Positive earnings reports fended off a tumultuous market Friday, helping the
Standard & Poors 500 Index eke out a gain of six points, or about a
half-percent, to reach 1,165 in early trading. Advancing stocks outnumbered
those declining by better than a 3-to-2 margin. The S&P 500 is up more than 1.5%
for the week but down more than 9.3% for the year. Retailers continued to rise
on strong earnings, with Tiffanys (NYSE: TIF ) up more than 5%, or more than $3
a share, to around $66.30. Profits for the second quarter increased by 33%
thanks to soaring sales for the upscale retailer. Tiffanys is up almost 7% for
the week and more than 50% for the year. Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS ) was
higher by more than 3% to over $21, a gain of more than 60 cents per share. The
tech sector is up this morning thanks to deal activity, which is running at a
record clip. F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV ), another tech company, was enjoying
gains of about $2.20 per share, or more than 3%, to around $73.90. F5 Networks
also was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus and McAdams Wright Ragen. Off about 3.5%
was Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE: SEE ) to under $16.50, a loss of about 60 cents per
share. Sealed Air is down about 3% for the week, 20% for the month and 30% for
the quarter. Doubts about economic growth are dragging down the share prices of
the packaging and container corporation. Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT )
was lower by more than 30 cents, or about 7%, to drop beneath $40.40 per share.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Starwood this morning. Up about 1% for the week,
Starwood is down more than 33% year-to-date. Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC ) was
down to about $5 per share, losing a couple cents for a 0.4% drop. Tenet is up
more than 7% for the week and 27% for the year. Jonathan Yates does not own any
of the stocks mentioned in this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment