Today was really about watching the oil ticker and seeing crude break down under the $124.00 mark. OPEC's president said in the right circumstances that oil could go back under $80.00. Median home prices fell almost 16% in May. The US's failed trade talks with China at the W.T.O. hardly mattered. It even looked like people on Wall Street were in a good mood today as the dollar hit a monthly high. After a near $3.00 drop to under $122.00 you have to wonder.... Can gasoline hit $3 again this year?
Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA 11,395.12 (+264.04)
S&P500 1262. 94 (+28.57)
NASDAQ 2319.62 (+55.40)
10-YR T-NOTE 4.044% (+0.026%)
52-WEEK LOWS
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) saw another gain of 2% to $31.45 in the final minutes after yesterday's earnings gains. But the key to today's move besides the market was massive stock options trading.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) was a mixed "love and hate" today, although by the end of the day shares were up over 5% at $25.677 in the final minutes. The company raised an effective $8.5 billion for an implied 20% dilution to get many CDO's off the books. Meredith Whitney of Oppenheimer calls this good news despite a cautious rating, while many now question John Thayne's credibility over the dilution he said wouldn't occur.
Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) saw gains today after the company disclosed that it sold its 2-millionth unit of the $99.00 Palm Centro smartphone. Shares were up 10% at $6.32 in today's final minutes.
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) took yet another drumming today. The firm completed the XM merger but disclosed a huge share sale and its huge 7% debt offering has an effective conversion price of $1.875. Shares were down another 15% at $1.58 in today's final minutes. Cramer said it was about as safe as investing in a lotto ticket.
Sony Corp. ADR (NYSE: SNE) had a bad day as earnings fell 47% on flat sales, with electronics sales down 50% on price cuts and competition. The Sony-Ericsson phone venture barely made money at all, but the one bright spot here is that its video game unit is back to making money. Shares were down 6% at $37.49 (new 52-week low into close) in the final minutes.
