PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 9/27/05
September 27th, 2005 / 8:27 pm / by portfoliocrafter
Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 12.58 to 10,456.21, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.03 to 1,215.66, and the Nasdaq composite ended down 5.04 to lose 0.2% to 2,116.42.
It was a mixed day with a lot of ups and downs. Initially the investors welcomed a drop in oil prices but remained edgy in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. However, the tone soon turned negative, following the release of the September consumer confidence report. In the afternoon the market attempted to rally as oil prices slipped and Alan Greenspan’s afternoon speech proved unsurprising. However, the rally was short-lived, and stocks ended the session mixed.
The market breadth remained negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by 18 to 13 on volume of 1.49 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners edged advancers 16 to 13 on volume of 1.64 billion shares.
The biggest gainer on Dow was Boeing Co. that closed up $1.88 or almost 3% at $66.55, on news of a tentative agreement with its machinists union that could end a strike by more than 18,000 workers. Other gainers on the Dow included General Electric up $0.37 to $33.64, and Philip Morris that ended up $0.97 to $73.49. Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. gained 3% to $28.46. The company reported third-quarter net income of $205 million which is a 7% improvement over last year.
The stock that lost big today was Taser International Inc. It ended almost 13% lower at $6.35 after announcing that a previously disclosed inquiry into the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission has now been deemed formal. Auto parts maker Delphi also continued its recent slide, dropping 8% to $2.75.
On news of Buy Out, stock of Health insurer WellChoice Inc. rose up $4.91 or 6.6% to $75.27. WellPoint is buying it for $6.5 billion in cash and stock. WellPoint shares rose 13 cents to $75.22.
Three stocks were downgraded by banks to “Neutral” from “Overweight.” This led to the slide of Cypress Semiconductor by $0.52 to $14.03, Fairchild Semiconductor International down by $0.92 to $14.43, and ON Semiconductor closed down $0.30 to $4.74.
News on a slump in new home sales by the Commerce Department by 9.9% in August to a seasonally adjusted 1.24 million had an adverse effect on homebuilders. This is against the expected sales of 1.34 million units. Lennar closed down $0.07 to $57.00.
U.S. light crude oil for November delivery dropped 75 cents to settle at $65.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Traders continue to struggle to figure out the extent of damage to energy facilities caused by recent hurricanes.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
