Today felt like one of those slow long pre-holiday trading days where many gainers and losers were seen with low volume. There was no real economic data to absorb and no real earnings reports to pick apart. That let us only react to a small recovery from the fears that the US could ultimately have the same credit rating fears that were brought up about England yesterday. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,278.04 -14.09 (-0.17%)
S&P 500 887.33 -1.00 (-0.11%)
Nasdaq 1,693.91 -1.34 (-0.08%)
Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades
Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB) posted $0.48 EPS from operations compared to an adjusted operations level of $0.43 EPS a year ago and compared to estimates of $0.42 EPS. This one had been acting as though something was wrong, so shares traded up on the news. This was up 1% at $27.05 late in the day.
Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) rose on word of better earnings and less-bad data. It posted $0.31 EPS vs. $0.34 a year ago and above the $0.30 estimates. Even the troubled Old Navy's drops are coming to a very acceptable level. Shares were up 2.5% at $16.38 late in the day.
General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) looks more like its military name is Private Parts. As the fears and reporting that bankruptcy is becoming inevitable, shares were down 18% late in the day at $1.57.
Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA) is reportedly being shopped around. There are reasons it could be valued higher than today, but there are fact-based reasons to question a $300 million price tag. Shares were up 13% at $2.86 late in the day.
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) posted a Q1 profit of $26 million, or $0.21 EPS. This is instead of a loss, and the hope is that Lampert and friends are sneaking the operations back into the right spot. Shares were up almost 15% late in the day at $57.50, although they had been up over 20% earlier in the day.
Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) priced a 20 million share secondary offering a at a discount at $12.50 per share. This seemed a steep discount, but it is actually not as deep when you consider that shares have more than doubled from recent lows. Shares were down over 6% at $12.61 late in the day.
Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) fell after the company lost CEO Anne Mulcahy to an early retirement. She is being replaced by her right hand 'person' Ursula Burns. Shares were down less than 1% at $6.77 late in the day.
Have a great three-day weekend. US Markets are closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
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