The markets got off to a strong start this morning, and stayed that way throughout the day. The dollar weakened against the euro and yen as currency traders seem to believe that a solution to the mess in Europe is getting nearer. Trading volume has been moderate today, perhaps due to the bond market holiday. Gold closed at $1,788.10/ounce, up 1.6% and silver closed near $34.69/ounce, up 1.7%. Crude oil settled within just below $99/barrel, its highest point in about three months.
The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 259 points to 12,153.46 (2.18%), the NASDAQ rose more than 53 points (2.04%) to 2,678.75, and the S&P 500 rose 1.95% or more than 24 points to 1,263.85.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) started as ‘neutral’ at Nomura. Other changes included Cameron International (NYSE: CAM) reiterated ‘buy’ with $73 target at BofA/ML; Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) maintained ‘neutral’ but cut target to $14 at JPMorgan; NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) reiterated ‘buy’ with $18 target at BofA/ML; SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) reinstated as ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML; and Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) started as ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital.
Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) is down more than -13%, at $47.91; D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI) is down more than -2%, at $11.42; Bacterin International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONE) is up more than 6%, at $2.90; Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTI) is down more than -3.5%, at $3.45; and The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) is up more than 2.5%, at $47.25.
Several other standouts from today are as follows…
Pinnacle Data Systems Inc. (AMEX: PNS) is up more than 105%, at $2.36. The company has accepted a takeover offer from Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) worth $2.40/share.
Alimera Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) is down nearly -74%, at $1.94. The company failed to get FDA approval for its eye pain drug.
pSivida Corp. (NASDAQ: PSDV) is down more than -46%, at $2.11. The company had licensed to Alimera an element of the drug that failed the FDA test.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) is down more than -13%, at $33.43. The company missed earnings and revenue estimates.
Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: HOVNP) is down more than -9%, at $1.40. The company did not have any news today, but likely suffered from the earnings report from D.R. Horton.
Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corp. (AMEX: TRX) is up more than 20%, at $2.75. The company’s shares were halted earlier, and the company issued a statement that there was no particular event responsible for the heavy trading in the stock.
Except for short-term Treasury Bill auctions, there are no events scheduled for Monday.
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Paul Ausick
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