Reply #31: Closin, - blather writers were quick again today

[54anickel]

Dow 10,649.92 -55.72 (-0.52%)
Nasdaq 2,135.20 -10.95 (-0.51%)
S&P 500 1,194.22 -8.99 (-0.75%)
10-yr Bond 4.209% +0.025
30-yr Bond 4.838% +0.014
NYSE Volume 2,483,830,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,428,277,000

Close Dow -55.72 at 10649.92, S&P -8.99 at 1194.22, Nasdaq -10.95 at 2135.20: Broad-based selling interest prompted by negative news in the drug sector set a bearish tone that never reversed course, in spite of comforting inflation data... Pfizer (PFE 25.89 -3.09), which was halted at the open after it said one of two cancer trials linked to its painkiller Celebrex showed increased risk of heart damage, was the largest factor adding to the overall negative bias... The warning sent a ripple effect through the market as more than 270 million shares of the world's largest drug maker exchanged hands, accounting for 10% of the entire volume on the NYSE...
The sell off took competitor Merck (MRK 31.59 -0.20), another Dow component, down with it, and kept buyers reluctant to hold stocks heading into the weekend... A 7% decline in drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN 37.12 -3.09), after its lung cancer drug Iressa failed to show significant survival benefits in patients, didn't help matters either as the drug sector (-3.0%) got hammered... Quadruple witching options expiration activity also prompted strong market activity across the indices, as volumes on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq topped 1.0 bln shares by noon and traded more than 4.8 bln shares combined...

Meanwhile, the November core consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% (consensus +0.2%), compared to a 0.2% rise in October... Even though the data showed no major swings in any of the categories and confirmed that inflation was under control, any signs of bullishness were hard to find... When it was all said and done, virtually every sector closed lower... Homebuilding (1.2%) stocks continued to lose ground after touching 52-week highs on Wednesday while technology was weak across the board, with hardware (-3.3%) and disk drive (-1.4%) leading the way to the downside...

New FASB rules forcing companies to start expensing stock options in mid-2005 was another catalyst that left investors wondering if such a mandate will limit the ability of many technology names to entice and keep employees in the future... Retail, financial, utility and energy were also lower, with the latter failing to take advantage of a 4.8% surge in crude oil prices ($46.05/bbl +$1.87) as an anticipated U.S. cold spell could erode already low winter fuel inventories...

One area recovering lost ground, however, was transportation, which lost 0.7% yesterday after FedEx's (FDX 99.25 +1.54) Q2 (Nov) earnings fell short of forecasts... Footwear, on the heels of strong earnings from Nike (NKE 91.79 +5.89), enjoyed gains while hotel, aero/defense, and telecom service also closed higher... After a huge sell off yesterday that knocked yields on the 10-year note down to 4.18%, bonds opened higher... But after the CPI data came in as expected, the market sold off again with added selling interest in international government bonds and the $6.37 bln fall-off in implied foreign central bank treasury investments... Supply overhang stemming from the busiest week for IPOs in more than four years as more than 20 deals went public... NYSE Adv/Dec 1600/1714, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1545/1592

3:30PM : Equities remain on the defensive heading into the last half hour of trading as market breadth remains bearish... The bulk of notable earnings next week will come out of the technology and financial groups, sectors than comprise more than one third of the S&P 500's total market cap... The only S&P constituent reporting quarterly results on Monday though will be Jabil Circuit (JBL 25.55 -0.59), as the majority of earnings reports will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday... The only economic data out Monday will be the Leading Indicators report for November (consensus +0.2%)...NYSE Adv/Dec 1558/1746, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1355/1741

Advances & Declines
NYSE Nasdaq
Advances 1650 (47%) 1545 (47%)
Declines 1672 (48%) 1592 (48%)
Unchanged 149 (4%) 139 (4%)

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Up Vol* 846 (36%) 945 (39%)
Down Vol* 1450 (62%) 1414 (58%)
Unch. Vol* 39 (1%) 51 (2%)

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New Hi's 190 125
New Lo's 23 9



And the buck headed back down:

Last trade 82.09 Change -0.34 (-0.41%)

Settle 82.16 Settle Time 15:38

Open 82.32 Previous Close 82.50

High 82.54 Low 82.01

30-min delayed quote.

Have a great weekend everyone :hi: