Stocks surged again, setting up August to be another big month for investors. The S&P 500 cracked 1,000 for the first time this year. The Institute for Supply Management's index moved to 48.9 in July, up from 44.8 in June. A number over 50 signals growth in the manufacturing sector.
Car sales for July were fairly strong. Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) sales moved up a little more than 2% from the same month last year. GM sales were off almost 20%, but overall the month was as strong as any in a year. Industry experts said that the "cash for clunkers" program deserved much of the credit. The Senate may not approve another $2 billion for the program which has already been passed by the House. If the bill does not make it to the President's desk this week, August could be an unpleasant month for the car companies.
All three major indexes were up more than 1%:
Dow 9,286.56 +114.95 (1.25%)
S&P 500 1,002.62 +15.14 (1.53%)
Nasdaq 2,008.61 +30.11 (1.52%)
In other significant market news:
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was the cover story for Barron's this weekend. The weekly publication said that the company is becoming more like Amazon, but is more profitable, and it was also noted was that Skype and PayPal were a shareholder bonus.
Humana Inc.(NYSE: HUM) reported that its second-quarter profit rose by 34%. Despite a 10% loss of members its earnings rose to $1.67 EPS on higher premiums from Medicare and commercial insurance programs. Thomson Reuters had estimates at $1.64 EPS. The company said that it sees 2009 at $6.10 to $6.20 EPS vs. $6.12 estimates.
Netflix inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) announced a pact with Disney's ABC TV for instant streaming of some programs. It will reportedly soon offer the Watch Instantly video-streaming feature on the Nintendo Wii console as well as on Apple iPod touch devices and iPhones.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) said that it would not separate its Internet Explorer browser from the soon-to-ship versions of Windows 7 in the European Union when the new operating system launches worldwide in October. Microsoft abandoned plans to strip Explorer from the package to avoid breaching E.U. competition rules.
Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) has received a complete response letter from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said that it can not approve the company's Biologics License Application for Krystexxa at this time as a treatment for chronic gout in patients refractory to conventional therapy. This one is down about 40% as many expected this to be approved.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-03-2009 @ 5:34PM
Dave said...
I watch people jumping back into the market and all I can think of is Charlie Brown trying over and over to kick that football and Lucy keeps pulling it away. How many times do people have to get kicked in the teeth before they realize that the stock market is just too dangerous for any sane person to deal with.
8-03-2009 @ 10:12PM
Beltway Greg said...
Doug, please come back to the Apple board and provide with some more of those highly researched pieces. Anytime you write about Apple these days it's always on "The No Comment Zone" at Walletpop or wherever else it is you post. Netflix another plus for Apple.
8-03-2009 @ 10:18PM
Beltway Greg said...
BTW, I'm making book on the dow close tomorrow. I'm predicting a down day for the dow. Make your lunch money kids, short GOOG, ISRG, FSLR, and jump into that
S & P Ultrashort for 2000 shares but close after a .60 bump.