pfizer (PFE) reported earnings which missed on both revenues ($13.5B vs $14B) and EPS (54c vs 56c) for the quarter as well as then lowered full year 2013 guidance from $2.20-2.30 to $2.14-2.24 and from $56.2-58.2 to $55.3B-57.3B. PFE closed down X% for the day but did manage to hold the 50 day SMA which could provide support. If lost then PFE might not see any additional support until another point or more lower. Merck (MRK) was down X% today in sympathy but will have an opportunity to chart their own course with an earnings report of their own tomorrow before the open.
Other notable names moving on their earnings report included Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Cummins (CMI) which lost X% and X% respectively on their reports.
Another big name making news was International Business Machines (IBM). Not based earnings as they already reported earlier in the month and gaped lower after disappointing the street but instead on news of an approved additional stock buy back of $5B and a raising of the quarterly divided to 95c a share. IBM is closing the recent gap left after their disappointing earnings report and now isn’t a far cry from regaining the entire drop.
Best Buy (BBY) closed up X% after not only receiving an upgrade at Deutsche Bank and a price target raise (to $31) at RBC Capital but also on the news that they have agreed to sell its 50% stake of Best Buy Europe to British retailer Carphone Warehouse for $775M.
The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: MRK, CMCSA, CVS, MA, TWX, PSX, AGN, AMT, EXC, VIAB, ICE, HUM, CLX
In analyst notes today, besides the aforementioned BBY upgrade we saw Deutsche Bank (DB) receive multiple upgrades after reporting earnings after the close last night and maybe more importantly a capital raise (EUR 2.8B). Also receiving upgrades included Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Sina (SINA) both to Buy. Buenaventura (BVN), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Garmin (GRMN) and PulteGroup (PHM) all received downgrades on the day. Some of these and other upgrades and downgrades for the day can be found each morning when I post my 9 @ 9 in the Upgrades/Downgrades section.