Following the market opening Wednesday morning, the Dow traded
up 0.24 percent to 13,133.71 while the NASDAQ rose 0.23 percent
to 2,997.31. The S&P also rose, increasing 0.11 percent to
1,414.71.
As a heads up for the week, we have now entered the most busy
period of earnings season, so watch for some serious price
action.
Top Headline
The Defense sector proved itself in a major way this morning, as
both Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT
) and Boeing (NYSE:
BA
) posted solid earnings beats in revenue and EPS. While the
threat of defence cuts looms, both companies show no signs of
weakness as they provided strong guidance for the
fourth-quarter.
Equities Trading UP
Facebook (NASDAQ:
FB
) surged this morning more than 21 percent to $23.65 after the
company posted an EPS miss, but a revenue beat after the close
yesterday.
Polycom (NASDAQ:
PLCM
) was also up, rising 14.47 percent to $10.60 following a revenue
beat and guidance in-line with analyst estimates.
Shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ:
RFMD
) rose 16.28 percent to $4.57 after DA Davidson increased its
price target on the company Wednesday morning.
Equities Trading DOWN
Tempur Pedic (NYSE:
TPX
) fell 22.12 percent to $24.82 after the company posted lower
than expected revenue guidance after the close yesterday.
United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:
UTHR
) traded down 13.87 percent to $45.89 following downgrades at BMO
Capital markets, and JP Morgan.
Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ:
NFLX
) also took a hit, falling 15.07 percent to $57.94 after Jeffries
and BMO capital markets lowered their price targets on the
company.
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.48 percent to $88.30, while
gold traded up 0.18 percent to $1,706.40.
Silver traded up 0.05 percent Wednesday to $31.84.
Euro Zone
The European Central Bank's Mario Draghi made a strong defence
for the ECB's bond buying program this morning, telling German
politicians that their fears that the program would spur
inflation would not come to fruition.
There was also some confusion in Greece as the Greek Finance
Minister announced the Troika had agreed to extend the Greek
bailout, while German lawmakers said the opposite. As a result,
European markets managed to post a rally.
Economics
In economic news, MBA mortgage applications were -12.0 percent,
well below the prior figure of -4.2 percent.
New home sales came in at 389 thousand, slightly above the
expected 385 thousand and the previous figure of 368 thousand.
New home Sales month over month came in at 5.7 percent, far above
the expected 3.2 percent and the previous number of -1.3
percent.
Also of note, at 2:15 the FOMC will be releasing its interest
rate decision.
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advice. All rights reserved.