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Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (7788)	2/17/2005 10:43:47 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19256

DOW 10781 was indeed spurned by 10,900 - specifically 10850 Inflation and all those other "minor" economic potholes continue to grow in size and number Many suppliers on my end are working on their 2nd and sometimes 3rd price increase of 5-10% within the last 12-18 month period. U.S. stocks turn lower on mixed data Thursday February 17, 10:29 am ET By Mark Cotton NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks turned lower Thursday after a forward-looking economic report cast some doubt about the outlook for the nation's economy going forward. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI - News) was last down 40 points, at 10,794. ADVERTISEMENT The Nasdaq Composite Index (NasdaqSC:^IXIC - News) was down 12 points, at 2,075, while the S&P 500 Index (CBOE:^SPX - News) was fell more than 5 points to 1,204.97. Within the benchmark index, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - News) climbed 0.5 percent as its latest quarterly results pleased investors. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - News) fell 0.7 percent as the computer maker's stock only got a brief boost from quarterly earnings which topped analyst expectations. Investors mulled a series of mixed economic reports. The Conference Board released its index of leading economic indicators for January. The index, which is designed to forecast economist trends six to nine months ahead, fell 0.3 percent versus a 0.2 percent increase in December. Economists canvassed byhad been expecting a decline of 0.2 percent. Earlier, U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fell 2,000 to a 4-year low of 302,000 last week, the Labor Department reported. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting claims to rise to 316,000. The latest report on import prices however may raise some concern on Wall Street that inflationary pressures in the economy could be picking up. Prices of imports into the United States rose 0.9 percent in January on higher oil prices, the Labor Department reported. Economists were expecting import prices to rise 0.7 percent, according to a survey conducted by Excluding the 4.6 percent rise in imported petroleum, import prices rose a modest 0.2 percent in January. Meanwhile, investors will get an update on the health of the nation's manufacturing sector with the release of the Philadelphia Federal Survey of factory activity in the Philadelphia region. The regional survey, due out at noon ET, is expected to rise to 16.9 in February from 13.2 in the prior month, according to economists polled by. Investors will also be keeping an ear open to the second part of Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's semi-annual testimony to congress. The Fed chief addresses the House Financial Services Committee. "I don't think he is going to change his tune from what he said yesterday," said Cardillo, referring to his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. "He did hint perhaps at a more hawkish Fed going forward but the market has digested that." Oil, dollar, gold In the energy pits, crude-oil prices edged higher in morning trading after surging to multi-week highs Wednesday on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is looking to cut production even as global demand remains elevated. Crude for March delivery was up 22 cents at $48.54 a barrel in New York trading. In the foreign exchange markets, the dollar was little changed against the world's major currencies. Gold futures climbed 90 cents to $427.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the bond market, treasurys were steady to weaker along the maturity spectrum following Thursday's release of upbeat U.S. job market statistics. Stocks in focus On the Dow, Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard were two bright spots on the benchmark index as investors cheered the companies' latest quarterly results. Wal-Mart posted forecast-beating earnings, with the world's largest discount retailer seeing a 16.2 percent jump in fourth quarter profits as revenue surged more than 10 percent. Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott also offered an upbeat view for the rest of the year. Target, possibly Wal-Mart's biggest competitor in the U.S., also reported results, with adjusted fourth quarter earnings beating analyst estimates by a penny as sales rose 11 percent. Shares of the Minneapolis retailer (NYSE:TGT - News) were last up 1.6 percent. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - News) shares rallied after the computer and printer maker posted adjusted first quarter earnings well above analyst expectations. Analysts were particularly pleased with sales at its PC division, which climbed 11 percent in the quarter compared with a year ago. Surprisingly, its printer division struggled, edging up only 2.7 percent, as consumer hardware sales fell slightly compared with the same quarter a year ago. In other earnings news, shares of RadioSchack (NYSE:RSH - News) tumbled 9.3 percent, to $30.27 in early trading after the consumer electronics retailer posted quarterly earnings that missed analyst forecasts. The Forth Worth, Texas company also lowered its full-year forecast due to higher planned costs.