Today was a weak day even before the leading economic indicators brought a disappointment. The dollar was strong ahead of the FOMC meeting decision this week, where the Fed is expected to give less free money but will likely hold rates firm. The good news is that despite a negative news bias from companies, the drops were not as hard as they could have been. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 9,778.93 -41.27 (-0.42%)
S&P 500 1,064.71 -3.59 (-0.34%)
Nasdaq 2,138.04 +5.18 (0.24%)
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Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) showed that US dealer sales of its heavy equipment fell by a whopping 48% in August, and drops were large elsewhere as well. Shares were 'only' off by 1.4% at $52.65 late in the trading day after recovering from lower levels.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) traded lower by 4% at $15.99 late in the day on strong trading volume. The PC-maker is making a smart move to buy Perot Systems Corp. (NYSE: PER), but the consensus is that it is just paying too much for the company.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) fell after it posted a wider loss on continued write downs of the value of its land and unsold homes. But it ended August with the highest backlog in a year. Shares were down 3.3% at $15.99 late in the trading day.
Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (USA) (NYSE: POT) lowered its third quarter and its full 2009 earnings guidance. Shares were down close to 5%. This is still bad, but above earlier lows. Shares were down 3.8% at $93.42 late in the trading day.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was noted in Barron's as a 'value stock' that will entice investors, but noted that it is developing a 'buy and hold' shareholder base. Shares were down also after reports it was entering a new brand ad campaign. Shares were down 1.7% at $17.10 late in the session.
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