Courtesy of Blain.
It was a quiet Friday to end a quiet week as it seems most of Wall Street left for the Hamptons last weekend. The S&P 500 fell 0.22% and the NASDAQ 0.03%. Stocks moved little following an afternoon speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that said a rate hike would be appropriate this year if the economy improves. She noted that first quarter weakness was largely transitory and that it would take several years for rates to return to normal. The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.1 percent last month, with the core figure discounting food and energy costs up 0.3 percent, for the largest gain since January 2013.
More grind it out action in the indexes – perhaps the S&P 500 is setting up for a new move once it completes this bull flag.
Transports are one area of the market really sticking out like a sore thumb to the downside.
BlackBerry (BBRY) will buy back about 2.6 percent of its outstanding shares, to negate potential negative effects of a proposed employee stock purchase plan.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) reported adjusted quarterly profit if 87 cents per share, 2 cents above estimates, though revenue was slightly shy of forecasts. The company also issued weaker-than-expected current quarter guidance. Investors are taking note of a positive development—lower-than-expected expenses for the separation of its personal computer and printer businesses into a separate company. The stock remains below the key 200 day moving average.
Deere & Co. (DE) earned $2.03 per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates of $1.55 despite a slight revenue shortfall. Deere noted a weak global agricultural sector, but said good execution aided its bottom line.
Continued strength is coming out of the Chinese stocks – a pattern for the past month or so. Ctrip.com (CTRP) was news specific:
Ctrip.com surged to a record after it purchased a 38 percent stake in Elong Inc., improving the outlook for pricing and profits in China’s increasingly competitive online travel-booking industry. Both companies’ profit margins have been hurt in recent years as they increased marketing spending to lure customers in China’s burgeoning travel industry with promotions including discount coupons. Ctrip, which operates the country’s biggest travel-booking website, bought the Elong stake from U.S.-based Expedia Inc. Together, they will control 75 percent of the market share for high-end hotel booking, putting them in a better position to negotiate with vendors.
Youku (YOKU) seems driven by news earlier this week of increased guidance and then traders trying to find a hot name latching onto it. See that volume spike today!
Have a great holiday weekend and we’ll see you back here Tuesday.
