US Stock Market Close (Dec 1, 2006)

DJIA    12,194.13; Down 27.80 (0.23%)
NASDAQ    2,413.21; Down 18.56 (0.76%)
S&P500    1,396.71; Down 3.92 (0.28%)
10YR-Bond    4.425%     Down 0.033
NYSE Volume    2,733,464,000
NASD Volume    1,955,439,000

Today the markets got to digest an ISM reading of under that 50.0 barrier, which confirms more manufacturing slowdown after that weak 49.9 Chicago Purchasing Managers index yesterday.  The DJIA had seen triple digit gains, but bottom fishers came in during the last hour to accumulate shares.

Goldman Sachs dumped Wal-Mart (WMT) and replaced it with Target (TGT) on its notorious Americas Conviction Buy List; WMT fell 0.5% to $45.87 and TGT fell 1.3% to $57.31.

Home Depot (HD) rose another 2.5% to $38.97 on hopes that KKR and others would really make a bid for the company in the biggest buyout ever.

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) rose 0.6% to $13.36 on its first day as a combined Lucent-Alcatel.

Finisar (FNSR) fell some 11% to $2.40 after guidance and disclosing its own options investigation.

Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) fell 4.6% to $26.41 after its guidance, despite being higher in after-hours trading yesterday.

NASDAQ (NDAQ) fell a sharp 7% to $37.32 after Prudential cut its rating to underweight from overweight.  The NYSE (NYX) fell 3.5% to $96.60 along with it by

EMC (EMC) closed up 0.5% to $13.18 after reports showed it is actually growing its market share faster than the overall storage markets.

McGraw Hill (MHP) fell 0.4% to $66.41 despite Jim Cramer on MAD MONEY saying print media buyers should  own that name as it has diversified out of pure print.

Lazard (LAZ) fell 0.7% to $45.10 after pricing 13 million shares at $45.42.

Cohen & Steers (CNS) fell 3.8% to $36.50 after pricing a 3.5 million share secondary at $36.50.

Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE) rose 5.7% to $29.20 after posting a loss, but it had opened down roughly 3%.

Of the name gadget component stocks, handset camera chipset maker Omnivision (OVTI) fell 16% to $13.62 after posting earnings results under expectations.

Warner Music (WMG) fell 2.5% to $24.78 after posting a slight loss after items.

H&R Block (HRB) fell 1% to $23.75 after posting wider losses than expected.

Select Comfort (SCSS) rose 1.6% to $17.56 despite a lackluster profit forecast.

Jon C. Ogg
December 1, 2006