PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 12/7/07
December 7th, 2007 / 9:04 pm / by portfoliocrafter
The market was pretty much unchanged today. The Dow closed at 13,625. 58 after gaining 5.69 points. Nevertheless, the Nasdaq declined 2.87 points to close at 2,706.16 and the S&P also declined 2.6 points to close at 1,504.66. Today’s economic reports did not make investors too optimistic about the outlook of the economy.
Employers added 94,000 jobs to their payrolls in November. The overall unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent, but it did not rise to 4.9 percent as expected. November job reports suggest that the Fed may not need to cut rates by a large amount after all. The Fed policy committee will meet next Tuesday and it is expected to cut interest rates by at least a quarter percentage points.
Palm decreased about 13 percent after news showed that there would be a net loss for its latest quarter. Meanwhile, in the technology sector, shares from Macrovision Corp. ended 21.4 percent lower after reports showed that it would acquire Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. for $2.8 billion in cash and stock. Also, shares of Gemstar-TV Guide fell 16.6 percent.
Amgen declined 5.5 percent in Nasdaq due to worries about the prospects of stricter safety labeling for its anemia drug. The company said it would be discussing labeling updates for its drug Aranesp with the Food and Drug Administration. Sahres of Amgen fell $3.05 to close at $52.10.
U.S. equities have shown gains during past days. Recently, the Dow climbed 371.16 points, caused by speculations from investors about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for a third time this year.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
