We saw at least five directional changes throughout the day in the stock market, so the close still left people wondering what the day really was. The housing data was weaker than expected, and today marked the first day that the VIX went under 30. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:Dow 8,476.36 -27.72 (-0.33%)
S&P 500 908.34 -1.37 (-0.15%)
Nasdaq 1,734.54 +2.18 (0.13%)
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American Apparel, Inc. (NYSE: APP) posted a $9 million Q1 loss, announced a settlement with its Woody Allen lawsuit for $5 million, and said it may restate results. Shares were down by 11% at $4.86 right before the close.
American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) plans to eliminate somewhere around 4,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce. This, and the questions about repaying TARP money, had shares down almost 4% at $25.15 shortly before the close because of credit card restrictions placed by Congress in a vote today.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) came through with earnings at $0.35 EPS vs. $0.29 estimates, although there was a bit of a sell-the-news reaction since it was up so much yesterday. Shares were up on the first report, but the stock was down almost 5% at $24.75 right ahead of the close.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) wants to repay its $10 billion TARP balance, and the reception here seems positive. Shares were up 4% at $29.42 right ahead of the close.
Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) has announced that its new Palm Pre touchscreen smartphone is now set for a release date of June 6 on the Sprint network. Again, after a huge run we saw a sell-the-news reaction. Shares were down by about 2.5% at $11.75 on the news.
State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) soared much higher than an its $39.00 per share offering of 51.3 million shares to raise some $2 billion in order to pay off TARP assistance. The stock was up almost 5% at $43.90 shortly ahead of the close.
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