Initial Jobless Claims came in at 403,000 still well above the 350,000 recessionary threshold. Existing Home Sales fell 3.0% in September to an annual rate of 4.91 million, with 30% of sales being distressed properties. Leading Indicators rose 0.2% in September. The Philly Fed Index came in with a stronger than expected reading of +8.7. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up from 11,483.36 to 11,566.99 then fell to 11,391.14 before rising to a day’s high above 11,580 in afternoon trading. The NASDAQ traded down from 2605.53 to 2557.17 before rebounding to a day’s high above 2605 in afternoon trading.
Asian stocks slumped on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 lost 1.03% to 8,682 with the Hang Seng down 1.78% to 17,983. European stocks declined on Thursday on doubts concerning the Euro zone rescue plans. The FTSE 100 lost 1.20% to 5,385 with the DAX down 2.49% to 5,766 and the CAC 40 slumping by 2.32% to 3,084. The US Treasury 10-Year yield traded back and forth between 2.111 percent and 2.207 staying above its 50-day simple moving average at 2.060. Gold traded down from $1646.5 the Troy ounce to $1604.7 on Thursday then consolidated. Crude oil traded back and forth between $84.22 per barrel and $87.12 versus its 50-day simple moving average at $85.18 and its 200-week simple moving average at $83.54. The euro versus the dollar traded back and forth between 1.3660 and 1.3839 on Thursday.
Energy
Continental Resources (CLR) is a new Hold and $64.50 price objective at Imperial Capital. Unit (UNT) gets begun with a Buy and $75 target price at C.K. Cooper. Anadarko Petroleum (APC) is started with a Hold at Stifel Nicolaus. Sonoco Products (SON) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. In afternoon trading: Shares of Uranium Resources (URRE) are up about 25%. Shares of Ur Energy (URG) are up about 14.75%. Shares of Patriot Coal (PCX) are up about 9%. Shares of Newfield Exploration (NFX) are down about 14.25%.
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $67.31 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.78% on the day – down 1.38% year-to-date.
Materials
Monsanto (MON) is a new Market Perform with Wells Fargo. FMC Corp (FMC) is initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX) is upgraded 180 degrees, to Outperform from Underperform at Credit Agricole. Agrium (AGU) is lifted to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. In afternoon trading: Shares of Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) are down about 6.25%. Actives: Shares of Alcoa (AA) are up about 1.8%. Shares of Freeport-McMoran are up about 0.8%. Shares of Vale (VALE) are down about 1.9%. Shares of Yamana Gold (AUY) are down about 1.8%. Shares of Dow Chemical (DOW) are down slightly.
The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $32.51 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.93% on the day – down 15.36% year-to-date.
Industrials
CSX Corp (CSX) is cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Forward Air (FWRD) is downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus due to valuation. Equifax (EFX) is now Sell from Neutral at Goldman. In afternoon trading: Shares of Swift Transportation (SWFT) are up about 8.5%. Shares of WESCO International (WCC) are up about 6.25%. Shares of Hawaiian Holdings (HA) are up about 5.75%. Shares of Beacon Power (BCON) are up about 5.25%. Shares of Ingersoll-Rand (IR) are down about 7.5%. Shares of Watsco Inc. (WSO) are down about 5%.
The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $32.05 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.85% on the day – down 8.09% year-to-date.
Consumer Discretionary
Wynn Resorts (WYNN) reported Q3 EPS of $1.05 (missing consensus by $0.11) with revenue in-line with estimates at $1.30B. J. C. Penney (JCP) and Macy’s (M) are initiated with Overweights at JPMorgan, which has new Neutrals on Nordstrom (JWN) and Saks (SKS) and assigns an Underweight on Kohl’s (KSS). Toyota Motor (TM) is taken to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Daimler AG (DDAIF) is downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC Securities. Nissan Motor (NSANY) is now Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. In afternoon trading: Shares of Select Comfort (SCSS) are up about 17.75%. Shares of New York Times (NYT) are up about 10%. Shares of Tractor Supply (TSCO) are up about 8%. Shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) are up about 7.5%.
The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $38.26 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.50% on the day – up 2.27% year-to-date.
Consumer Staples
In afternoon trading: Actives: Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) are down about 1.5%. Shares of Altria Group (MO) are relatively unchanged. Shares of Phillip Morris (PM) are up about 4.5%. Shares of Wal-Mart (WMT) are up about 0.6%. Shares of CVS Caremark (CVS) are up about 0.4%. Shares of Kraft Foods (KFT) are up about 1%. Shares of Procter & Gamble (PG) are up about 0.8%. Shares of Safeway (SWY) are up about 1.1%.
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $30.97 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.55% on the day – up 5.66% year-to-date.
Healthcare
The $82B healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories (ABT) will split next year into two publicly traded companies, with one focusing on medical devices and the other on research-based medicines. GTX (GTXI) gets initiated with a Buy and $6 target price at Jefferies. MEDNAX (MD) is moved to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. In afternoon trading: Shares of Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) are up about 11.75%. Shares of Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR) are up about 11%. Shares of Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) are up about 9.5%.
The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $32.46 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, down slightly on the day – up 3.05% year-to-date.
Financials
Citigroup (C) will pay $285M to settle charges brought by the SEC that it misled investors in its sale of a mortgage bond deal. Comerica (CMA) is upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein. Home Properties (HME) is added to the FBR Capital Top Picks List. Franklin Resources (BEN) is now Neutral from Buy at Nomura. In afternoon trading: Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) are up about 9.5%. Shares of Greenhill & Co. (GHL) are up about 9%. Shares of KeyCorp (KEY) are up about 7.75%.
The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $12.80 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 1.71% on the day – down 19.75% year-to-date.
Information Technology
Silver Lake Partners reportedly is preparing a joint plan with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Microsoft (MSFT) to put together a deal to buy Yahoo (YHOO). Groupon (GRPN) is considering an offering valuing the company at $12B, to come in the next two weeks, according to two sources. A source tells the Wall Street Journal that Samsung (SSNLF) delivered more than 20M smartphones in Q3, comparing smartly to the 17.1M units sold by rival Apple (AAPL) in its fiscal Q4. Fiserv (FISV) is lifted to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Paychex (PAYX) is upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman. Youku.com (YOKU) is added to the Conviction Buy List at Goldman. Baidu.com (BIDU) and Changyou.com (CYOU) are both now Neutral from Buy at Goldman. Celestica (CLS) is downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Ticonderoga. Western Digital (WDC) is now Buy from Strong Buy at Needham. Solera (SLH) is downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman. In afternoon trading: Shares of JA Solar (JASO) are up about 25%. Shares of OCZ Technology Group (OCZ) are up about 13.25%. Shares of Omnivision (OVTI) are up about 12%. Shares of Riverbed (RVBD) are up about 10%. Shares of Polycom (PLCM) are down about 25.25%. Shares of Cirrus Logic (CRUS) are down about 16.75%.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $25.21 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, down 0.43% on the day – up 0.08% year-to-date.
Telecommunications Services
AT&T (T) reported earnings of 61 cents a share (in-line with estimates). In afternoon trading: Shares of TerreStar (TSTRQ) are down about 17.75%. Shares of Clearwire (CLWR) are up about 6.5%. Actives: Shares of AT&T are down about a half of a percent, while shares of Sprint Nextel (S) are down about 1.8% and shares of Verizon (VZ) are down slightly. Shares of Frontier Communications (FTR) are up about 1.3%. Shares of Vodafone (VOD) are up about 1.5%.
The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $192.70 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, down 0.29% on the day – down 14.50% year-to-date.
Utilities
In afternoon trading: Actives: Shares of Duke Energy (DUK) are up slightly. Shares of AES Corp. (AES) are down slightly. Shares of Genon Energy (GEN) are down about a half of a percent. Shares of Southern Co. (SO) are up about 0.6%. Shares of CenterPoint Energy (CNP) are up about 1.4%. Shares of Pepco Holdings (POM) are up about 0.8%. Shares of NiSource (NI) are up about 0.9%. Shares of Exelon (EXC) are up about 0.4%.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $34.30 at 4:00 PM on Thursday, up 0.56% on the day – up 9.44% year-to-date.
STOCKS: CLR, UNT, APC, SON, URRE, URG, PCX, NFX, MON, FMC, FCX, AGU, AEM, AA, VALE, AUY, DOW, CSX, FWRD, EFX, SWFT, WCC, HA, BCON, IR, WSO, WYNN, JCP, M, JWN, SKS, KSS, TM, DDAIF, NSANY, SCSS, NYT, TSCO, BWLD, GMCR, MO, PM, WMT, CVS, KFT, PG, SWY, ABT, GTXI, MD, AMLN, OPTR, CBST, C, CMA, HME, BEN, FITB, GHL, KEY, MSFT, YHOO, GRPN, SSNLF, AAPL, FISV, PAYX, YOKU, BIDU, CYOU, CLS, WDC, SLH, JASO, OCZ, OVTI, RVBD, PLCM, CRUS, T, TSTRQ, CLWR, S, VZ, FTR, VOD, DUK, AES, GEN, SO, CNP, POM, NI, EXC
