Traders-Blog.com

The Dow fell 31.15 points, to close at 10,734.48. Besides, the Nasdaq closed at 2,068.89, after falling 1 point, while the S&P closed at 1,199.85, after falling 1.72 points. The U.S stock market finished session lower today, due to investors’ concerns about rising interest rates. However, the August crude contract ended the day down 94 cents, to close at $57.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This drop in price was caused by the announcement of the Energy Department, which said that crude supplies rose by 1.1 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute also announced that crude inventories added 2.9 millions barrels last week.

William Donaldson, a Republican that is ending his position of the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), joined the Democrats to approve the measure requiring mutual funds to have independent chairmen. Furthermore, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sent the rule back to the SEC last week. The judges said that the SEC did not consider the costs of requirements, and also failed to weigh an alternative plan posed by the Republicans.

Oracle Corp., the world’s third-largest software maker, reported that earnings of the fourth-quarter increased about 3.2 percent. Net income rose to $1.02 billion, or 20 cents a share, from $990 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier. North American sales of database software and business applications such as payroll programs also posted their fastest growth in at least two years. Shares of Oracle rose 5.8 percent today, which shows the biggest gain since PeopleSoft Inc agreed to give up the fight against Oracle’s hostile takeover in December of last year.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter