From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Stocks posted a loss today with all three major indices losing more than 1% in today's session. Though the market opened modestly higher, stocks remained well into negative territory for the remainder of the day. Weighing on stocks was a negative response to comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke, along with weakness in the financial and technology sectors. Despite the downturn, stocks remain more than 1% higher for the week.
Fed Chairman Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Paulson, and SEC Chairman Cox testified before the Senate Banking Committee this afternoon. Bernanke alluded to the possibility the U.S. is nearing a recession and continued to emphasize downside risks to the economy, indicating the Fed will likely continue to ease interest rates. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson continued to forecast slow growth. The Fed Chairman stated that financial companies will likely face further write-downs. Bernanke's comments had a noticeably negative effect on financial stocks.
FGIC has become the first major bond insurer to lose its AAA rating. Many pundits believe the loss of a major bond insurer's AAA rating could lead to a wave of further downgrades in the bond market. In turn, financial institutions could face another round of write-downs. Moody's noted, however, MBIA (MBI 12.62, +0.98) and Ambac (ABK 10.53, +1.16) are better positioned from a capitalization and business franchise perspective; their shares climbed higher in response to the comments. News of the downgrade sent stocks to their worst levels of the session, with selling interest concentrated in financials.
Within the tech sector, Intel (INTC 20.46, -0.75) was today's main laggard in the Dow. The company was removed from Goldman Sachs' Conviction Buy list due to economic concerns, according to the Associated Press. NVIDIA (NVDA 22.61, -4.41) reported earnings that bested expectations, but details of the company's report displeased market participants.
Comcast (CMCSA 19.24, +1.43) earned $0.20 per share in its most recent quarter. The result topped the consensus EPS forecast by $0.03. The company also announced it will begin issuing a quarterly dividend that translates to a 1.4% annual dividend yield relative to yesterday's closing price. That, along with repurchasing up to $6.9 billion in outstanding stock by 2009, reflects the company's renewed commitment to return capital to shareholders.
Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 9 fell to 348,000 from the previous week's reading of 357,000. The number of filings was essentially in-line with economists' expectations and should be seen as a good sign since it is below levels that typically precede a recession. Additionally, the December trade deficit was better than expected. The deficit fell to $58.8 billion, down from $63.1 billion, suggesting an upward revision to the net exports component of fourth quarter GDP.
Crude prices finished the day more than $2.00 higher. The commodity closed at $95.43 per barrel. DJ30 -175.26 NASDAQ -41.39 NQ100 -1.9% R2K -2.3% SP400 -1.6% SP500 -18.35 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2109/754/2.23 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2465/681/1.40 bln
8:30AM Multi-Fineline announces Rule 10b5-1 stock trading plan (MFLX) 20.68 : Co announces that Craig Riedel, chief financial officer, established a trading plan adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1. Riedel's plan allows for transactions to take place between February 2008 and the end of January 2009. During this period, he will exercise options covering 83,430 shares and sell the resulting shares, during certain specified time periods during plan.
09:18 am Ingram Micro: Needham & Co downgrades Strong Buy to Buy. Target $20. Needham downgraded IM to Buy from Strong Buy and cuts their tgt to $20 from $26 following earnings. The firm says while 2007 was a remarkable year for Ingram from a revenue and profitability perspective, tangible evidence of softness early in 2008 now compels them to take a more cautious stance. They would remain buyers of the stock as valuation remains compelling based on book and historical trough.
09:35 am Agilent Technologies (A)
Agilent Technologies (A) announced after yesterday's close fiscal first quarter adjusted earnings results that beat the consensus estimate by a penny. The company disappointed investors when it failed to meet the consensus second quarter forecast, however.
Agilent surpassed analysts' most recent quarterly earnings forecast. Adjusted profits totaled $0.42 per share, which is a penny more than the $0.41 per share consensus. The company previously projected earnings would range from $0.38 to $0.43 per share. Revenues totaled $1.4 billion, in step with analysts' expectations.
For the current quarter, the company failed to meet analysts' projections. Management expects second quarter earnings will range from $0.46 to $0.50 per share, while analysts are calling for profits of $0.53 per share. The company's revenue forecast, however, met the $1.4 billion analysts forecast.
During the first quarter, bio-analytical measurement saw revenues increase 15% year-over-year to $557 million on higher orders. The segment's gross margins held steady at 54%, but operating margins contracted nearly one percentage point to 18.3%. Agilent's electronic measurement segment increased revenues 5% year-over-year to $836 million, also driven by higher orders. The electronic measurement segment's gross margins were unchanged at 57% and operating margins held steady at 11%.
Thanks G! |
