Today was a day saved by CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT). The stronger Leading Economic Indicators helped, but today was all about a less futile financial services sector. It was also the 9th day in a row that the NASDAQ was up on the day. Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,847.93 +103.99 (1.19%)
S&P 500 950.97 +10.59 (1.13%)
Nasdaq 1,909.29 +22.68 (1.20%)
Top Analyst Calls
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was raised to "Outperform" from Neutral at Credit Suisse. This follows positive "Buy" recommendations from two other larger firms. Shares were up over 3% at $21.15 ahead of the close.
CIT Group, Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was up huge after reports that the financial lender was getting $3 billion in financing. This looks like $2 billion is committed and another $1 billion is pending. Shares were up 80% at $1.26 ahead of the closing bell... on ten-times normal volume.
Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) posted a second quarter profit up 5%, beating expectations. Strong sales of Transformers and G.I.Joe toys helped offset the stronger dollar. Profit was $0.26 EPS vs. $0.23 estimates.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) announced that the BENLYSTA study met the primary endpoint in patients with serologically active systemic lupus. The reason this rose so much is that it would be the first drug for Lupus to reach this advanced stage of clinical development and to achieve positive results of this type. Shares were up 265% at $12.16 ahead of the close... on twenty-times volume.
Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) was up on 'Re-News' as Bloomberg reported that it is looking to apply in early August for an IPO of shares in Hong Kong and that the casino operator is seeking amendments to its bank borrowings in Macau along with permission to sell up to $1.5B in new debt. Shares were up 14% at $9.80 ahead of the closing bell.
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