Markets started the week indecisive. Dow is off 21, advancers ahead of decliners 1¼ to 1 while NAZ slipped 5. The biggest news today was the pre-trading announcement by Bank of America (BAC), a Dow stock, of Q2 earnings. As has so commonly been reported, earnings were down from last year but beat lowered expectations & are good enough to not only earn the div but also support a slight increase later in the week. BAC is up 2 to 29½, down from an earlier high of 31. The rest of the Dow is not doing so well. Only 4 are up including 2 big gains by BAC & beaten up AIG. The other financials are: Citigroup (C) - up 41¢, JP Morgan (JPM) - down 1.18 & American Express (AXP) - down 1.10. Financials had an extraordinary run late last week, they will have to come up with more tricks this week to continue attracting buyers.
Meanwhile oil is up a little:
| CLQ08.NYM | Crude Oil Aug 08
| 129.18 11:32am ET |  0.30 (0.23%)
|
Otherwise, markets can't decide what to do. The Alerian MLP index is up 5 from its 52 week lows & REITs are a little higher. Stanley Works is down 2½ on a downgrade, increasing its yield to nearly 3%. Swiss Roche is offering to buy
Genentech (DNA) for 89, the stock rose 10+ to over 92 anticipating an even higher bid. Buyouts are generally good for the stock market but not today. Stocks already had a big run late last week.
Apple (AAPL) earnings, among others, will come out after the close, expectations are for a pretty report. Markets have much to evaluate: BAC & other financial earnings. Look for troubled Wachovia, up 67¢ to 13.64, later this week.
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