Active broad-market exchange-traded funds:
SPDR S&P 500 (
SPY
): +0.4%
Financial Select Sector SPDR (
XLF
): +0.36%
PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (
QQQ
): +0.45%
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (
EEM
): +0.14%
iShares Russell 2000 Index (
IWM
): +0.4%
Broad Market Indicators
Broad-market exchange-traded funds, including SPY, IWM, IVV and
others, have held on to modest gains. Actively traded PowerShares
QQQ (
QQQ
) is up 0.45%.
U.S. stocks are rallying after both Democratic and Republican
congress leaders said their fiscal-cliff meeting with President
Obama, had been "constructive." Market sentiment brightened after a
week of fiscal-cliff gloom earlier today, when the Wall Street
Journal reported the White House was in "advanced discussions" to
replace the sequester, or the big spending cuts, with a smaller
package. Most analysts and pundits had expected negotiations to be
long drawn-out and would keep markets pressured and volatile over
the next several weeks; but the new plan could "push larger
deficit-reduction talks into the middle of 2013," WSJ added. In
economic data, October industrial production and capacity
utilization, missed forecasts, with data impacted by Hurricane
Andy.
Winners and Losers
Financial -
Select Financial Sector SPDRs (
XLF
) is up 0.33%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X shares (FAS) is up
1.4%. Its bearish counterpart, FAZ, is down 1.5%.
Among financial stocks, Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS) is
up 7% after it said yesterday that it has revised its Q4 guidance,
now expecting earnings to be $0.40 - $0.41 per share. Analysts
polled by Capital IQ are expecting EPS of $0.39. In addition, the
company said its board of directors increased the dividend for the
months of November and December 2012 by $0.01 to $0.12 per ordinary
share. The November dividend will be paid to shareholders of record
as of Nov. 30, 2012 on Dec. 10, 2012. The December dividend will be
paid to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31, 2012 on Jan. 10,
2013. HLSS shares were also raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche
Bank. The firm has a $19.25 price target on the stock.
Technology -
Tech
ETFs
are mixed: Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) flat; iShares
Dow Jones US Technology ETF (IYW), up 0.13%; iShares S&P North
American Technology ETF (IGM), down 0.76%; and iShares S&P
North American Technology-Software Index (IGV), up 0.61%.
SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) is down 0.05%; and
Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (SOXX) has turned negative. SPDR
S&P International Technology Sector ETF (IPK) too has turned
negative.
In sector news, Dell (DELL) is down 7% and has hit a new 52-week
low of $8.69 after reporting late Thursday Q3 revenue of $13.7 bln,
below the analyst consensus of $13.89 bln on Capital IQ. EPS was
$0.39, vs. expectations of $0.40 per share. The company expects
sequential revenue growth of 2% to 5%. Dell maintains its
expectation for at least $1.70 in earnings per share on a non-GAAP
basis. The Street is at $1.73 per share.
Energy -
Dow Jones U.S. Energy Fund (IYE) is now slightly lower; As is
the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE).
In sector news, Targa Resources Partners (NGLS) is down 1.3%.
Late Thursday, the partnership announced that it has priced an
underwritten public offering of 9.5 mln common units representing
limited partner interests at $36.00 per common unit. The
Partnership also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to
purchase up to 1.425 additional common units. The offering is
expected to close on or about November 21, 2012.
Commodities -
Crude was up 1.26%; natural gas was up 1.49%. United States Oil
Fund (USO) is up 1.17%. United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) is up
2.2%.
Gold was up 0.01% while silver was down 0.92% respectively.
Among rare metal funds, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is now slightly
higher; iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is down 0.48%.
Retail -
Retail ETFs are mostly in the green: SPDR S&P Retail (XRT),
up 0.1%; PowerShares Dynamic Retail (PMR), down 0.33%; and Market
Vectors Retail ETF (RTH), up 0.4%, with a new year high of
$43.25.
Among stocks, OfficeMax, Inc.(OMX) is up 18% and earlier climbed
to a new 52-week high of $10.62 following the IPO filing of Boise
Cascade (BCC). OMX holds 109 million shares of BCC's Series B
equity units, which represented, on September 30, 20.4% of BCC's
equity securities.
Power Play -
Healthcare -
Healthcare ETFs are firmer: Health Care SPDR (XLV), up 0.7%;
Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT), up 0.64%; and iShares Dow Jones US
Healthcare (IYH), up 0.82%. Biotech ETF iShares NASDAQ
Biotechnology Index (IBB) is up 2.2%.
In corporate news, Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) has trimmed
earlier losses, now down 47.5%. It touched a fresh new year low of
$2.22. Late Thursday, the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines
and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (Committee)
voted 13 to one that HEPLISAV data adequately demonstrated
immunogenicity. Additionally, the Committee voted eight to five
with one abstention that there was insufficient data to adequately
support the safety of HEPLISAV. Now that Dynavax has received the
Committee's input and vote, the company said it will continue
working with the FDA as it completes its review of the HEPLISAV
application. The scheduled Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA)
date for HEPLISAV is February 24, 2013.