Market 360: The Best and Worst of the Week for US Equities, Commodities, Currencies, and More

For the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008, the markets finished up, with all major indices increasing ~1.3% orhigher for the week. Only the Dow declined for the month, shedding 1.42%. The NASDAQreached its third consecutive monthly gain, up 4.55% for the month. The markets were encouraged by better than expected earnings from retailers and strong results from Dell . U.S. GDP for 1Q also helped lift stocks up, as it rose 0.9% at an annual rate, better than the previous estimate. Crude Oil also retreated to lower levels.

Next week, the markets will look ahead to the Employment Situation, Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing Index. Hovnanian, Toll Brothers, Smithfield Foods are amongst a few companies that will be report earnings

Highlights:

M&A, Deals, Corp Actions:

• Bear Stearns shareholders approved the sale of the company valued at $1 billion to JP Morgan Chase on Thursday for $1billion, with 84% voting in favor of the merger. Shares of both JPM and BSC were up 1.61% and 0.43% respectively for the week on the news.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to acquire the cancer-biotech company Kosan Biosciences (KOSN) for $190 million in an effort to rescue the company’s stock from plunging further. Shares of KOSN surged 229% on Thursday after the merger announcement.
• Standard Pacific Corp shares soared 48% on Tuesday on news that private equity group MatlinPatterson Global Advisers will invest more than $530 million in the homebuilder.

Currencies: For the week, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro, Japanese yen, and pound sterling; as crude oil prices retracted from a record intraday price of $135.09 per barrel last week.

• The dollar index rose 1.38% for the week.
• Friday afternoon in New York, the euro traded at $1.5560 per euro, from $1.5520 late Thursday. The euro gained momentum against the greenback during Friday’s session on the news of consumer sentiment in the U.S., dipping to a 28-year low while one-year inflation expectations rose to 5.2% from 4.8% in April.
• During Friday afternoon trading session, the U.S. dollar traded at Y105.40 from Y105.49 late Thursday, while the pound sterling was at $1.9794 per pound from $1.9765 late Thursday.
• Highlights: China
  -Ahead of the Olympic games in Beijing this August, travelers in the U.S. might be affected by the strengthening Chinese currency. The Chinese yuan has appreciated 9.21% in the past year against the greenback, with one dollar purchasing 6.9420 yuan on Friday, from 7.6471 yuan a year ago.

Market Stats:

• Dow
• The Dow ended up 158.69 or 1.27%for the week
• Friday, the Dow closed at 12,638.32, down -7.90 or -0.06%
• The Dow is Negative YTD down -4.72%
• The Dow is off -1,526.21 or -10.77% from the market peak on October 9th of 14,164.53
• NASDAQ
• The NASDAQ ended up 77.99 or 3.19% for the week
• Friday, the NASDAQ Composite closed at 2,522.66, up 14.34 or 0.57%
• The NASDAQ is Negative YTD down -4.89%
• The NASDAQ is off by -336.46 or -11.77% from the market peak on October 31 of 2,859.12
• S&P 500
• The S&P 500 ended up 24.45 or 1.78% for the week
• Friday the S&P 500 closed at 1,400.38, up 2.12 or 0.15%
• The S&P is Negative YTD down -4.63%
• The S&P is off by -164.77 or -10.53% from the market peak on October 9th of 1,565.15

S&P 500 STATS
S&P Sector Performance for the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008:
S&P 500 Telecomm Services Sector (.GSPTS) Up 5.87 or 3.95%
S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (.GSPT) Up 13.20 or 3.48%
S&P 500 Industrials Sector (.GSPI) Up 9.27 or 2.75%
S&P 500 Health Care Sector (.GSPHC) Up 8.27 or 2.27%
S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector (.GSPD) Up 5.34 or 2.14%
S&P 500 Materials Sector (.GSPM) Up 4.33 or 1.59%
S&P 500 Utilities Sector (.GSPU) Up 2.71 or 1.31%
S&P 500 Consumer Staples Sector (.GSPS) Up 3.23 or 1.11%
S&P 500 Financials Sector (.GSPF) Up 3.49 or 1.06%
S&P 500 Energy Sector (.GSPE) Down -3.64 or -0.57%

S&P Top 10 Performers for the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008:
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) Up 10.32 or 17.34%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) Up 4.88 or 16.05%
Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC) Up 0.72 or 15.86%
Big Lots Inc (BIG) Up 4.15 or 15.42%
Jabil Circuit Inc (JBL) Up 1.38 or 12.17%
Novell Inc (NOVL) Up 0.76 or 12.03%
Expedia Inc (EXPE) Up 2.59 or 11.96%
UNISYS Corp (UIS) Up 0.48 or 10.48%
Apollo Group Inc (APOL) Up 4.36 or 10.04%
Plum Creek Timber Company Inc (PCL) Up 4.18 or 9.84%

S&P 10 Worst Performers for the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008:
Weatherford International Inc (WFT) Down -38.85 or -45.99%
Union Pacific Corp (UNP) Down -69.85 or -45.91%
KeyCorp (KEY ) Down -2.40 or -10.97%
CIT Group Inc (CIT) Down -1.18 or -10.55%
Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) Down -3.47 or -8.04%
Brunswick Corp (BC) Down -0.97 or -6.61%
Viacom Inc (VIA.B) Down -2.50 or -6.52%
CME Group Inc (CME) Down -26.40 or -5.78%
MBIA Inc (MBI) Down -0.41 or -5.56%
CBS Corp (CBS) Down -1.12 or -4.93%

S&P Top 10 Performers for the month of May:
Compuware Corp (CPWR) Up 2.65 or 35.15%
Electronic Data Systems Corp (EDS) Up 5.93 or 31.95%
TECO Energy Inc (TE) Up 4.36 or 27.23%
Teradata Corp (TDC) Up 5.72 or 26.87%
Symantec Corp (SYMC) Up 4.51 or 26.19%
Dell Inc (DELL) Up 4.43 or 23.78%
Agilent Technologies Inc (A) Up 7.18 or 23.77%
Sovereign Bancorp Inc (SOV) Up 1.67 or 22.36%
SLM Corp (SLM ) Up 4.14 or 22.34%
Fluor Corp (FLR) Up 33.68 or 22.03%

S&P Worst 10 Performers for the month of May:
Weatherford International Inc (WFT) Down -35.04 or -43.44%
Union Pacific Corp (UNP) Down -62.88 or -43.31%
MBIA Inc (MBI) Down -3.44 or -33.08%
Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK) Down -1.5 or -32.40%
Washington Mutual Inc (WM) Down -3.27 or -26.61%
General Motors Corp (GM) Down -6.1 or -26.29%
American International Group Inc (AIG) Down -10.2 or -22.08%
Dillards Inc (DDS) Down -4.12 or -20.20%
KeyCorp (KEY) Down -4.66 or -19.31%
Regions Financial Corp (RF) Down -4.1 or -18.70%

DOW STATS
Dow Top Performers for the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008:
Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) Up 2.10 or 4.67%
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) Up 5.23 or 4.21%
Verizon Communications (VZ) Up 1.39 or 3.75%
Citigroup Inc (C) Up 0.77 or 3.65%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) Up 1.99 or 3.57%
AT&T Inc (T) Up 1.37 or 3.56%
Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) Up 1.82 or 2.80%
McDonald's Corporation (MCD) Up 1.59 or 2.75%
3M Company (MMM) Up 1.75 or 2.31%
Home Depot Inc (HD) Up 0.59 or 2.20%

Dow Worst Performers for the week ending Friday, May 30, 2008:
General Motors Corp (GM) Down -0.50 or -2.84%
American International Group Inc (AIG) Down -0.95 or -2.57%
The Coca Cola Co (KO) Down -1.37 or -2.34%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) Down -1.94 or -2.14%
Chevron Corp (CVX) Down -1.58 or -1.57%
Intel Corp (INTC) Down -0.23 or -0.98%
Pfizer Inc (PFE) Down -0.17 or -0.87%
Bank Of America Corp (BAC) Up 0.08 or 0.24%
Merck & Co Inc (MRK) Up 0.22 or 0.57%
E I du Pont de Nemours and Co (DD) Up 0.29 or 0.61%

DOW Top 10 Performers for the month of May:
ALCOA Inc (AA) Up 5.81 or 16.71%
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) Up 8.73 or 7.23%
Intel Corp (INTC) Up 0.92 or 4.13%
The Walt Disney Co (DIS) Up 1.17 or 3.61%
Chevron Corp (CVX) Up 3 or 3.12%
AT&T Inc (T) Up 1.19 or 3.07%
Merck & Co Inc (MRK) Up 0.92 or 2.42%
Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) Up 0.71 or 1.53%
Caterpillar Inc (CAT) Up 0.76 or 0.93%
3M Company (MMM) Up 0.66 or 0.86%

DOW Worst 10 Performers for the month of May:
General Motors Corp (GM) Down -6.1 or -26.29%
American International Group Inc (AIG) Down -10.2 or -22.08%
Citigroup Inc (C) Down -3.38 or -13.38%
JPMorgan Chase and Co (JPM) Down -4.65 or -9.76%
Bank Of America Corp (BAC) Down -3.53 or -9.40%
General Electric Co (GE) Down -1.98 or -6.06%
Home Depot Inc (HD) Down -1.44 or -5.00%
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM ) Down -4.31 or -4.63%
Pfizer Inc (PFE ) Down -0.75 or -3.73%
American Express Co (AXP) Down -1.67 or -3.48%

Key Earnings next week:
Monday: Lululemon Athletica (LULU)
Tuesday: Toll Brothers (TOL), Hovnanian (HOV)
Thursday: Ciena (CIEN), Smithfield Foods (SFD), National Semiconductors (NSM)

Economic Data next week:
Monday: Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing Index
Tuesday: Factory Orders
Wednesday: ADP Employment, Productivity and Costs, ISM Non-Manufacturing Index
Thursday: Jobless Claims
Friday: Employment Situation, Wholesale Trade, Consumer Credit

More Market Stats