Week in Review
DJIA +35.87 (+0.24%) to 15,118.49; S&P 500 +7.03 (+0.43%) to 1,633.70; NASDAQ +19.90 (+0.67%) to 2,981.02
Friday was a very choppy trading session which sent the index bouncing around and when it looked like it could possible be setting up for a late day sell-off ended up instead closing near highs for the day. In economic news the calendar was light but had a great deal of Fed speak throughout the day including Chairman Bernanke right near the open.
The Dell (DELL) going private saga continued where two large DELL investors, Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, advised that they will not be voting for Michael Dell’s offer and instead provided their own offer which gives investors $12 per share cash but then leaves a portion still trading so investors can benefit from the upside in the company. At first I didn’t really think the Icahn option would be an option but I think investors might be willing to take slightly less cash to have the equity kicker and the promise of what the company could become.
Also in merger news, Actavis (ACT) and Warner Chilcott (WCRX) confirmed that they are in initial talks to possibly merge and True Religion (TRLG) closed up over 8% on news they agreed to be taken private for $32 per share.
Moving on earnings included Restoration Hardware (RH) which closed up nearly 19%. RH didn’t actually report earnings but raised Q1 guidance to 2-4c from a consensus estimate of (3c). On the flip side, Optimer (OPTR) closed down over 14% after the earnings came in worse than expected.
In other news, Pain Therapeutics (PTIE) had a rough day closing down nearly 50% as Pfizer (PFE) noted that the FDA would likely need more clinical trials on the drug they are in partnership with PTIE on and that they need to revisit the terms of the contract.
In analyst notes today, SINA (SINA) was upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs with a $67 price target. BT Group (BT) was upgraded to Buy at Bank of America?Merrill and Red Robin (RRGB) was upgraded to Buy at Northcoast. On the downside Cablevision (CVC) was downgraded to Neutral at Citigroup and Dendreon (DNDN) was downgraded to Sell at Citigroup.. 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.
Week in Review:
Monday overall was a tight trading boring day with the Nasdaq leading and the S&P up a few points and the Dow down a few. Stock news started with a Merger as BMC Software (BMC) was purchased for $46.25/share by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital. Standard & Poor’s announced Macerich (MAC) will be replacing Coventry Health Care (CVH) in the S&P 500. In analysts noted, big name Intel (INTC) received an upgrade to Outperform at RBC Capital with a $29 price target.
Tuesday represented another example of the Bulls unwillingness to yield and as a pretty stretched market moved higher in the morning and then started to sell off, the buyers stepped back in and closed the S&P 500 higher for the day. Electronic Arts (EA) announced a deal with Disney (DIS) to partner on Star Wars video games and both names were set to announce earnings after the close. A few names getting upgrades to Buy including Brunswick (BC), Tyson Foods (TSN) and EOG Resources (EOG) which Stifel gave a $150 price target.
Wednesday the market was able to again grind higher just ahead of the Week’s Unemployment claims which I showed estimates at 333K which would be solid following on the previous week’s 324K. Whole Foods Market (WFM) gained over 10% on their earnings. JC Penny (JCP) ran over 7% after same-store-sales that was bad but obviously not as bad as feared and will announce EPS on 5/13. I noted an interesting comment I saw this week was from Morgan Stanley who put a $7 price target on JCP which closed the week at $17.72 up just over 2%. Big winner for the day was Dex Media (DXM) off positive comments from Kyle Bass at the Sohn Investing Conference. In analyst notes, ValueClick (VCLK) received multiple downgrades after a lack luster earnings report.
Thursday’s trading was very interesting which saw another solid Unemployment claims number that came in at 323K, 10K below the consensus estimates and 1K lower than the previous month’s number. Also on Thursday’s plat was a rumor of an article being written by a Fed insider that QE will be ending. This initially sent the markets stumbling lower but later seemed to be dismissed. Tesla (TSLA) beat earnings estimates after the closed and then to build on that positive momentum they received the highest score from consumer reports ever given, a 99 out of 100. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) moved over 27% on a solid earnings report and guidance. TechCrunch reported that Microsoft (MSFT) might be interested in purchasing the the digital assets of Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) Nook Media for $1B. In analyst notes Deutsche Bank was active including an upgrade to Buy for Fluor (FLR) with an $84 price target.
As always you can visit the Event’s Calendar for the release of economic data, scheduled meetings and other news that could move the market.
Major averages 5 day results:
Dow Jones Industrial:
S&P 500:
Nasdaq:
