Stock Market Update - Thursday, November 4, 2010 - Choppy Uptrend

Stock Market Update

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Latest US Economic News Headlines:
USA EQUITY INDEXES: (NOV. 4, 4:05 PM EDT)

Dow Jones 11,434.77 +219.64
S&P 500    1,221 +23.08
Nasdaq     2,577.34 +37.07

Dow Jones 1:30 PM Averages: DJIA 11,405.36 UP 190.23
30 INDUS     11,405.36 UP  190.23 OR    1.70% 
20 TRANSP     4,930.83 UP   69.02 OR    1.42% 
15 UTILS        408.15 UP    2.99 OR    0.74% 
65 STOCKS     3,964.29 UP   56.33 OR    1.44%
NYSE Stock Transactions 2:00PM EDT

NYSE Composite          7743.29   UP   134.88
NYSE World Ldrs         5468.30   UP    98.57
NYSE US 100             5384.66   UP    80.89
International 100       5375.00   UP   117.49
NYSE TMT                5791.58   UP    63.56
Financial               4888.11   UP    89.34
Energy                 11793.44   UP   299.34
Health Care             6524.98   UP    29.01

US DOLLAR FUTURES INDEX DXY: NOV. 4, 1:40 PM EDT: 75.92  0.56 (0.74%) 

US COMMODITY PRICES: (NOV. 4, 4:05 PM EDT)

Crude Oil     86.71     + 0.25%
Natural Gas     3.88     + 0.49%
Gasoline     2.18     -
Heating Oil     2.38     -
Gold     1392.48     + 3.23%
Silver     26.22     + 5.51%
Copper     3.89     + 3.04%

US Dollar Drops, Commodities and Stocks to Rise

U.S. stocks rallied sharply higher Thursday despite a bigger-than-expected rise in jobless claims, as investors reacted positively to the Federal Reserve's latest efforts to prop up the sagging economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 200 points, the Standard & Poor's 500-share index rose to 1217, led by the materials, energy and consumer discretionary sectors. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained to 2578

As the US Dollar fell, futures rallied before the the opening bell with US job loss in view. initial unemployment claims jumped by 20,000 to 457,000 in the week ended Oct. 30, the Labor Department said in its weekly report. 

US DOLLAR

The U.S. dollar extended its decline lower overnight in the wake of yesterday's Fed announcement. The U.S. Dollar Index has dropped 0.68% to 75.96, just above a fresh annual low for the index and broken support at 76.5, offering a short-term target of 74.5.

After falling overnight, the U.S. dollar stabilized, The euro was at $1.4110, after hitting a high around $1.4175 on Wednesday. Forex dealers are somewhat hesitant to add to sizable bets against the dollar after the euro touched a 10-month high. However, the EURUSD may extend its gains as the pair now looks to test 1.45 in the near term .

The Dow and S&P are slated for new gains. Weekly initial jobless claims, slated for release early this morning, may be the only hurdle for the Dow to break some records today.

EQUITIES:

In earnings news, Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI) said that it swung to a third-quarter profit of $67.6 million, or a penny per share, compared with a loss of $151.5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $717.5 million from $618.7 million. Analysts were looking for breakeven earnings on revenue of $719.1 million.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI) reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 58% to $57.5 million, or 33 cents per share. Analysts had expected the grocer to earn 28 cents. Sales rose 15% to $2.1 billion.

QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $865 million, or 53 cents per share, compared with a profit of $803 million, or 48 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $2.95 billion, up from $2.69 billion. Adjusted income was 68 cents per share. Analysts had expected the company report earnings of 59 cents per share, on revenue of $2.85 billion.

On the earnings front, DIRECTV (DTV), Frontier Oil Corp. (FTO), Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (FSYS), Liz Claiborne Inc. (LIZ), PG&E Corp. (PCG), Suncor Energy Inc. (SU), Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), bebe stores inc. (BEBE), Blue Nile Inc. (NILE), CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF), Crocs Inc. (CROX), Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ISIS), Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT), SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD), and Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) will release their quarterly reports today.

CRUDE OIL:
U.S. Crude Oil: $86.35 per barrel

OIL FUTURES: Nymex Crude Settles $1.80 Higher At $86.49/Bbl
Crude prices were poised for a fourth day of gains.

OPEC Secretary General $90 a Barrel OK 
An oil price of $90 a barrel wouldn't hinder global economic growth, the top official in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Thursday, echoing similar statements by the group's largest producer Saudi Arabia.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a presentation of the organization's annual outlook report, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said "$90 [a barrel] won't hinder growth," adding he doesn't expect prices to reach $100 a barrel next year

OPEC boosted its global-oil demand forecast in the medium term, after seeing a faster than expected economic turn around this year..

NATURAL GAS:

US GAS: Futures Drop On 67 BCF Storage Injection

Natural gas is now at $3.85 and declining. The ETF: UNG is holding at $5.44 .

PRECIOUS METALS:

US Gold: $1,375

US Silver: $ 25.51

U.S. BONDS:

3 Month     0.10%     0.00 (0.00%)
6 Month     0.14%     0.00 (0.00%)
2 Year     0.32%     0.00 (0.00%)
5 Year     1.03%     -0.02 (-1.90%)
10 Year     2.49%     -0.02 (-0.80%)
30 Year     4.03%     -0.01 (-0.25%)

U.S. TREASURY: 
The 2-yr yield is unchanged at 0.32%, the 10-yr yield is down 9 bps to 2.48%, and the 30-yr yield is unchanged at 4.03%.

FANNIE, FREDDIE OVERHAUL COULD COST $685B

The total cost to rescue and then overhaul mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach $685 billion, according to estimates published by Standard & Poor's.

AMERICAN'S LOSE 457,000 MORE JOBS
Jobless Benefit Applications Rise Sharply

The number of people seeking jobless benefits jumped sharply last week.The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment aid rose by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 for the week ending Oct. 30. After two straight weeks of declines. US non-farm productivity rises 1.9% percent in the 3rd quarter. US non-farm productivity rose faster than expected in the third quarter and unit labor costs declined moderately.

According to a recently released Federal Reserve report, Americans experienced a $1.5 trillion loss in combined household net worth in the second quarter of 2010.

The Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in 51 years of record-keeping.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on a year-over-year basis, household participation in the food stamp program has increased 20.28%. The number of Americans on food stamps surpassed 41,000,000 million for the first time ever in June. the number of

Americans on food stamps had set a new all-time record for 19 consecutive months.One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.

RETAILERS SEE MIXED RESULTS FOR OCTOBER
Retailers turn in mixed sales for October, as consumers complete back-to-school buying and take a breather ahead of holiday buying. Some standout results reflect growing popularity of some retailers' offerings.

____________________________________________________________
Canadian Market:

CANADIAN STOCKS HIGHER

Material lead the Toronto Stock Exchange to its highest level in the year.

The stock market was sharply higher at midday Thursday, led by gains in energy and materials in response to the latest effort by the U.S. Federal Reserve to boost the U.S.'s sluggish economy.

At 11:45 a.m. EDT, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 235.36 points, or 1.86%, at 12906.48 and advances led declines 1110 to 384. Trading volume was 330.70 million shares. The S&P/TSX 60 Index was up 13.92 points, or 1.92%, to 740.01 points.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan fell 3.6% after the Canadian government rejected BHP Billiton's $38.6 billion hostile bid for it, but gave the Anglo-Australian miner another 30 days to try to convince the government of its case.

Employment Seen Higher

The employment index for October was at 51.7, indicating employment was higher than in the previous month.

Inventories Decline

The Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers Index At 56.7 The inventories index was at 46.4 in October, indicating inventories were lower than in September.

The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index was at 56.7 in October, indicating that purchasing activity in Canada expanded from September.

The Ivey PMI is compiled by the Purchasing Management Association of Canada and the Richard Ivey School of Business and measures changes in dollars of purchases as indicated by a panel of 175 purchasing managers from across Canada. It includes the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors, and isn't seasonally adjusted.An index greater than 50 indicates an expansion of purchasing activity, while an index below 50 indicates a decline

The prices index was at 63.8 in October, indicating prices were higher.

The supplier deliveries index was at 50 in October, indicating deliveries were flat..

POTASH DEAL BLOCKED
The Canadian government surprised markets late yesterday by blocking BHP Billiton's $39 billion bid for Potash Corp.

Toronto Indexes, Volume; 11 AM EDT Composite Up 240.25

 S&P/TSX Composite   12910.57  up  240.25  or 1.9%
 S&P/TSX 60 Index      740.14  up   14.05  or 1.9%
 Financials            181.84  up    2.67  or 1.5%
 Materials             415.39  up    9.00  or 2.2%
 Energy                302.42  up   10.38  or 3.6%
 Industrials           107.46  up    0.63  or 0.6%
 IT                     29.55  up    0.31  or 1.1%

   Volume         Thursday    Wednesday
   10-11              126.7M       82.2M
   9:30-11            251.8M      151.2M

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South American Markets:

BRAZIL:

Brazil Stocks Index Tops 73,000

Brazil's benchmark Ibovespa stocks index rose above 73,000 points in mid-afternoon trading Thursday, hitting that mark for the first time since May 2008.

As of 1:30EDTt/1720 GMT, the index was trading at 73,065 points for a 1.6% gain on the day.


Mexican Markets Continue Rally

The stock market's IPC index of leading issues was up 1.2% at 36,261 points around 10:30 a.m. EDT. Volume was 51 million shares worth 1.29 billion pesos ($106 million). Bellwether America Movil L shares were up 1.6% to MXN36.11, and cement maker Cemex CPO shares were 3.1% higher at MXN11.62.

The peso was stronger against the dollar, quoted in Mexico City at MXN12.2270, compared with MXN12.2510 at Wednesday's close.pending news.

The yield on the government's benchmark 10-year bond was down five basis points to 6.06%..

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European Markets:

European shares to six-month high. Euro breaks higher.

ECB Holds Rates at 1.00%
As widely expected, the European Central Bank kept their key overnight lending rate unchanged at the record low of 1.00 percent for the 18th consecutive month. The decision comes on the back of weak inflationary pressures and tough austerity measures that will be implemented in the coming months, and will add downward pressure onto growth.



____________________________________________________________

Asian Pacific Markets:

Asian stocks rose to their highest levels since June 2008
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.8 percent.

(pending news)

CHINA:

JAPAN:

Japan's Nikkei share average was up 1.9 percent.

Japanese equities rose 2 percent, led the region after fears of a much stronger yen, and the commodity and technology sectors surged as the dollar declined.


____________________________________________________________
WORLD FOREX CURRENCIES SNAPSHOT:
(WEDNESDAY, NOV 4, 2010 1:00 PM EDT)

EUR/USD     1.4224     +0.0100 (0.71%)
USD/JPY     80.6100 -0.4800 (-0.59%)
GBP/USD     1.6281     +0.0181 (1.12%)
CAD/USD     0.9977     +0.0073 (0.74%)
USD/HKD     7.7505     -0.0003 (0.00%)
USD/CNY     6.6610     -0.0148 (-0.22%)
AUD/USD     1.0142     +0.0094 (0.94%)

WORLD MARKETS SNAPSHOT:
(WEDNESDAY, NOV 4, 2010 1:00 PM EDT)
Shanghai     3,086.94     +55.95 (1.85%)
Nikkei 225     9,358.78     +198.80 (2.17%)
Hang Seng Index     24,535.63     +390.96 (1.62%)
TSEC     8,357.85     +63.95 (0.77%)
FTSE 100     5,862.79     +113.82 (1.98%)
DJ EURO STOXX 50     2,884.21     +53.78 (1.90%)
CAC 40     3,916.78     +73.84 (1.92%)
S&P TSX     12,899.07     +227.95 (1.80%)
S&P/ASX 200     4,745.30     +22.70 (0.48%)
BSE Sensex     20,893.57     +427.83 (2.09%)

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THURSDAY'S U.S. ECONOMIC CALENDAR:

8:30 a.m.
3Q Preliminary Productivity & Costs Non-Farm Productivity (expected +1.5%), Unit Labor Costs (expected +0.3%)

8:30 a.m.
Oct 30 Unemployment Insurance Claims Report - Initial Claims Weekly Jobless Claims (expected 445K), Net Change (expected +11K), (prior week) (previous 4356000), Net Chg (prior week) (previous -122K)

10:00 a.m.
Oct 23 DJ-BTMU Business Barometer (previous +0.1%), (52 Wk) (previous +4%)

10:30 a.m.
Oct 30 EIA Natural Gas Storage Report Total Working Gas in Storage (previous 3754B), Total Working Gas in Storage (Net Change) (previous +71B)

11:00 a.m.
Oct Global Services PMI

4:30 p.m.
Nov 3 Foreign Central Bank Holdings Foreign US Debt Holdings (previous 3.3T), US Foreign Agency Holdings (previous 730.7B), Foreign Treasury Holdings (previous 2.57T)

4:30 p.m.
Nov 3 Federal Discount Window Borrowings Primary Credit Borrowings (previous 47M), Primary Credit Borrowings W/E Daily Avg (previous 24M), Discount Window Borrowings (previous 47.56B), Discount Window Borrowings W/E Daily Avg (previous 47.84B)

4:30 p.m.
Money Stock Measures

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US STOCK MARKET SUMMARY, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3, 2010:

Stocks:

U.S. stocks rose after a volatile session to close higher. The Federal Reserve announced it would buy $600 billion in longer-term securities by the middle of next year, as part of its latest effort to prime the domestic economy. Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services, said the Fed delivered "the bare minimum" of what the market would accept.

Treasurys:

The 30-year Treasury bond tumbled as it wasn't favored in the U.S. Federal Reserve's government-debt buying program aimed to support the economy. The benchmark 10-year note also reversed a rally that occurred before the Fed's latest interest-rate policy statement. The five-year note was the best performer, holding on to gains as the Fed signaled in a release that the bulk of the program's purchases in coming months will concentrate on this sector.

Forex:

The dollar fell broadly, but soon recovered most of its losses against major competitors in the wake of the Federal Reserve decision. The dollar dropped sharply against the euro immediately after the statement, but managed to emerge only modestly lower against the common currency after investors had a chance to digest the full Fed statement. The implied Volatility (1wk) on USD-based Majors: EUR (16.54%); GBP (13.08); JPY (14.36); CHF (15.89); CAD (13.38); AUD (17.43); NZD (16.22).


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