Traders-Blog.com

Although the U.S stock market posted losses yesterday, today the indexes did not finish in red. The Dow rose 71.57 points, to close at 10,646.56. Besides, the Nasdaq increased 28.31 points, to close at 2,173.18. Meanwhile, the S&P closed at 1,229.35, after rising 8.22 points.

Intel announced today that its net income rose to $2.04 billion, or 33 cents per share, from $1.76 billion, or 27 cents, a year ago. Sales also rose 15 percent, to close at $9.2 billion. Intel, whose microprocessors power over 80 percent of the world’s PC’s is making profits due to an increased demand for laptops that can link to the Internet with a wireless connection. However, Intel’s gross margin was still down 56.4 percent of sales, which shows a decrease from 59.4 percent from last year and slightly below the company’s forecast of 57 percent of gross margin. After the news, Intel shares fell $1.12, or nearly 4 percent, to $27.59 in late trading. However, it closed today at a 52-week high of $28.71.

Yahoo! Inc. also reported its second-quarter profit today. The company’s net income rose to $754.7 million, or 51 cents per share, from $112.5 million, or 8 cents last year. However, revenue was below analysts’ expectations. Although Yahoo forecasted its revenue of $895 million for the second quarter, it actually reported revenue of $875.1 million today. These results caused shares of Yahoo and Google Inc. to fall due to a misleading belief among investors that the growing market for Internet advertising may be slowing down.

Johnson & Johnson increased 42 cents to close at $65.02. The company announced that its second-quarter profit excluding some items was 93 cents per share, which was above expectations. Also, Caterpillar Inc. which is the world’s largest maker of earthmoving equipment increased $2.58, or 5.1 percent, to finish session at $53.40 for the biggest gain in the Dow. It appears that optimism about stocks have risen due to investors’ expectations for economic and profit growth in the following months.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter