Portfolio Crafter
10-26-2007, 07:15 PM
End of Day Market Summary - Friday, October 26, 2007
by Portfolio Crafter (http://www.wealthpire.com/cmd.php?Clk=1838416)
Stocks rallied and posted solid weekly gains, with technology stocks leading the charge after Microsoft Corp.'s earnings blew past analysts' estimates while raised forecasts from Countrywide Financial Corp. helped soothe concerns about bad home loans. Optimistic outlook overshadowed any potential worries about a plunging dollar and surging oil and gold prices. Investors also looked positively for the coming week, with firm expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 134.78 or 0.99% to 13,806.70, the broader S&P 500 closed up 20.88 or 1.38% to 1,535.28, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite closed up 53.33 or 1.94% to 2,804.19. For the week, the Dow gained 2.1%, the S&P rose 2.3%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.9%
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers almost 23 to 8 on volume of nearly 1.4 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by 19 to 10 on volume of 2.5 billion shares.
Strong earnings report and forecast from Microsoft helped fire up stocks, with Countrywide's forecast adding to the day's positive corporate outlook. The market is very dependent on the day-to-day news for direction. Investors were also looking to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve. They hope that the rate cut will loosen up the near-frozen credit market, and to protect the economy from slowing down too much in the wake of the housing market collapse. If the Fed doesn't cut rates by at least a quarter-percentage point, stocks could see a big sell off.
With 56% of the S&P 500 having reported September-quarter results, earnings growth is currently on track to have fallen 1% from a year ago. That's a blended figure, combining reported and expected results, and makes the third quarter the worst for earnings growth in at least 5 years. The University of Michigan's October consumer sentiment index was revised down to 80.9 from a previous read of 82.
Shares of Microsoft closed up $3.04 or 9.50% to $35.03, after reporting quarterly sales and earnings that beat analysts estimates, citing robust demand for its Vista operating system as well as its top-selling new video game "Halo 3." It reported a net profit of $4.29 billion, up 23% from the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 27% in the quarter, to $13.76 billion, well ahead of analysts' expectations of $12.57 billion.
Stock of Countrywide Financial closed up $4.23 or 32.36% to $17.30, after reporting a staggering $1.2 billion third-quarter loss that was worse than what analysts were expecting. Its net loss came to $2.85 a share, against the forecast loss of $1.28 a share.
Shares of Merrill Lynch closed up $5.19 or 8.52% to $66.09, on reporting that CEO Stanley O'Neal, could be forced to resign after the bank took a $7.9 billion write down in the third quarter, related to bad mortgage investments. The speculation mounted after O'Neal approached Wachovia about a merger without consulting Merrill's board, as the company faced billions of dollars in mortgage losses.
U.S. light crude oil for December delivery rose 64 cents to $91.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude reached a record $92.22 in Asia trading overnight.
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by Portfolio Crafter (http://www.wealthpire.com/cmd.php?Clk=1838416)
Stocks rallied and posted solid weekly gains, with technology stocks leading the charge after Microsoft Corp.'s earnings blew past analysts' estimates while raised forecasts from Countrywide Financial Corp. helped soothe concerns about bad home loans. Optimistic outlook overshadowed any potential worries about a plunging dollar and surging oil and gold prices. Investors also looked positively for the coming week, with firm expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 134.78 or 0.99% to 13,806.70, the broader S&P 500 closed up 20.88 or 1.38% to 1,535.28, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite closed up 53.33 or 1.94% to 2,804.19. For the week, the Dow gained 2.1%, the S&P rose 2.3%, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.9%
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers almost 23 to 8 on volume of nearly 1.4 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by 19 to 10 on volume of 2.5 billion shares.
Strong earnings report and forecast from Microsoft helped fire up stocks, with Countrywide's forecast adding to the day's positive corporate outlook. The market is very dependent on the day-to-day news for direction. Investors were also looking to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve. They hope that the rate cut will loosen up the near-frozen credit market, and to protect the economy from slowing down too much in the wake of the housing market collapse. If the Fed doesn't cut rates by at least a quarter-percentage point, stocks could see a big sell off.
With 56% of the S&P 500 having reported September-quarter results, earnings growth is currently on track to have fallen 1% from a year ago. That's a blended figure, combining reported and expected results, and makes the third quarter the worst for earnings growth in at least 5 years. The University of Michigan's October consumer sentiment index was revised down to 80.9 from a previous read of 82.
Shares of Microsoft closed up $3.04 or 9.50% to $35.03, after reporting quarterly sales and earnings that beat analysts estimates, citing robust demand for its Vista operating system as well as its top-selling new video game "Halo 3." It reported a net profit of $4.29 billion, up 23% from the same quarter last year. Revenue rose 27% in the quarter, to $13.76 billion, well ahead of analysts' expectations of $12.57 billion.
Stock of Countrywide Financial closed up $4.23 or 32.36% to $17.30, after reporting a staggering $1.2 billion third-quarter loss that was worse than what analysts were expecting. Its net loss came to $2.85 a share, against the forecast loss of $1.28 a share.
Shares of Merrill Lynch closed up $5.19 or 8.52% to $66.09, on reporting that CEO Stanley O'Neal, could be forced to resign after the bank took a $7.9 billion write down in the third quarter, related to bad mortgage investments. The speculation mounted after O'Neal approached Wachovia about a merger without consulting Merrill's board, as the company faced billions of dollars in mortgage losses.
U.S. light crude oil for December delivery rose 64 cents to $91.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude reached a record $92.22 in Asia trading overnight.
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