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| Subject: Tuesday March 13th 2012 | |
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Date Posted: 11:11:12 03/14/12 Wed Market Snapshot Archives | Email alerts March 14, 2012, 1:37 p.m. EDT U.S. stocks edge up; Dow set for six-session gainStories You Might Like •Sponsored: this site Stocks might sag, but soon will soar •Sponsored: this site Banks mixed, active in preopen after stress test •Sponsored: Investor's Business Daily Poll: Economic Optimism Falls [?]12 Comments Share Digg Yahoo! Buzz MySpace del.icio.us Reddit LinkedIn Fark StumbleUpon Newsvine newPortfolio Relevance LEARN MOREWant to see how this story relates to your portfolio? Just add items to create a portfolio now: XAddDow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)XAddDAX Performance Index (DAX)Add Create Portfolio or Cancel Already have a portfolio? Log In By Myra P. Saefong and Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks climbed Wednesday, with the Dow poised to extend gains to a sixth straight session as investors’ relief about largely positive bank stress tests and U.S. data spilled over from the prior session. Click to Play Investing for baby boomersInflation poses a threat to stocks and bonds, and paltry returns could be washed out altogether as baby boomers retire, according to Robert Arnott, Pimco fund manager and chairman of Research Affiliates, who has ways to hedge against these. Laura Mandaro reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA +0.06% was up 28.04 points, or 0.2%, at 13,205.64, after tapping a high of 13,221.27. Gains were led by a 3.9% rise in Bank of America Corp. /quotes/zigman/190927/quotes/nls/bac BAC +3.19% shares and a 3.3% gain in shares of American Express Co. /quotes/zigman/217470/quotes/nls/axp AXP +3.12% . The S&P 500 /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX -0.18% inched higher, up 1 point, or 0.1%, to 1,396.92. The index, which has been trading between a low of 1,393.12 and a high of 1,399.43 during the session, hasn’t traded or closed at the 1,400 level since June 2008. A close higher for the S&P 500 and Dow would be the indexes’ sixth straight day of gains. For equities, “the trend is definitely up and it’s basically raining money in the world with all the liquidity from world banks, which will keep corrections short,” said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors. GOLDMAN SACHS • Goldman exec quits, criticizes firm in op-ed • Goldman client or muppet? (First Take) • Goldman has a new head of public relations • Twitter lights up with Goldman Sachs talk • Goldman fights back against claims • Goldman's latest P.R. disaster • Data: Investor sentiment toward Goldman • MarketWatch Topics: Goldman Sachs/conga/story/2012/03/goldman.html 197608 Matthew Tuttle, chief investment officer at Tuttle Wealth Management LLC in Stamford, Conn., was also upbeat about the market outlook. “Add in that the Fed is actually seeing some good stuff in the economy and Treasuries yields are now going up as you would expect in a rally and the [CBOE Market Volatility Index /quotes/zigman/2766221 VIX +4.19% ] is making new lows and you have a case for 1,500” on the S&P 500, he said. He revised his internal year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,500 from 1,450. Short term, however, equities are “a little overbought at this point,” Tuttle said. Long term, “investors cannot ignore the risks. Europe is not fixed and could mess us up again.” Utilities lost the most ground among the S&P 500’s 10 industry groups, while tech and financial shares led gains. The Nasdaq Composite /quotes/zigman/123127 COMP -0.08% added 7.7 points, or 0.3%, to 3,047.59. On Tuesday, it ended above 3,000 for the first time in 11 years, boosted by a nearly 3% rise in Apple Inc. /quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL +3.21% shares. Apple shares extended their gains into Wednesday, trading up 3.8%. “Now we have a tech-led rally with Apple taking the lead,” said David Pankiw, partner at Cubic Financial Advisors. “With only a few areas providing strength, the overall markets have lost some momentum.” There are “a lot of moving parts that are sending mixed signals,” he said, pointing out dollar strength and weakness in the euro and Australian dollar versus the greenback. “In our accounts, we have locked in profits as of the beginning of March until we see further direction.” For every stock rising about two declined on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, where 415 million shares traded by 1:20 p.m. Eastern. Composite volume topped 2.6 billion. Stress test Late in the prior session, an announcement from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. /quotes/zigman/272085/quotes/nls/jpm JPM -0.08% that it was increasing its dividend and authorizing a new stock-buyback program — after receiving the green light from the Federal Reserve about its capital levels — gave stocks an added lift Tuesday, as investors interpreted the move as signaling success for other large banks that recently underwent financial-crisis stress tests administered by the central bank. After the close of trading, the Fed, which acts as a bank regulator as well as a central bank, released results of the stress tests. Most banks had enough capital under a stress test designed to mimic the conditions of a 2008-type crisis, including an unemployment rate of 13% and the Dow average under 6,000. Ally Financial Inc., Citigroup Inc. /quotes/zigman/5065548/quotes/nls/c C -3.40% , MetLife Inc. /quotes/zigman/252112/quotes/nls/met MET -5.27% and SunTrust Banks Inc. /quotes/zigman/242272/quotes/nls/sti STI +3.85% did not make the grade, however. Read more on stress tests. Several banks that passed the tests, such as U.S. Bancorp /quotes/zigman/278238/quotes/nls/usb USB +0.42% , also announced plans to boost dividends or shareholder payouts. Read more on dividend hikes. The Dow average ended Tuesday with a more than 200-point gain, at its highest closing level since Dec. 31, 2007, also helped by a report on strong retail sales and positive comments about the economy from the Fed’s monetary-policy committee, which kept its current easing programs in place. Read more about Tuesday’s action in U.S. stocks. On Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose to an 11-month high against the Japanese yen /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY +0.82% and posted modest gains versus other currencies. Read more about currencies. Gold futures /quotes/zigman/660065 GCJ2 -3.44% dropped nearly 3% and oil futures /quotes/zigman/2203138 CLJ2 -0.60% traded slightly lower, with gold on track for a third session of losses as risk appetite returned to markets. Read more on metals. /quotes/zigman/627449 Add to portfolio DJIA Dow Jones Industrial Average 13,186.12 +8.44 +0.06% Volume: 94.11mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/190927/quotes/nls/bac Add to portfolio BAC Bank of America Corp. $ 8.76 +0.27 +3.19% Volume: 365.34mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/217470/quotes/nls/axp Add to portfolio AXP American Express Co. $ 55.94 +1.69 +3.12% Volume: 7.80mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/3870025 Add to portfolio SPX S&P 500 Index 1,393.41 -2.54 -0.18% Volume: 385.22mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/2766221 Add to portfolio VIX CBOE Volatility Index 15.42 +0.62 +4.19% Volume: 0.00March 14, 2012 12:54p /quotes/zigman/123127 Add to portfolio COMP NASDAQ Composite Index 3,037.53 -2.35 -0.08% Volume: 0.00March 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl Add to portfolio AAPL Apple Inc. $ 586.32 +18.22 +3.21% Volume: 31.87mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/272085/quotes/nls/jpm Add to portfolio JPM JPMorgan Chase & Co. $ 43.36 -0.03 -0.08% Volume: 52.33mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/5065548/quotes/nls/c Add to portfolio C Citigroup Inc. $ 35.21 -1.24 -3.40% Volume: 95.56mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/252112/quotes/nls/met Add to portfolio MET MetLife Inc. $ 37.38 -2.08 -5.27% Volume: 22.36mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/242272/quotes/nls/sti Add to portfolio STI SunTrust Banks Inc. $ 23.45 +0.87 +3.85% Volume: 19.71mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/278238/quotes/nls/usb Add to portfolio USB U.S. Bancorp $ 31.14 +0.13 +0.42% Volume: 15.18mMarch 14, 2012 2:09p /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled Add to portfolio USDJPY JPY/USD 83.6300 +0.6830 +0.8234% Volume: 0.0000March 14, 2012 2:08p /quotes/zigman/660065 Add to portfolio GCJ2 Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Apr 2012 $ 1,635.90 -58.30 -3.44% Volume: 230,594March 14, 2012 1:59p /quotes/zigman/2203138 Add to portfolio CLJ2 Crude Oil - Electronic (NYMEX) Apr 2012 $ 106.07 -0.64 -0.60% Volume: 202,821March 14, 2012 1:59p Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco. Laura Mandaro is a MarketWatch editor, based in San Francisco [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |