Daily Market Summary 11/17/06

[Portfolio Crafter]

End of Day Market Summary Friday 11/17/2006
by Portfolio Crafter
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Stocks closed mixed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its winning streak to a sixth session and set yet another record high, bolstered by a continued slide in crude-oil prices. The S&P 500 finished above 1,400 for the first time in more than six years.

Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 36.74 or 0.30% to 12,342.56, the broader S&P 500 index closed up 1.44 or 0.10% to 1,401. 20, and the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite index closed down 3.20 or 0. 13% to 2,445.86. For the week, the Dow rose 1.9%, the S&P was up 1.5%, and the Nasdaq added 2.3%.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners edged out advancers 17 to 15 on volume of about 1.698 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, losers topped winners by about 17 to 12 on volume of 1.772 billion shares.

A big drop in housing unnerved investors. However, the consumer sector got a boost from Altria and falling oil prices. Housing starts slumped 14.6% in October to a 6-1/2 year low, while building permits fell to the lowest pace in 9 years. This was much larger than expected by Wall Street economists, who forecast a 4.5% drop in starts and a marginal drop in permits.

Stock of Altira closed up $1.44 or 2% to $85.01, after a U.S. Appeals Court decided to grant a permanent stay in the class action suit against light cigarettes. The court has decided to review a lower court ruling that let a $200 billion lawsuit filed by "light" cigarette smokers.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard closed down $0.36 to $39.77, despite reporting higher earnings and revenue that topped forecasts, and offered a bullish outlook for the current period. Its net income rose to $1.7 billion, up four-fold from the year-earlier period when the company took a hefty restructuring charge. Its sales rose 7% to $24.6 billion during the quarter, above the expected $24.1 billion.

Shares of Starbucks closed down $2.01 or 5% to $37.42, after it reported lower profits and issued a sales and earnings forecast in a range that could miss analysts' expectations. Net income for the fiscal fourth quarter was $117.3 million, compared with $123.7 million a year ago. Total revenue jumped 20.7% to $2.003 billion but fell short of the forecast of $2.01 billion.

Stock of Johnson & Johnson closed up $0.71 or 1% to $67.24, on announcing that it would buy Conor Medsystems for around $1.4 billion in cash. Shares of Conor closed up $5.16 or 19% to $32.68. It will pay $33.50 for each share of Conor that makes drug-eluting stents used to keep blocked arteries open.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery fell 45 cents to $55.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting a 17- month trading low of $55.08 earlier in the session.

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