Posted on 04/26/2006 2:17:59 PM PDT by xcamel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended higher on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials hitting a 6-year high, buoyed by stronger-than-expected earnings from companies such as top brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. and a key broker's dropping its "sell" rating on General Motors Corp.
The latest string of results in a stronger-than-forecast earnings season overshadowed investors' worries about rising interest rates after orders in March for durable goods such as airplanes and refrigerators surpassed expectations.
Anheuser-Busch reported stronger-than-expected earnings, sending its shares up 5.3 percent, or $2.27, to $44.90 on the New York Stock Exchange. For details see: .
Top U.S. brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co. upgraded General Motors Corp. to "neutral," saying it sees early signs of a turnaround, and making GM the Dow's top gainer as it rose 7.9 percent, or $1.70, to $23.11. .
"The consensus going into the quarter was that earnings were going to (rise) somewhere north of 10 percent and they have handily beat expectations," said Joe Liro, an economist and market strategist with Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, who pinned the rising markets on Wednesday on the flow of positive earnings news.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended up 71.24 points, or 0.63 percent, at 11,354.49, its highest close since January 19, 2000. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> closed up 3.67 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,305.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> finished up 3.33 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,333.63.
Government data showed orders for durable goods — manufactured items meant to last three years or more — surged
in March, reviving worries the Federal Reserve would continue to raise rates into the second half of the year to cool a sizzling economy and ward off inflationary pressures.
Stocks also extended Wednesday's upward swing after a report showed a 13.8 percent jump in new home sales in March, which far exceeded expectations.
The Dow Jones index of home builders' stocks <.DJUSHB> rose 1.6 percent. That mirrored gains in stocks such as Toll Brothers Inc. , up 1.1 percent, or 36 cents, at
$33.30.
Weakness in biotech shares limited the Nasdaq's gains.
Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. , a biopharmaceutical company whose drugs include HIV virus and bird flu treatments, fell 6.7 percent, or $4.11, to $57.31.
Analysts said there was concern that Gilead's royalties for flu drug Tamiflu for the year may not meet expectations.
Shares of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. , which own Cingular Wireless, and Verizon Communications , which owns Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group Plc , all rose and helped lead the S&P 500 higher on Wednesday after Sprint Nextel Corp. , the No. 3 U.S. wireless service, reported results below expectations and fed concerns it is losing market share to its bigger rivals.
AT&T rose 2.2 percent, or 56 cents, to $26.16, while BellSouth was up 2.1 percent, or 69 cents, at $33.74. Shares of Verizon rose 1.8 percent, or 58 cents, to $33.08. All are traded on the NYSE.
While the broader stock market appears to be taking the spike in bond yields in stride, one group is taking it on the chin: utilities. The S&P 500's utilities index <.GSPU> is down by about 1 percent for a second straight day and is now the second-worst performer, behind health care <.GSPA>, in the index for the year.
Utilities pay the largest dividend yields over any other stock market sector and become less appealing when bond yields rise and become more competitive.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note's yield hit 5.13 percent during the day — its highest in about four years. Late in the day, the 10-year note's yield was 5.11 percent, up from 5.07 percent on Tuesday, while its price was down 9/32 late Wednesday at 95-11/32.
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They don't really care about it, they just like to gripe about it. If they really cared about it, they would change their driving habits, and the price would dip.
Shalom.
Greenspan induced that recession, not Clinton. By 9/11 most of the damage to our economy had already been done. If anything, it forced Greenspan to accelerate the adding of badly needed liquidity back into the economy.
A government bubble, an oil bubble, and a housing bubble with skyrocketing commodities costs are hardly a good replacement for the Clinton bubble.
They also forgot, "Women and Children hit hardest."
Take your doom & gloom back to the RAT web site.
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I dont have my head stuck in the sand. Whom ever mentioned that gas prices are the canary of the economy is speaking the truth.
I am talking from my family's perspective and those around me. Their excess cash is being blown on fuel. That translates into lower income.
If you were to look at the last time gas prices got this way - during Katrina - you would note that growth was way down... and it wasnt until gas prices dropped a full dollar and twenty cents plus that growth started to happen again.
The fact that gas has tripled should raise a red flag. It doesnt take and academic genuis to tell you somthing very bad will happen to the economy as a result.
People will blame it on the GOP and it will be their fault for not pinning the dems ears back on ANWR and other drilling and refining options (like the thirty some odd gas mixtures) or doing somthing about it themselves.
if we can tackle this problem and come up with a solution, then we will win the election. other wise we are in serious trouble.
Pravda-USA isn't going to like this.
But Nancy Pelosi says the sky is falling!
The last time I filled my tank gas cost $2.86. Running that number through the Inflation Calculator goves this result:
What cost $2.86 in 2005 would cost $0.63 in 1972.
I was a bit under driving age in '72, but the numbers don't sound too far out of line. There is a lot of sub-$1-a-gallon reminiscing going on right now, but folks don't seem to remember that the figures on their 1972 paychecks looked nothing like what they see on their present pay stubs.
p.s. - The starting year is 2005, since the calculator has no more recent figures.
Sell in May and go away. Headed for the October low from here.
"IT IS ALL, I MEAN ALL, ABOUT GAS AND OIL PRICES WITH 99.99% OF AMERICANS RIGHT NOW. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. GAS AND OIL PRICES."
I wouldn't worry about your Gas Prices too much. Here in the UK we have paying paying way, way more for you for our 'gas' for years. Currently I pay 95 pence per litre of fuel which converts to $6.49 per US Gallon.
I'll say that again: $6.49 per Gallon. We've beem paying the equivalent of over $6 a gallon in the UK for a few years now.
Now we whine over here about rising petrol prices as much as you guys - but here's the thing: We still have a vibrant, thriving, internationally competative economy even with that level of fuel cost. American's only need fear the fear of the rising prices. Your economy can easily absorb it if need be.
(incidentally, in case you are wondering what the cause of the difference in price is...... TAX! We pay an OBSCENE amount of Tax on our fuel something like 70%
LOL...and FR's resident doom&gloomers' heads are now going to explode.
Buy gold, the market is worthless; that's what you forgot. LOL
My grandmother's satin wedding shoes cost $15.00, which was the average man's gross weekly salary, in 1916. Yep, $15.00 for a pair of high end, designer shoes sounds pretty good to me.
In 1967, comparable shoes cost about $35.00.
In 2000, they cost $300.00-$450.00
See? We can play this game with all kinds of things. :-)
Spot on!
It absolutely did; you're 100% correct!
The tech bubble began to burst after algore went after Microsoft, for his high contributing, Microsoft's rivals, pals. And Greenspan added and abetted Clinton up til then; as did Robert Rubin.
And frankly, you have NO idea what a BUBBLE is. There's no such thing as a "government bubble", the supposed "housing bubble" isn't nation wide, nor is it anything at all like the last great REAL ESTATE/HOUSING BUBBLE ( which WAS a "true" bubble ), which took place in Chicago in the mid 1800s, and as to commodities...well, never mind; you wouldn't "get it" any way. LOL
Based on what?
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