PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 8/30/05
August 30th, 2005 / 7:37 pm / by portfoliocrafter
It was a day of losses for the U.S. stock market, which was probably caused by a rise in the price of crude oil and gasoline, after Hurricane Katrina shut 95 percent of production in the Golf of Mexico. The Dow fell 50.23 points, to close at 10,412.82. Besides, both the Nasdaq, and the S&P posted losses. The Nasdaq fell 7.89 points, to close at 2,129.76. Meanwhile, the S&P fell 3.87 points, to close at 1,208.41.
Crude oil for October delivery rose $2.61, or 3.9 percent, to close at $69.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which marks the highest close since 1983. According to the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the storm shut 1.4 million barrels of daily crude-oil output. Platforms in the Golf are responsible for about 30 percent of U.S. output. Then, gasoline for September delivery rallied 41.39 cents, or 20 percent, to close at $2.4745 per gallon. In total, prices have more than doubled during last year.
A measure of retail stocks dropped 1.7 percent. For instance, Sears Holdings, the third biggest retailer in the U.S., lost $2.95, to close at $135.28. Besides, rival Target Corp. also slid $1.58, to close at $54.14. Another retailer that posted losses today was Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which fell 46 cents, to close at $45.19, which is the lowest level in three years. According to the world’s biggest retailer, about 80 Wal-Mart stores were closed in the Gulf Coast states.
Finally, Carl Icahn the billionaire investor may make a tender offer for an approximate of 10 percent of Time Warner Inc., in order to buy back shares and spin-off its cable-television unit. However, investor Icahn did not make any comments on the subject yet. After the news, Time Warner Inc. climbed 42 cents, to close at $17.89.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
