Higher oil prices, inflation news & poor earnings from HD & TGT sent stocks lower. Dow is down 181 (far below the 13K barrier), decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ is down 31. Oil is over 129, trying to work its way up to 130. The latest concern is that suppliers said they can't increase production before the Sep meeting. AAA reported that gas at the pump reached another record, $3.80 yesterday. The Labor Dept reported wholesale inflation was 0.2% in Apr. Excluding food & oil, inflation was 0.4% (double expectations).
Home Depot (HD), a Dow stock, reported lower earnings for Q1, sending the stock down 1.32. Even though earnings declined from last year, they beat lowered expectations. Same store sales were down 6½% from last year & they cautioned that the housing market remains tough. Target (TGT) reported earnings were down 8%, but beat lowered expectations. This is getting to sound like a broken record. Sames store sales were down 0.7% in what is described as a challenging environment. Their net credit card write-offs increased to an annualized rate of 7.6%, up from 6% last year ago. Expect more dreary news for awhile.
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