FirstAlert: 4-5:15 P.M. Investrend / Bestcalls
Conference calls are often impacted by market trends, geopolitical conditions, news coming from conferences and economic releases.
Another Shot (By Philip Holmes) -- Stocks eked out a small victory on Wednesday, as investors built a small extension onto Tuesday's rally. There was another piece of good news from a big bank to chew on, but little else to cause joy as the market braces for fresh unemployment and retail numbers on Thursday. Tuesday's strong finish was due in large part to an unexpectedly favorable report from Citigroup, who claimed to be profitable in January and February. JPMorgan Chase followed with a similar report on Wednesday. The U.S. Treasury Department beat Wall Street expectations by posting a February deficit of $192.78 billion. The Street had been expecting $230 billion. There was also some favorable word about Hewlett Packard, (upgraded) and Apple (new iPhone). But there the trail of good news grows cold. Office supplies retailer Staples posted a 14% sales decline and said it expects more weak results through the end of the year. National Semiconductor said it would axe over 1,700 employees after saying if expects its fourth-quarter sales to drop by 5% to 10%. Thursday's numbers for new jobless claims and retail sales numbers are not expected to be encouraging.
The Investrend Earnings Calendar features Cardiac Science (NASDAQ: CSCX), expected at $0.09; Internap (NASDAQ: INAP), expected at $0.04; Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), expected at $0.24; Luxottica (NYSE: LUX), expected at $0.18.
The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Retail Sales for February (8:30 a.m.), Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Business Inventories for January (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 30-year bonds (1 p.m.).
The Investrend Events Calendar showcases AZO, WRC, UA, HD at Bank of America Securities Consumer Conference; CBT 2009 Annual Meeting of Shareholders; CNK, RGC, MVL, MCS at Gabelli & Company Movie Industry Conference; FSLR at Oppenheimer Alternative Energy 1-on-1 Conference; IT Investor Day; ITT Annual Shareholders Meeting; PMC, FICL at Noble Financial Capital Markets Conference; SKM Shareholders Meeting; TSYS, DMAN, N, DBD at Wedbush Morgan Securities Conference; TYC International General Meetings; UTX Annual Analysts and Portfolio Managers Meeting.
The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed 34 advancers versus 15 decliners and one unchanged. Advancers were led by Us Bancorp (NYSE: USB) up 8.95%, Goldman Sachs Grp (NYSE: GS) up 8.34%, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) up 8.01%, Financial Bull 3x (NYSE: FAS) up 7.67%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) up 6.21%. Decliners followed Dryships Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) down 8.53%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) down 6.67%, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) down 6.40%, Huntington Bancshares Incorpora (NASDAQ: HBAN) down 6.02%.
Vote in the Investrend Poll Question of the Day at Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com).
Investrend Website of the Day: http://neverpayretailagain.blogspot.com/
Quote of the Day: I've always thought space station is a great name. It should be like a gas station where we go for service and supplies before heading further out. Wally Schirra
Today is: World Kidney Day, Girl Scout Day, Mauritius National Day.
Happy Birthday: Paul Gerhardt, John Aubrey, Gordon MacRae, Wally Schirra, Barbara Feldon, Johnny Rutherford, Al Jarreau, Liza Minnelli, Darryl Strawberry.
Today in History: Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ended his siege of Rome in 538 and retreated to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius. Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time in 1894. The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) were founded in the U.S. in 1912. The future capital of Australia was officially named Canberra in 1913. Moscow became the capital of Russia again in 1918 after Saint-Petersburg had held this status for 215 years. In California, the St. Francis Dam failed in 1928, killing 400 people. Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 led a 200-mile march known as Dandi March to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt. The Dennis the Menace comic strip appeared in newspapers across the USA for the first time in 1951.
[FirstAlert" was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com). The opinions expressed in FirstAlert" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]
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