Saturday, September 15, 2012

Black Friday Sales, Euro Optimism Drive Gains

  • DJIA up 291.23 (+2.59%) to 11,523.01
  • S&P 500 up 33.88 (+2.92%) to 1,192.55
  • Nasdaq up 84.83 (+3.5%) to 2,527.34

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

  • Nikkei up 1.51%
  • Hang Seng up 1.97%
  • Shanghai Composite up 0.12%
  • FTSE-100 up 2.87%
  • DAX-30 up 4.60%

U.S. stocks rallied aggressively Monday, as U.S. holiday sales got off to a record start and investors were optimistic that moves by European leaders to join euro-area members in a fiscal union would help stave off the region's debt crisis.

According to the Wall Street Journal, eurozone leaders were discussing a fiscal pact among the currency bloc's members that would make budget discipline legally binding and enforceable by European authorities. Adding more positive sentiment in regard to the eurozone's financial health, Reuters reported European officials have reached an agreement on how to leverage the region's 440 billion euro ($586 billion) European Financial Stability Facility ahead of a Tuesday meeting of European finance ministers. The fund might insure the bonds of debt-torn nations with guarantees of as much as 30% of each issue.

Stateside, U.S. retail sales totaled $52.4 billion during the holiday weekend, with the average shopper spending $398.62, up from $365.34 for the year-earlier period, the National Retail Federation said Sunday. Higher retail sales are a promising sign for the economic recovery. Black Friday sales hit a record, growing 6.6% over last year to $11.4 billion, according to ShopperTrak. Retail foot traffic climbed 5.1%. Retail shares were mostly higher.

Also, new home sales in October moved just slightly higher, to an annual rate of 307,000. Sales for September were revised down to 303,000 from 313,000. Economists had expected sales to rise 320,000 according to a MarketWatch poll.

In end-of-day company news:

Galena Biopharma (GALE) announces a clinical development collaboration with Genentech/Roche and The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF) to develop NeuVax (E75) in combination with Herceptin in adjuvant breast cancer patients currently not eligible for Herceptin therapy.

Shares of Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) surged to a 52-week high of $46.07 today. Bloomberg reports that the company is exploring strategic options, including a possible sale, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Shares of seismic-equipment maker OYO Geospace (OYOG) rallied after the company said it received a $7.4 million order from Breckenridge Exploration Co.

Shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) were up, responding to reports that the company is in talks to buy Cotendo, a content delivery network and application delivery network provider. Akamai is supposedly paying in the range of $300 million to $350 million for the company, as reported by Zack's Equity Research.

Crude-oil futures advanced to their highest in more than a week. Crude for January delivery rose $1.44, or 1.5%, to $98.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures on Monday ended at their best in more than a week. Gold for December delivery rose $25.10, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,710.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) IRE will sell loan portfolio to Sumitomo

(+) HBC will pay up to $62.5 mln to Madoff investors

(+) AVL initiated at Buy at Citigroup

(+) NFLX upgraded to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna

(+) CRM upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham

(+) BDSI received Favorable Ruling in 588 Patent Action

(+) WYNN Upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc

(+) AAPL advancing due to strong "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" sales

(+) AMZN Kindle sales increased four-fold compared to last year

(+) GOOG upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup

(+) NOK signs of strong Black Friday sales in the United States

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) GEF Guides FY11 EPS below consensus.

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