The U.S. stock market is trading flat mostly today despite promising news from the housing sector and better-than-expected first quarter results from industry leaders like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). The Federal Reserve proposed new lending standards as well, which would require lenders to “make sure that prospective buyers have the ability to repay their mortgages before giving them a loan.” What a novel idea. Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, announced that revenue rose 3.5 percent, beating expectations. The company’s profit dropped year-over-year, but only because of a large accounting gain from the previous year.
Major U.S. Stock Indices
DJIA: 12,220.63 (+0.16 percent)
S&P 500: 1,306.30 (+0.09 percent)
Nasdaq: 2,730.81 (-0.17 percent)
Russell 2000: 819.42 (-0.25 percent)
In other news:
- A day after Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook on the U.S. government credit rating, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner does some damage control. [NY Times]
- The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: NYX) won’t shake off Nasdaq OMX (NASDAQ: NDAQ) and the InterContinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) that easily. Nasdaq and ICE upped their offer to represent a 21 percent premium on the current NYX stock price. [Marketwatch]
- Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) outperformed Wall Street expectations, but the buyout of Warren Buffett/Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK.A) stake in the company certainly stung. [WSJ]
- The case for raising key U.S. interest rates. Probably won’t happen since the Fed still doesn’t think inflation is a concern. [Fortune]
Check back as more news develops.
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