PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 12/5/07
December 5th, 2007 / 8:39 pm / by portfoliocrafter
It was a day of gains for the stock market. The Dow rose 196.23 points to close at 13,444.96. Also, the Nasdaq rose 46.53 points to close at 2666.36. The S&P increased 22.22 points to close at 1,485.01. Even the volume of stocks was high in the Nasdaq and the NYSE. The rally in stocks was influenced by positive news about the economy. Many investors think that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again in next policy meeting.
October factory increased 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent in the month of September. Nevertheless, this increase in orders was mostly caused to surging energy prices. In other words, the cost of petroleum and other energy prices pumped up orders at chemical plants. This 0.5 percent increase in factory orders has been the best since the month of July.
Among winners and losers today, Intel shares and Fannie shares rose, as opposed to companies such as Comcast and Genentech shares that posted loses. Intel closed at 27.22 after increasing 0.91 points. Gains were influenced by an upgrade from analyst Thomas Weisel. Also, Fannie shares showed gains after Fannie Mae said it was selling $7 billion in specialized stock to raise money since it was expecting losses from loans with high risk. On the other hand, Comcast declined over 12 percent after it informed that company expects to lose customers in 2008 due to increased competition. Genentech also declined today after the FDA announced that company’s Avastin cannot be used as breast cancer treatment.
Today, there were also positive economic reports that calmed investors’ worries. Reports showed strong third-quarter productivity and also strong private sector employment.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
