Traders-Blog.com

It was a good day for the market due to a decrease in oil prices. U.S. light crude for May delivery fell 97 cents to settle at $56.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow rose 37.32 points to close at 10,458.46. Besides, both the Nasdaq and the S&P posted gains. The technology index closed at 1,999.32, after rising 8.25 points, while the S&P climbed 5.27 points to close at 1,181.39.

Among the Dow components, Pfizer Inc. performed the best by rallying 3.7 percent after announcing a cost-cutting plan aimed at saving $4 billion over the next 4 years. The pharmaceutical also reported that it saw no earnings or revenue growth on tap for 2005; however, it forecasted a double-digit earnings growth in 2006. Pfizer said that it expected 2005 sales to be even with 2004 sales of about $53 billion.

IBM Corp. said that it would begin recording stock-option compensation as part of the expenses it reports. According to IBM, the company said that it made the decision to comply with accounting standards at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ratings of debt from General Motors Corp. were Baa3, which is the lowest investment grade, by Moody’s Investors Service. Besides, Ford Motor Co. is being reviewed for a possible downgrade from the ratings company. Moody’s said that both companies are losing U.S. auto-market share while health-care costs are growing, pushing profits lower. Moody’s started to review GM’s ratings on middle March, after the automaker forecasted its biggest quarterly loss since 1992.

Qwest Communications International said it will extend its prior deadline until noon Wednesday to let MCI Inc. publicly respond to its latest acquisition offer. After tomorrow’s decision is made, Qwest said it will pull its bid if MCI does not respond favorably. Today, shares of MCI closed down 7 cents to $25.01. Besides, shares of Qwest fell 4 cents to $3.86. Finally, Verizon shares rose 12 cents to close at $35.77

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter