Construction Spending was down 0.6% in August the largest drop since July 2011. ISM Manufacturing index came in at 51.5 in September, which was better than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up to 13,598.25 Monday morning on the stronger than expected ISM data then consolidated in the afternoon. The NASDAQ traded up to 3146.99 Monday morning then traded into the red in the afternoon with a day’s low at 3103.89 going into the final half hour of trading.
In Asian, the Nikkei 225 ended the day at 8,797 – down 0.83%. The Hang Seng was on holiday at 20,840. European exchanges traded higher on Monday. The FTSE 100 ended the day at 5,820 – up 1.37%. The DAX ended the day at 7,327 – up 1.53%. The CAC 40 ended the day at 3,435 – up 2.39%. The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury declined from 1.640% to 1.611% then rose to 1.651% still below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages at 1.656% and 1.818%.
Comex gold traded up from $1765.7 the Troy ounce to $1794.4 setting a new year-to-date high. Nymex crude oil rallied from $91.26 per barrel to $93.33 staying below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages at $93.57 and $96.23. The euro versus the dollar traded up from 1.2806 to 1.2937 holding its 200-day simple moving average at 1.2822.
Energy
Big Movers – Treaty Energy Corp. (TECO) is up about 10.5%. Dow components – Chevron (CVX) up 0.51%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) up 0.28%. Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $73.80 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.50% on the day – up 6.76% year-to-date.
Materials
Dow Components – Alcoa (AA) up 0.34%, DuPont (DD) up 0.08%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $36.88 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.22% on the day – up 10.09% year-to-date.
Industrials
Boeing (BA) workers are expected to turn down today the company’s current offer on a contract covering 23K members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea), though a second vote would be required to authorize a strike. Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) is initiated with a Buy at UBS. C.H. Robinson (CHRW) is now Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is now Hold from Buy at Jefferies. Canadian Pacific (CP) is cut to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee. Emerson Electric (EMR) is now Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie. Owens Corning (OC) is now Neutral from Buy at Longbow. Raytheon (RTN) is lowered to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Big Movers – A123 Systems (AONE) is up about 12.5%. Dow components – Boeing Co (BA) up 0.50%, Caterpillar (CAT) down 0.71%, General Electric (GE) up 0.35%, 3M Company (MMM) up 0.90%, United Technologies (UTX) up 0.08%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $36.66 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.36% on the day – up 8.62% year-to-date.
Consumer Discretionary
Big jumps from Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) are forecast to be the driving factors behind a healthy gain in U.S. auto sales due to be reported on Tuesday. The shareholders have yet to see benefit, but suppliers like Leggett & Platt (LEG) – hired to help refurbish J.C. Penney (JCP) stores – have no complaints. Next up is the lucrative contract to install radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags on every item in J.C. Penney’s stores in which R.R. Donnelly & Sons (RRD) and one other manufacturer are battling it out. Jakks Pacific (JAKK) cut its FY12 guidance, saying it experienced “disappointing” domestic product sales and a slowdown in orders, as well as increased expenses. It now expects to earn between $0.68 to $0.74 per share on revenue of around $690M to $700M, down significantly from earlier estimates for a profit of $1.04 to $1.08 per share and revenue between $720M and $728M. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) is initiated with an Underperform at Credit Suisse. Carnival (CCL) is a new Equal Weight at Barclays. Conns (CONN) is begun with a Buy at Canaccord Genuity. ZAGG Inc (ZAGG) is initiated with an Overweight at JPMorgan. Callaway Golf (ELY) is upgraded to Strong Buy from Market Perform at Raymond James. Coldwater Creek (CWTR) is upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray. DreamWorks (DWA) is upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital. Finish Line (FINL) is now Neutral from Underperform at Sterne Agee. JAKKS Pacific (JAKK) is taken to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc. PulteGroup (PHM) is now Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. Wendy’s (WEN) is now Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital. Big Movers – Coldwater Creek Inc. (CWTR) is up about 13.25%. Dow Components – Disney (DIS) down 0.54%, Home Depot (HD) up 0.24%, McDonalds (MCD) up 0.27%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $46.75 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.09% on the day – up 19.81% year-to-date.
Consumer Staples
Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) beat estimates by 4 cents and revenue by $14M. Kraft Foods Group (KRFTV) is a Neutral at JPMorgan. Mondelez (MDLZV) is an Overweight at JPMorgan. Boston Beer (SAM) is slashed to Sell from Neutral at UBS. Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) is taken to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley. Dow components – Coca Cola (KO) up 1.17%, Procter & Gamble (PG) up 0.05%, Wal-Mart (WMT) up 0.31%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $36.035 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.59% on the day – up 10.91% year-to-date.
Health Care
“The board’s sale process was woefully inadequate,” say lawyers for three pension funds seeking to stop the $5.6B takeover. The 20% premium for Coventry (CVH) pales to premiums as high as 43% in other recent deals for insurers, according to the lawyers, who contend CEO Allen Wise didn’t shop around for the highest price, instead spending four months negotiating with Aetna (AET) CEO Mark Bertolini before notifying the board. Synergetics USA (SURG) reported FQ4 EPS of $0.08 (in-line) and revenue of $16.9M (in-line). Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVNR) is an Outperform at Cowen. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) is begun with a Buy at WallachBeth. Allscripts-Misys Healthcare (MDRX) is upgraded to Buy at ISI Group. Gilead Sciences (GILD) gets upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Sanford Bernstein. Myriad Genetics (MYGN) is upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray. Big Movers – Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) is down about 16%. Dow Components – Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) up 0.26%, Merck (MRK) up 0.24%, Pfizer (PFE) up 0.60%, United Health Group (UNH) up 1.62%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $40.32 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.50% on the day – up 16.23% year-to-date.
Financials
FASB is expected to formally propose by year’s end the elimination from net income calculations the debt valuation adjustment (DVA) in which banks with worsening credit spreads are able to report a boost to income (conversely, improving spreads create a loss). The rule has been behind big quarterly swings in reported numbers at the big banks, and Bank of America (BAC) has warned of a $1.9B hit to Q3 earnings as a result of its narrowing spreads. Citigroup (C) is begun with a Buy at Guggenheim. Yelp Inc. (YELP) and Zillow (Z) are each initiated with Equal Weights at Barclays. Allstate (ALL) is downgraded to Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital. Citigroup (C) is now Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) is moved to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette. Plum Creek (PCL) is now Neutral from Buy at DA Davidson. Big Movers – MGIC Investments Corp. (MTG) is up about 16.5%. Dow Components – American Express (AXP) up 1.57%, Bank of America (BAC) up 1.59%, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) up 1.51%, Travelers (TRV) up 1.10%. The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $15.65 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.38% on the day – up 20.38% year-to-date.
Information Technology
Oracle (ORCL) is expected to unveil the first new version of its flagship database program in five years at the OpenWorld conference today. The 12c database is designed to present an alternative to the no-hardware approach to cloud computing offered by competitors Salesforce.com (CRM) and Workday (WDAY). Yelp Inc. (YELP) and Zillow (Z) are each initiated with Equal Weights at Barclays. Ciena (CIEN) and JDS Uniphase (JDSU) are new Neutrals at Lazard Capital. Tibco Software (TIBX) is a new Neutral at Nomura. InterActiveCorp (IACI) gets moved to Buy from Hold at Needham. Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) is raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) is now Sell from Neutral at UBS. Baidu (BIDU) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. Microsoft (MSFT) is moved to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital. Nokia (NOK) is now Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. Texas Instruments (TXN) is taken to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna. Dow Components – Cisco Systems (CSCO) down 0.68%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) up 0.79%, IBM (IBM) up 1.49%, Intel Corp (INTC) up 0.22%, Microsoft (MSFT) down 0.84%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $30.73 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.31% on the day – up 20.75% year-to-date.
Telecommunication Services
Sprint (S) is downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. Big Movers – TerreStar Corp. (TSTRQ) is up about 30.25%. Dow Components – AT&T (T) unchanged, Verizon (VZ) up 0.41%. The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $197.81 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.40% on the day – up 0.45% year-to-date.
Utilities
Ferrellgas Partners L.P. (FGP) missed estimates by 2 cents and revenue by $58M. Duke Energy (DUK) is upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus. The Big Names – Dominion Resources (D) down 0.30%, Edison International (EIX) up 0.53%, First Energy (FE) down 0.22%, PG&E Corp (PCG) down 0.91%, Southern Company (SO) down 1.03%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $36.255 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.37% on the day – up 0.76% 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, BA, HCSG, CHRW, ATK, CP, EMR, OC, RTN, TM, HMC, LEG, JCP, RFID, RRD, JAKK, ANF, CCL, CONN, ZAGG, ELY, CWTR, DWA, FINL, PHM, WEN, CALM, KRFTV, MDLZV, SAM, TAP, CVH, AET, SURG, AVNR, MYGN, MDRX, GILD, MYGN, BAC, C, YELP, Z, ALL, FITB, PCL, ORCL, CRM, WDAY, CIEN, JDSU, TIBX, IACI, RTEC, ALU, BIDU, MSFT, NOK, TXN, S, FGP, DUK
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