Wal-Mart
Retail giant Wal-Mart reported its earnings for the third-quarter rose by over 3%, however the company issued disappointing forecasts for the 4Q. Wal-Mart announced today that third-quarter profits rose to $3.23 billion, or $0.84 per share; up from the $3.14 billion, or $0.80 per share they reported last year, analysts expected a gain by $0.81. Sales rose 1.1% to $98.67 billion, just below the analysts estimate of $99.2 billion, even though earnings rose by 3.2% and sales rose by over 1%; sales in stores open at least one year fell 0.4%. Wal-Mart said they expect to see those sales to possibly continue to fall through the fourth-quarter. Wal-Mart is considered a key indicator of consumer spending, a lot of analysts look at the store's sales to get an idea how much consumers are spending, what types of things they are spending money on, Wal-Mart is a great store to watch due, to the fact that the mega store raked in $400 billion in sales last year. In the report they said consumers were spending money on necessary items such as undergarments and socks, things in that departments saw the most sales, non necessity items such as jewelry, home decor and things of that sort saw the biggest overall declines. Wal-Mart vice chairman, Eduardo Castro-Wright said, "Our customers continue to tell us they are concerned about their own finances and employment." To see a 3% rise in earnings in such tough times should be encouraging, it means that people are out there spending and the biggest holiday season is right around the corner, people will be anxious to see earnings after Christmas. In trading news, gold continued its climb reaching all new record highs of $1,122.30 this morning before dropping to $1,106.60 at the end of the trading session. Labor Department reported this morning that initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 502,000 in the week ending November 7, continuing claims fell 139,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.63 million, that is the lowest continuing claims has been since March. Stocks fell in the trading session as bond prices rose, the yield on the benchmark 10- year Treasury note fell to 3.44 from 3.47 Monday. The falling dollar managed to rise against other currencies as crude oil fell $2.34 to $76.94.
DJ-BTMU Business Barometer fell 0.2% on week in week of October 31; DJ-BTMU Business Barometer fell 6.5% on year in week of October 31.
Economic data released today:
MBA [Mortgage Bankers Association] Mortgage Applications:
U.S. MBA Market Index rose 3.2% at 627.5; last week 608.3; U.S. MBA Purchase Index fell11.7% at 220.9; last week 250.3; U.S. MBA Refinance Index rose 11.3% at 2998.2; last week 2693.7.
Initial Jobless Claims:
U.S. Jobless Claims fell 12K to 502K in week of November 7 compared to survey of a decrease by 2K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of October 31 fell 139K to 5,631,000; U.S. Jobless Claims Revised for week of October 31 to 514K from 512K.
Crude Oil Inventories released by Department of Energy [DOE]:
U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles +1.762 Million Barrels at 337.676 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles +1.762 Million Barrels in week; was seen increasing by 0.2 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles +2.56 Million Barrels at 210.837 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles +2.56 Million Barrels in week; was seen unchanged; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles +0.349 Million Barrels at 167.725 Million Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles +0.349 Million Barrels in week; was seen -0.4 Million Barrels; U.S. Refineries Ran at 79.93% versus 80.59% week ago; U.S. Refineries Ran at 79.93% capacity; was seen 80.90%.
At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) shed 91.37 points, EOD 10,199.89
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) shed 92.54, EOD 7,062.82
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) shed 18.02 points, EOD 2,148.88
S&P 500 (SPX) shed 11.3 points, EOD 1,087.21
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 2.95 points, EOD 2,480.93
CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 6.32 points, EOD 3,808.07
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 9.75 points, EOD 5,276.50
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) shed 117.9 points, EOD 9,804.49
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 636 declined stock prices 2,461, unchanged stock prices 73, stock prices hitting new highs 110 and stock prices hitting new lows 8. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: FAS shed 4.34, HOD 81.49, LOD 75.86, EOD 76.23; AMD gain 1.17, HOD 6.73, LOD 6.35, EOD 6.49; CME gain 0.75, HOD 318.99, LOD 310.10, EOD 314.02; MA shed 1.42, HOD 241.65, LOD 235.62, EOD 236.48; RTP shed 5.79, HOD 207.93, LOD 202.11, EOD 202.86; EDC shed 9.74, HOD 154.00, LOD 143.71, EOD 145.25.
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 657, declined stock prices 2,054, unchanged stock prices 112, stock prices hitting new highs 69 and stock prices hitting new lows 47. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: BIDU shed 4.63, HOD 433.90, LOD 424.30, EOD 425.88; PALM shed 0.53, HOD 12.34, LOD 11.36, EOD 11.47; GMCR shed 7.64, HOD 70.71, LOD 66.55, EOD 68.26; CTRP gain 4.92, HOD 72.50, LOD 67.42, EOD 69.21; AAPL shed 1.15, HOD 204.87, LOD 201.43, EOD 202.10; FSLR shed 4.40, HOD 118.75, LOD 115.09, EOD 115.45; JRCC shed 2.09, HOD 20.41, LOD 19.73, EOD 19.83; TTEK shed 1.76, HOD 26.25, LOD 24.28, EOD 25.41.
Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 157, declined stock prices 379, unchanged stock prices 32, stock prices hitting new highs 13 and stock prices hitting new lows 8.
Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Dec 09: EOD 1084.00; Change -12.25
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Dec 09: EOD 1,770.25; Change -13.50
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Dec 09: EOD 10,154; Change -105
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Dec 09: EOD 690.20; Change -10.70
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Dec 09: EOD 9,755; Change -175
World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6739 U.S. Dollars 1.4839
Japanese Yen 90.3800 to U.S. Dollars 0.0111
British Pound 0.6032 to U.S. Dollars 1.6578
Canadian Dollar 1.0556 to U.S. Dollars 0.9473
Swiss Franc 1.0178 to U.S. Dollars 0.9825
COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (December 09) shed $2.34, EOD $76.94 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (December 09) shed $0.06, EOD $2.03 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (December 09) shed $0.14, EOD $4.76 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (December 09) shed $0.05, EOD $1.94 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (December 09) shed $8.00, EOD $1,106.50 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (December 09) shed $0.28, EOD $17.27 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (January 09) shed $6.40, EOD $1,363.20 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (December 09) shed $0.02, EOD $2.97 ($US per pound)
Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (December 09) shed $1.83, EOD $61.35
Pork Bellies (February 10) shed $0.45, EOD $85.05
Live Cattle (December 09) shed $1.10, EOD $84.83
Feeder Cattle (January 10) shed $0.98, EOD $92.50
Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (December 09) shed $3.50, EOD $390.50
Soybeans (January 10) gain $18.00, EOD $990.00
BOND MARKET:
2 year EOD 100 11/32, change 1/32, Yield 0.81, Yield change -0.02
5 year EOD 100 17/32, change 5/32, Yield 2.25, Yield change -0.04
10 year EOD 99 12/32, change -1 26/32, Yield 3.44, Yield change -0.03
30 year EOD 101 24/32, change 11/32, Yield 4.39, change -0.02
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