Closing Wrap-Up, June 23
June 23, 2009
Choppy session results in little movement for major market indices ahead of FOMC statement Wednesday. The Dow ($INDU) fell 16.10 points to a level of 8,322.91. The S&P 500 ($SPX) tacked on 2.06 points to a level of 895.10. The Nasdaq ($COMPQ) gave up 1.27 points, closing at 1,764.92. Volume was light on the session with the NYSE trading 1.21 billion shares and the Naz turning over 2.18 billion shares. Market breadth was negative by a 14-to-16 and 11-to-16 margin on the Big Board and Naz respectively.
Boeing (BA) was the biggest drag on the Dow after the company once again delayed the launch of its 785 Dreamliner airplane. The test of the new plane has already been put off two years and this news once again delays when the first planes will be delivered. In fact, this is the fifth time a test of the new plane has been delayed during the past two years and stock owners are getting nervous. BA shares fell 6.46 percent on the session to a price of $43.87 with a 52-week range from $29.05 to $76.48.
Shares of auto maker Ford (F) gained ground Tuesday after the company announced it would take the government up on loans to help build more fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford shares were up 2.79 percent to close at $5.53 and the stock is up sharply from its 52-week low of $1.01.
In economic news, same-store sales were flat week on week as measured by the ICSC-Goldman report, but down 0.9 percent year on year. This was an improvement from the 1.5 percent year on year drop seen in the prior week. The Redbook report remained much worse, showing a decline of 4.2 percent. Since Wal-Mart (WMT) was excluded from the data, the Redbook report has shown severe drops.
Existing home sales rose 2.4 percent in May to an annualized rate of 4.77 million units. However, this was below expectations and didn't do much for the bulls. Supply did improve to 9.6 months from 10.1 months in April and prices rose, up 3.8 percent for the median price of an existing home. Traders will get more data on the housing sector Wednesday when the new home sales data is released.
Jody Osborne
Senior Writer & Options Strategist
Optionetics.com ~ Your Options Education Site
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