Closing Bell: The way the market churns...

Posted May 2nd 2008 4:16PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Viacom (VIA), Automatic Data Proc (ADP), Sun Microsystems (JAVA)

Today started out as one of those positive days again as the investment climate appeared to be getting better. Then the unemployment data came out, and frankly it wasn't really as bad as one would expect. But shortly after 10:00 AM, we saw profit takers come into the market. In fact, even oil traders ran oil up after shorts covered after a good week of selling Texas Tea; oil closed up $3.82 at $116.34.

Below are the unofficial closing levels for major US index levels:

DJIA 13,051.36 (+41.36; +0.32%)
S&P500 1,413.96 (+4.62; +0.33%)
NASDAQ 2,476.14 (-4.57; -0.18%)
10YR-TBond 3.845% (+0.096)

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was a winner with shares up almost 5% at $82.25 in the last minutes of the day. The agricultural nutrients supplier beat earnings, and this gave some pause to the selling in the potash and fertilizer stock selling that had been seen this week.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP) saw shares fall by 5% to $42.94 in the last minutes of the day. The processing giant saw a 6% earnings gain, which was interpreted as stagnant economy growth at many of its payroll clients.

Churchill Downs Inc. (NASDAQ: CHDN) saw shares down by more than 7% at $48.17 in the last minutes of the day. It operates the Churchill Downs, which is where tomorrow's Kentucky Derby is located. Analysts downgraded the company after labor woes may affect earnings more than originally concerned.

Investools (NASDAQ: SWIM) saw its share of problems after missing earnings estimates, but more importantly it disclosed an informal SEC inquiry over some of its claims. Shares were shelled by 29% at $8.83 in the last minutes of the day.

Shares of Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) were down almost 23% at $12.60 at the end of the day after a very disappointing earnings report.

Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) saw shares down 3.4% at $82.50 in the last minutes of the day. The company beat earnings, but guidance was deemed as tepid when compared to the estimates.

Jon Ogg is a producer and editor for the weekly "10 Stocks Under $10" newsletter from 247WallSt.com.

Tags: ADP, AGU, CHDN, inthenews, JAVA, SUNW, SWIM, VIA