Stocks are higher in mid-day trading after yesterday's sharp
pullback, but the market could swing on the Federal Reserve's Beige
Book, a snapshot of economic conditions in each of its districts
that will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Economic concerns remain at
the fore for the markets while Washington awaits President Barack
Obama's address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night.
News reports Wednesday indicated that President Obama will
propose injecting $300 billion into the economy next year through a
mix of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and aid to local
governments and will propose the plan in a speech to Congress
Thursday. Bloomberg says Obama will propose that the costs are
offset by raising tax revenue in later years.
In company news:
Shares of Bank of America (
BAC
) are higher after the company reported in the late extended
session that it appointed David Darnell and Tom Montag to the
newly-created positions of co-chief operating officers.
Yahoo (
YHOO
) is seeing firm gains in the wake of the company's confirmation it
fired CEO Carol Bartz and replaced her with interim CEO Timothy
Morse, the company's current CFO. A Wall Street Journal report
quoted one insider as saying Yahoo's board is open to selling the
company to the right bidder.
Shares of Chevron (
CVX
) are higher in regular-session trading after the company announced
late yesterday that it discovered an oil reserve at the Moccasin
prospect in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The well is located
approximately 216 miles off the Louisiana coast in 6,759 feet of
water and was drilled to a depth of 31,545 feet.
Citigroup (
C
) is higher after Chairman Richard Parsons told CNBC this morning
he sees no need for an executive shakeup like Bank of America's (
BAC
). Parson said Citi is holding its own in the bad economy. "I can
be definitive there, because I think actually Citi is doing, in a
down market and an ugly sector, reasonably well, believe it or
not," he told the cable network.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson (
JNJ
) are firm after the company's prostate-cancer treatment Zytiga
received approval from European regulators, The Wall Street Journal
reports. The green light follows earlier approval in April of the
drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) are sharply higher after the company
said in Tuesday's after-hours session that it expects FY 2013
revenue of $4.7 to $5.0 bln, vs. the analyst consensus of $4.45
bln. It expects GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins of approximately 51
percent to 53 percent. Nvidia further anticipates GAAP operating
expenses of $1.54 billion to $1.61 billion, and non-GAAP operating
expenses of $1.38 billion to $1.43 billion. Non-GAAP operating
expenses are expected to exclude stock-based compensation expense,
amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets and other
acquisition-related costs.
Shares of McDonald's (MCD) are just lower, while the company
today announced it is investing $1 billion to undertake its biggest
Canadian store brand transformation in the company's 44-year
history in that country, focusing on re-invigorating the look, feel
and function of the majority of its more than 1,400 restaurants
across the country.
Commodities are mixed. December gold contracts are down 2.95% to
$1,818 an ounce while October crude oil contacts are up 3.62% to
$89.09 a barrel.
In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is up 2.86% to
$34.55 and the United States Natural Gas fund (UNG) is up 1.82%, to
$10.08.
In precious metal ETFs, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) is down 3.29%
to $176.89. Market Vectors Gold Miners (GDX) is down 0.84% to
$64.77. iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is down 1.85% to $40.29.