Dow rose 100, advancers over decliners almost 4-1 & NAZ advanced 27. The MLP index recover 8+ from recent losses to just over 440 & the REIT index went up 5 to 271. Junk bond funds were generally higher & Treasuries were weak. Oil & gold continued in their sluggish ways, doing little.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
Consumers & companies are starting to act as if the US economic expansion is here to stay. Purchases of new homes jumped in May to a 5-year high, while business investment plans improved for a 3rd straight month, according to the Commerce Dept. The last time households were this confident was in Jan. The data point to the self-sustaining expansion the Federal Reserve is seeking to nurture as rising property values boost household wealth & spending, while businesses invest in new equipment to meet growing demand. Builders sold 476K new properties at an annualized rate last month, a 2.1% gain from Apr, exceeding estimates, & the median selling price climbed to $264K, up 10.3 percent from May 2012. Of course, more expansion will encourage the Federal Reserve to slow, then end, its bond buying program.
Consumers to Factories Point to Durable U.S. Expansion: Economy
Walgreen, fell the most in a year & a half after fiscal Q3 profit trailed estimates because of declining sales at established stores. Excluding some items, EPS was 85¢, under the estimate of 91¢. Sales at stores open at least 12 months dropped 3.9% as WAG tries to win back customers after a contract dispute with Express Scripts (ESRX) sent sales to rivals. Most of those customers have not returned. A reduction in promotions also hurt store traffic, CFO Wade Miquelon said. EPS was 65¢ versus 62¢ last year & sales advanced 3.2% to $18.3B. The stock sank 2.81 (6%).
Walgreen Declines After Third-Quarter Profit Trails Estimates
CEO Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, in her first annual meeting, said YHOO is making headway in efforts to attract shutterbugs & users of mobile devices. The number of daily active users for the Flickr photo app has jumped 50% since it was redesigned in May, while use of mobile e-mail has climbed 70% since an overhaul in Apr. “All of our growth is going to start with our users,” Mayer said. She highlighted user growth, new employee perks & deals such as last month’s $1.1B purchase of blogging platform Tumblr as evidence that her turnaround is taking root. The shares have climbed more than 50% since her hiring in Jul, outperforming display-advertising rival Facebook (FB) over the same period. The stock rose 89¢.
Yahoo CEO Mayer Adding Mobile Users After App Overhauls
Today was recovery day. Economic news was favorable & bargain hunters bid up stocks. But there is a logical problem for the bulls. Stronger economic data means the Federal Reserve will hasten its plans to slow & then end buying bonds. In addition, the Chinese economy is a bit on the iffy side. The new leadership is trying to figure out how to boost the economy with aggravating inflation. Then there's Europe which is far from being out of the woods. But today, buyers returned, a bullish sign for the stock market (although the Dow pulled back 50 in the last half hour).
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.06% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.40% | |
U.S. 10-year |
2.59% |
| CLQ13.NYM | ...Crude Oil Aug 13 | ...95.39 |  ...0.21 (0.2%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
Consumers & companies are starting to act as if the US economic expansion is here to stay. Purchases of new homes jumped in May to a 5-year high, while business investment plans improved for a 3rd straight month, according to the Commerce Dept. The last time households were this confident was in Jan. The data point to the self-sustaining expansion the Federal Reserve is seeking to nurture as rising property values boost household wealth & spending, while businesses invest in new equipment to meet growing demand. Builders sold 476K new properties at an annualized rate last month, a 2.1% gain from Apr, exceeding estimates, & the median selling price climbed to $264K, up 10.3 percent from May 2012. Of course, more expansion will encourage the Federal Reserve to slow, then end, its bond buying program.
Consumers to Factories Point to Durable U.S. Expansion: Economy
Walgreen, fell the most in a year & a half after fiscal Q3 profit trailed estimates because of declining sales at established stores. Excluding some items, EPS was 85¢, under the estimate of 91¢. Sales at stores open at least 12 months dropped 3.9% as WAG tries to win back customers after a contract dispute with Express Scripts (ESRX) sent sales to rivals. Most of those customers have not returned. A reduction in promotions also hurt store traffic, CFO Wade Miquelon said. EPS was 65¢ versus 62¢ last year & sales advanced 3.2% to $18.3B. The stock sank 2.81 (6%).
Walgreen Declines After Third-Quarter Profit Trails Estimates
Walgreen (WAG)
CEO Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, in her first annual meeting, said YHOO is making headway in efforts to attract shutterbugs & users of mobile devices. The number of daily active users for the Flickr photo app has jumped 50% since it was redesigned in May, while use of mobile e-mail has climbed 70% since an overhaul in Apr. “All of our growth is going to start with our users,” Mayer said. She highlighted user growth, new employee perks & deals such as last month’s $1.1B purchase of blogging platform Tumblr as evidence that her turnaround is taking root. The shares have climbed more than 50% since her hiring in Jul, outperforming display-advertising rival Facebook (FB) over the same period. The stock rose 89¢.
Yahoo CEO Mayer Adding Mobile Users After App Overhauls
Yahoo! (YHOO)
Today was recovery day. Economic news was favorable & bargain hunters bid up stocks. But there is a logical problem for the bulls. Stronger economic data means the Federal Reserve will hasten its plans to slow & then end buying bonds. In addition, the Chinese economy is a bit on the iffy side. The new leadership is trying to figure out how to boost the economy with aggravating inflation. Then there's Europe which is far from being out of the woods. But today, buyers returned, a bullish sign for the stock market (although the Dow pulled back 50 in the last half hour).
Dow Jones Industrials
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