Allstate, Techs lead S&P 500 Gains

As investors were relieved by Hurricane Irene doing less damage than expected,
gains in insurance companies were leading the Standard & Poors 500 Index higher
by more than 18 points, a rise of around 1.6%, to over 1,195. Still down by more
than 4.6% for the year, the S&P is up more than 6.6% for the last week of
trading. Advancing stocks outnumbered those declining by more than 5-to-1.
Property insurer Allstate (NYSE: ALL ) was up more than 6%, picking up about
$1.50 per share to over $26. Allstate was upgraded by UBS on Aug. 11. However,
Allstate is down more than 10% for the month and 20% for the quarter. JDS
Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU ) was up more than 7%, about 80 cents, to over $12. The
entire tech sector was up in early-morning buying and selling as it is beginning
to recover on hopes of a stronger economy with possible help from the Fed. For
the past week, JDS Uniphase is up more than 13%. For the quarter, however, it is
down more than 40%. After being punished by Wall Street for disappointing
earnings, Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU ) continued its recovery with a bump of
more than 30 cents this morning to about $6 a share, a gain of more than 5.6%.
Disappointing second-quarter earnings has Micron Technology down more than 43%
for the quarter and trading more than 34% below its 200-day moving average.
However, on Aug. 25, it received positive recommendations from Wedbush, Sterne
Agee and Barclays Capital. Monsanto (NYSE: MON ) was off around 4% to under $68
per share, dropping about 2.7%. Higher corn prices will increase costs for the
agricultural chemicals company. Monsanto is up more than 7% for the week and
more than 27% for the year. Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM ) lost more than 34 cents
per share in early trading but recovered to trade flat around $62.17. Newmont is
up more than 3.4% for the week, 7% for the month and 10% for the quarter. Down
about 0.6% was NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP ), shedding more than 20 cents to around
$36.30 per share. While up more than 1.6% for the past week on the rebound of
the tech sector, the data storage devices company is down more than 20% for the
month and 30% for the quarter. Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks
mentioned in this article.