The S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index (the 20-City Composite) rose 0.5% year over year in June, up 2.3% versus May and posted a quarter over quarter gain of 6.0%. The Conference Board’s reading on Consumer Confidence fell to 60.6 in August versus 65.9 in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower trading down to 13,081.12 then rebounded to 13,147.32. The NASDAQ opened lower trading down to 3063.65 then rebounded to 3083.19.
Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 ended the day at 9,033 – down 0.57%. The Hang Seng ended the day at 19,812 – up 0.07%. European exchanges traded lower on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 ended the day at 5,776 – down 0.02%. The DAX ended the day at 7,003 – down 0.64%. The CAC 40 ended the day at 3,432 – down 0.90%. The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury note traded lower from 1.657% to 1.615% versus the five-week modified moving average at 1.649%.
Gold traded down from $1670.0 the Troy ounce to $1659.1, then rebounded to $1674.9 staying above the 200-day simple moving average at $1647.6. Crude oil traded between $95.14 and $96.54 per barrel with the 200-day simple moving average at $96.73. The euro versus the dollar rebounded from 1.2468 to 1.2575 above its 50-day simple moving average at 1.2368.
Energy
In preparation for Hurricane Isaac, refineries in The Gulf of Mexico have shut down, adding to the closure of crude and gas wells in the Gulf, while airlines have been cancelling flights. Landfall is expected to be today or tomorrow, on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Gazprom (OGZPY) is cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. Pioneer Southwest Energy (PSE) is now Sell from Neutral at UBS.
Dow components – Chevron (CVX) up 0.49%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) up 0.27%.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $72.08 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, up 0.08% on the day – up 4.25% year-to-date.
Materials
Mosaic (MOS) is a new Neutral at Piper Jaffray. Minerals Technologies (MTX) is moved to Overweight from Equal Weight at First Analysis. AK Steel (AKS) is now Sell from Neutral at UBS. PetroLogistics (PDH) is now Neutral from Buy at Citi.
Big Movers – Molycorp (MCP) up 12.61%.
Dow Components – Alcoa (AA) up 0.24%, DuPont (DD) down 0.39%.
The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $35.59 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.11% on the day – up 6.24% year-to-date.
Industrials
Airbus (EADSF) has beaten Boeing (BA) to a $7B booking from Philippine Airlines, which ordered 10 long-haul A330-300 jets and 44 A321 planes. American Science & Engineering (ASEI) is boosted to Buy from Hold at Benchmark. China Southern Airlines (ZNH) is now Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.
Dow components – Boeing Co (BA) up 0.34%, Caterpillar (CAT) down 0.60%, General Electric (GE) down 0.05%, 3M Company (MMM) down 0.14%, United Technologies (UTX) up 0.17%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $36.50 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.27% on the day – up 8.15% year-to-date.
Consumer Discretionary
General Motors (GM) is reportedly set to halt the manufacturing of the Chevrolet Volt, at least temporarily, following disappointing sales. Sales of the Volt haven’t met management expectations, reaching just over 10,000 in the U.S. versus expectations of 45,000 through the year-end. Ford (F) is struggling in Europe, particularly with high labor costs at its decades-old factories. At Saarlouis in Germany, Ford pays workers €480 to make each Focus compact, whereas Hyundai pays €207 for the i30 at a four year old Czech plant. Brown Shoe (BWS) beat estimates by 13 cents, while missing estimates by $7M. Revenue is up 1.6% to $350.3M, as gross margin increased 140 bps to 39.0%. The company adjusted its 2012 EPS outlook to $0.85-$0.95 vs. $0.83-$0.95 previous and $0.89 consensus. Movado Group (MOV) beat estimates by 14 cents, while missing revenue by $4M. Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) beat estimates by 5 cents with revenue in-line with estimates. The company lifted its FY12 guidance, now expecting an EPS of between $6.25 to $6.32, versus estimates for $6.23 per share. Crédit Agricole establishes Ford (F) at Outperform but only assigns rival General Motors (GM) an Underperform. Brean Murray begins Hold rated coverage on Ameristar Casinos (ASCA), Boyd Gaming (BYD), Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE), and MGM Resorts (MGM). It begins Buys on Full House Resorts (FLL), Penn National Gaming (PENN), and Shuffle Master (SHFL). Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group (DFRG) is initiated with an Outperform at Raymond James. Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) is initiated with an Outperform by Barrington. Sally Beauty (SBH) is initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan.
Big Movers – Movado Group (MOV) up 17.40%.
Dow Components – Disney (DIS) down 0.04%, Home Depot (HD) up 0.12%, McDonalds (MCD) down 0.41%.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $45.42 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, up 0.26% on the day – up 16.40% year-to-date.
Consumer Staples
Sanderson Farms (SAFM) beat estimates by 5 cents and revenue by $5M. Henkel (HENKY) is upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Dow components – Kraft (KFT) up 0.43%, Coca Cola (KO) down 0.50%, Procter & Gamble (PG) down 0.11%, Wal-Mart (WMT) up 0.15%.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $35.721 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, up 0.20% on the day – up 9.94% year-to-date.
Health Care
AstraZeneca (AZN) has named Roche (RHHBY) executive Pascal Soriot as its new CEO to replace David Brennan, who retired on June 1. Interim AstraZeneca CEO Simon Lowth will resume his position as CFO. The FDA has approved Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) StribildT drug for treating HIV. The drug – once referred to as the “Quad” – simplifies therapy by combining four compounds into a once daily tablet. Globus Medical (GMED) is begun with a Buy at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Laboratory Corp (LH) is launched with a Hold at WallachBeth. Quest Diagnostics (DGX) is a new Hold at WallachBeth. Eli Lilly (LLY) is upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Atlantic Equities. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is now Neutral from Buy at UBS. Pharmacyclics (PCYC) is reduced to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital.
Big Movers – Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) up 23.05%.
Dow Components – Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) up 0.04%, Merck (MRK) down 0.58%, Pfizer (PFE) up 0.04%.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $38.76 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.05% on the day – up 11.73% year-to-date.
Financial
Assured Guaranty (AGO) is covered with a Market Perform rating at Keefe Bruyette. Stifel Nicolaus has Holds on Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD). Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) is upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at RBC Capital. Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK) is downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim after yesterday’s purchase by M&T Bank (MTB).
Dow Components – American Express (AXP) up 0.35%, Bank of America (BAC) down 0.74%, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) down 0.19%, Travelers (TRV) down 0.05%.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $15.12 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, unchanged on the day – up 16.31% year-to-date.
Information Technology
Samsung (SSNLF) “will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of our products in the U.S.,” the company said today in response to Apple’s (AAPL) request to ban U.S. sales of eight of the South Korean firm’s phones. Lexmark (LXK) intends stop manufacturing inkjet hardware and sell its related technologies in a restructuring that will result in 1,700 job cuts. Lexmark will instead focus “on higher value imaging and software.” The company’s exit from inkjet comes as H-P’s (HPQ) printing business suffers as well. Perfect World (PWRD) missed estimates by 7 cents and revenue by $1.6M. The company expects Q3 revenue of RMB643M-RMB676M ($100.9M-$106.1M), below a consensus of $120M. Cypress Semiconductor (CY) is stared with a Hold at Feltl. Freescale Semiconductor (FSL) is a new Neutral at UBS. Amphenol (APH) is moved to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Kenexa (KNXA) is cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse after being bought by International Business Machines (IBM). ASML Holding (ASML) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) are each taken to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Big Movers – Lexmark (LXK) up 17.10%. Dow Components – Cisco Systems (CSCO) down 0.49%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down 1.92%, IBM (IBM) down 0.26%, Intel Corp (INTC) up 0.17%, Microsoft (MSFT) down 0.03%.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $30.565 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.11% on the day – up 20.04% year-to-date.
Telecommunication Services
Dow Components – AT&T (T) down 0.29%, Verizon (VZ) down 0.02%.
The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $197.22 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.04% on the day – up 0.15% year-to-date.
Utilities
Dominion Resources (D) down 0.30%, Edison International (EIX) down 0.78%, First Energy (FE) up down 0.52%, PG&E Corp (PCG) up 0.20%, Southern Company (SO) down 0.49%.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $36.62 at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, down 0.22% on the day – up 1.81% year-to-date.
STOCKS: CVX, XOM, AA, DD, BA, CAT, GE, MMM, UTX, DIS, HD, MCD, KFT, KO, PG, WMT, JNJ, MRK, PFE, AXP, BAC, JPM, TRV, CSCO, HPQ, IBM, INTC, MSFT, T, VZ, D, EIX, FE, PCG, SO, OGZPY, PSE, MOS, MTX, AKS, PDH, MCP, EADSF, BA, ASEI, ZNH, GM, F, BWS, MOV, PVH, ASCA, BYD, ISLE, MGM, FLL, PENN, SHFL, DFRG, LGF, SBH, MOV, SAFM, HENKY, AZN, RHHBY, GILD, GMED, LH, DGX, LLY, GSK, PCYC, PPHM, AGO, BMO, BNS, CM, TD, HCBK, MTB, SSNLF, AAPL, LXK, HPQ, PWRD, CY, FSL, APH, KNXA, IBM, ASML, LKAC
