Portfolio Crafter
12-05-2006, 05:09 AM
End of Day Market Summary Monday 12/4/2006
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Stocks closed higher as positive momentum from a flurry of mergers, including a mega deal in the banking sector, offset bad news for Pfizer Inc. The S&P 500 touched a fresh six-year high, as investors welcomed a slump in oil prices.
Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 89.72 or 0.74% to 12,283.85, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 closed up 12.41 or 0.89% to 1,409.12, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq closed up 35.18 or 1.46% to 2,448.39.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by 25 to 7 on volume of nearly 1.39 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers trounced decliners by 20 to 9 on volume of almost 1.99 billion shares.
Stocks appeared to be recharged today, at the start of what is often a good month on Wall Street. As long as there are no major shocks through the end of the year, the upward trend should continue. The market is running on momentum and the M&A news. However, the market does seem overextended in the short term.
Stock of Bank of New York closed up $4.27 or 12% to $39.75, and Melon Bank closed up $2.73 or 6.8% to $42.78, after announcing a $16.5 billion deal the companies are calling a merger of equals. Bank of New York Co. agreed to buy Mellon Financial Corp., for $16.5 billion, creating a powerhouse in securities servicing and asset management. The new company will be called the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Following the merger, Bank of New York will own 63% of the combined company and hold 10 of the 18 board seats.
Shares of Station Casions closed up $15.80 or 23% to $84.90, after it received a management-led buyout offer to go private. The deal values the company at $82 per share, or $5.15 billion. The offer is from Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, an entity that includes Station's chairman and president.
Poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp rose 10%, after agreeing to acquire Gold Kist Inc. for about $1.1 billion and $144 million in debt. This would create a company with a larger share of the poultry market than industry leader Tyson Foods Inc. The deal, for $21 a share in cash, represents a 62% premium over Gold Kist's closing stock price on Aug. 18.
Shares of Pfizer closed down $2.96 or 11.5% to $24.90, on news that it has halted development of a once-promising cholesterol drug due to safety concerns. Investors worried what the company would do to replace the successor to its best-selling cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor. The company has halting all clinical development for torcetrapib, after independent safety monitors determined there was unexpectedly high death rate during a key clinical trial. Some analysts had estimated torcetrapib could be on the market by late 2008.
U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell 99 cents to settle at $62.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The president of the OPEC said that supplies continue to outpace demand, despite recent efforts by the oil cartel to cut production.
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by Portfolio Crafter (http://www.portfoliocrafter.com?a_aid=fiasco)
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Stocks closed higher as positive momentum from a flurry of mergers, including a mega deal in the banking sector, offset bad news for Pfizer Inc. The S&P 500 touched a fresh six-year high, as investors welcomed a slump in oil prices.
Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 89.72 or 0.74% to 12,283.85, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 closed up 12.41 or 0.89% to 1,409.12, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq closed up 35.18 or 1.46% to 2,448.39.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by 25 to 7 on volume of nearly 1.39 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers trounced decliners by 20 to 9 on volume of almost 1.99 billion shares.
Stocks appeared to be recharged today, at the start of what is often a good month on Wall Street. As long as there are no major shocks through the end of the year, the upward trend should continue. The market is running on momentum and the M&A news. However, the market does seem overextended in the short term.
Stock of Bank of New York closed up $4.27 or 12% to $39.75, and Melon Bank closed up $2.73 or 6.8% to $42.78, after announcing a $16.5 billion deal the companies are calling a merger of equals. Bank of New York Co. agreed to buy Mellon Financial Corp., for $16.5 billion, creating a powerhouse in securities servicing and asset management. The new company will be called the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Following the merger, Bank of New York will own 63% of the combined company and hold 10 of the 18 board seats.
Shares of Station Casions closed up $15.80 or 23% to $84.90, after it received a management-led buyout offer to go private. The deal values the company at $82 per share, or $5.15 billion. The offer is from Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, an entity that includes Station's chairman and president.
Poultry producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp rose 10%, after agreeing to acquire Gold Kist Inc. for about $1.1 billion and $144 million in debt. This would create a company with a larger share of the poultry market than industry leader Tyson Foods Inc. The deal, for $21 a share in cash, represents a 62% premium over Gold Kist's closing stock price on Aug. 18.
Shares of Pfizer closed down $2.96 or 11.5% to $24.90, on news that it has halted development of a once-promising cholesterol drug due to safety concerns. Investors worried what the company would do to replace the successor to its best-selling cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor. The company has halting all clinical development for torcetrapib, after independent safety monitors determined there was unexpectedly high death rate during a key clinical trial. Some analysts had estimated torcetrapib could be on the market by late 2008.
U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell 99 cents to settle at $62.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The president of the OPEC said that supplies continue to outpace demand, despite recent efforts by the oil cartel to cut production.
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