The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down to 13,521.68 in morning trading then rebounded into the green with an afternoon high at 13,601.90 going into the last half hour of trading. The NASDAQ traded down to 3150.94 in morning trading then rebounded to 3167.74 in the afternoon, but stayed in the red. The DJIA is considering changes to the way the iconic index is calculated in order to be able to include Apple (AAPL) without it holding too much sway.
Asian stocks traded lower on Monday. The Nikkei 225 ended the day at 9,069 – down 0.45%. The Hang Seng ended the day at 20,695 – down 0.19%. European exchanges began the day lower and that’s the way they closed. The FTSE 100 ended the day at 5,839 – down 0.24%. The DAX ended the day at 7,415 – down 0.49%. The CAC 40 ended the day at 3,497 – down 0.95%. The yield on the 10-Year US Treasury declined from 1.758% to 1.704% staying below the 200-day simple moving average at 1.824%.
Comex gold declined from $1775.3 the Troy ounce to $1757.9. Nymex crude oil declined from $93.18 per barrel to $91.06 below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages at $93.43 and $96.39. The euro versus the dollar declined from 1.2980 to 1.2894 with the 200-day simple moving average at 1.2826.
Energy
Halcon Resources (HK) is initiated with an Overweight at Barclays. Beabody Energy (BTU) is downgraded to Underperform from Buy, at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which moves Walter Energy (WLT) to Neutral from Buy. Big Movers – Longwei Petroleum Investment (LPH) is up about 26.5%. Dow components – Chevron (CVX) up 0.20%, Exxon Mobil (XOM) down 0.04%. Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) was trading at $74.42 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.34% on the day – up 7.65% year-to-date.
Materials
GE (GE) aims to boost its revenues from its mining-equipment and services unit to $5B from $2B “within a few years.” The conglomerate plans to grow GE Mining through acquisitions even though mining companies such as BHP (BHP) have been scaling back investment as commodity prices fall. KapStone Paper & Packaging (KS) is upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens. LyondellBasell (LYB) is lifted to Outperform from Underperform at Crédit Agricole. Packaging Corp (PKG) is upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital. Anglo American (AAUKY) is moved to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. Beabody Energy (BTU) is downgraded to Underperform from Buy, at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, which moves Walter Energy (WLT) to Neutral from Buy. AK Steel (AKS) is downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup, which takes US Steel (X) to Neutral from Buy. Big Movers – Molycorp (MCP) is down about 11%. Dow Components – Alcoa (AA) down 0.88%, DuPont (DD) down 1.25%. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) was trading at $37.41 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.09% on the day – up 11.67% year-to-date.
Industrials
On Assignment (ASGN) is a new Outperform at Wells Fargo. Canadian National Railway (CNI) is upgraded to Buy from Hold at TD Securities. Rockwell Collins (COL) is upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc. Embraer (ERJ) is now Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan. TrueBlue (TBI) is taken to Neutral from Buy by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. Dow components – Boeing Co (BA) down 0.53%, Caterpillar (CAT) down 0.94%, General Electric (GE) down 0.82%, 3M Company (MMM) down 0.43%, United Technologies (UTX) down 1.02%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) was trading at $37.01 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.09% on the day – up 9.66% year-to-date.
Consumer Discretionary
GE (GE) aims to boost its revenues from its mining-equipment and services unit to $5B from $2B “within a few years.” The conglomerate plans to grow GE Mining through acquisitions even though mining companies such as BHP (BHP) have been scaling back investment as commodity prices fall. Japanese state-backed investment fund Innovation Network is in talks with major manufacturers – reportedly including Toyota (TM) and Panasonic (PC) – about acquiring struggling chipmaker Renesas, which is the subject of a bid of over ¥100B ($1.3B) from KKR (KKR). Toyota (TM) intends to launch 21 hybrid vehicles in the next three years and expects sales of at least 1M such units in 2013-2015. Toyota also plans to release a new electric mini-car later this year, for which Panasonic (PC) will provide the battery and a fuel-cell vehicle by 2015. Lennar (LEN) beat estimates by 12 cents and revenue by $50M. “The housing market has stabilized and the recovery is well underway,” says a clearly excited CEO Stuart Miller. KB Home (KBH) issued a solid bottom-line FQ3 report this morning. Net earnings swung to a surprise profit as the home-building company delivered more homes at higher prices. The company also reafirms that it expects to achieve profitability by Q412 and for FY13. Sally Beauty Holdings (SBH) is reinstated with an Outperform at Credit Suisse. Body Central (BODY) is boosted to Outperform from Perform. Cooper Tire & Rubber (CTB) is hoisted to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. Lamar Advertising (LAMR) is upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. PVH Corp. (PVH) is upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray. Carnival Corp (CCL) gets cut to Hold from Buy at Topeka. Darden Restaurants (DRI) is slashed by both Susquehanna (Neutral from Positive) and JPMorgan (Neutral from Overweight). Publicis Groupe (PUBGY) is now Neutral from Overweigh at HSBC Securities. Stoneridge (SRI) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital. Dow Components – Disney (DIS) up 0.13%, Home Depot (HD) down 0.32%, McDonalds (MCD) up 0.04%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was trading at $47.456 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.16% on the day – up 21.62% year-to-date.
Consumer Staples
Heineken (HINKY) is boosted to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. Dow components – Coca Cola (KO) up 0.21%, Procter & Gamble (PG) up 0.32%, Wal-Mart (WMT) up 0.46%. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was trading at $36.125 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.46% on the day – up 11.19% year-to-date.
Health Care
Allergan (AGN) is boosed to Outperform from Underperform at Crédit Agricole. ViroPharma (VPHM) is moved to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells. Baxter International (BAX) is downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR) is downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink. Sequenom (SQNM) is downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Big Movers – Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) is down about 75%, Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR) is down about 37%, AEterna Zentaris (AEZS) is down about 10%, Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT) is up about 13%. Dow Components – Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) down 0.03%, Merck (MRK) up 0.51%, Pfizer (PFE) up 0.93%, United Health Group (UNH) down 0.12%. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was trading at $40.34 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.37% on the day – up 16.29% year-to-date.
Financials
Japanese state-backed investment fund Innovation Network is in talks with major manufacturers – reportedly including Toyota (TM) and Panasonic (PC) – about acquiring struggling chipmaker Renesas, which is the subject of a bid of over ¥100B ($1.3B) from KKR (KKR). Genworth Financial (GNW) is a new Neutral at Macquarie. Green Dot (GDOT) gets upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at SunTrust. Commerzbank (CRZBY) is downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Nomura. First Commonwealth (FCF) is downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette. Dow Components – American Express (AXP) down 0.52%, Bank of America (BAC) down 0.66%, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) up 0.66%, Travelers (TRV) down 0.13%. The Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) was trading at $15.87 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 0.25% on the day – up 22.08% year-to-date.
Information Technology
The DJIA is considering changes to the way the iconic index is calculated in order to be able to include Apple (AAPL) without it holding too much sway. Apple (AAPL) wants Judge Lucy Koh to award another $707M in damages from Samsung (SSNLF) on top of the $1.05B a San Jose jury awarded the company last month, as well as a permanent ban on 26 Samsung smartphones. Samsung wants a re-trial, alleging the time constraints of the California trial “prevented Samsung from presenting a full and fair case.” Marissa Mayer plans to hold two meetings tomorrow with Yahoo (YHOO) employees detailing her plans for the company. Rambus (RMBS) “willfully” eradicated documents that could have been used in its IP dispute with Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor (HXSCF), a District Court judge has ruled, although he said that Rambus’ patents were still valid. Facing pressure to demonstrate how it can benefit advertisers, Facebook (FB) is working with data-mining company Datalogix to track how many users buy a firm’s products after seeing its ads on the social network. Seagate (STX) will guide for FQ1 (Sept. quarter) revenue of $3.7B-$3.8B, below prior guidance of $4B (better than was feared given soft PC sales and Western Digital’s recent warning). The company expects the FQ2 hard drive market to amount to just 150M-155M units (well below initial expectations (per Stifel) of 185M). Software AG (STWRY) is a new Overweight at HSBC Securities. Rubicon (RBCN) gets raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. Atmel (ATML) is now Neutral from Buy at UBS. Gartner (IT) is downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Northland Securities. Micron (MU) is moved to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest. NICE Systems (NICE) is now Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital. Veeco Instruments (VECO) is slashed to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Big Movers – Rambus (RMBS) is up about 19%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) is down about 11%. Dow Components – Cisco Systems (CSCO) down 0.85%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down 2.22%, IBM (IBM) down 0.16%, Intel Corp (INTC) down 1.66%, Microsoft (MSFT) down 1.47%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was trading at $31.34 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.54% on the day – up 23.14% year-to-date.
Telecommunication Services
France Telecom (FTE) reaffirmed the company’s €8B ($10.39B) 2012 operating cash flow target at a Paris conference, and said FT’s Q3 performance had been “fine” in spite of a poor macro backdrop and tough mobile competition. inContact (SAAS) is a new Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Crown Castle International (CCI) is now Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie. Dow Components – AT&T (T) up 0.42%, Verizon (VZ) down 0.09%. The NASDAQ Telecommunications Index (IXTC) was trading at $198.72 at 3:30 PM on Monday, down 0.32% on the day – up 0.91% year-to-date.
Utilities
Questar (STR) is now Buy from Neutral at UBS. E.ON AG (EONGY) gets downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. The Big Names – Dominion Resources (D) up 0.08%, Edison International (EIX) up 1.28%, First Energy (FE) up 0.61%, PG&E Corp (PCG) down 0.04%, Southern Company (SO) up 1.17%. The Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) was trading at $36.42 at 3:30 PM on Monday, up 1.10% on the day – up 1.22% 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, AAPL, HK, BTU, WLT, GE, BHP, KS, LYB, PKG, AAUKY, BTU, WLT, AKS, X, MCP, ASGN, CNI, COL, ERJ, TBI, TM, PC, KKR, PC, LEN, KBH, SBH, BODY, CTB, LAMR, PVH, CCL, DRI, PUBGY, SRI, HINKY, AGN, VPHM, BAX, QCOR, SQNM, PPHM, AEZS, SVNT, GNW, GDOT, CRZBY, FCF, SSNLF, YHOO, RMBS, HXSCF, FB, STX, STWRY, RBCN, ATML, IT, MU, NICE, VECO, STR, EONGY
