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business newsMidday Market Report: Erasing Yesterday's Losses
By
Vincent Trivett
Feb 07, 2012 2:20 pm
Greece gets things together, some good earnings push stocks higher.
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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is not so giddy about the jobs report from Friday. Bernanke gave the Senate Budget Committee a speech identical to the one that he gave to its House counterpart.
"We still have a long way to go before the labor market can be said to be operating normally," he said. “There are also a lot of people who are either out of the labor force because they don’t think they can find work.”
So much for interest rates getting off the floor any time soon.
So much for interest rates getting off the floor any time soon.
The Labor Department reported that job openings have risen to a nearly a three-year high in January. Companies posted 3.38 million job openings in the month, up from 3.12 million in December.
Greece is also reportedly getting things together, finally moving forward on the belated fiscal reforms needed to secure the 130 billion euro bailout from the IMF, ECB, and European Commission. A final agreement is expected tomorrow.
This good news is not exactly a correction from yesterday's downturn, but it's getting there. Here are where US indices are as of 1:30 p.m.
Greece is also reportedly getting things together, finally moving forward on the belated fiscal reforms needed to secure the 130 billion euro bailout from the IMF, ECB, and European Commission. A final agreement is expected tomorrow.
This good news is not exactly a correction from yesterday's downturn, but it's getting there. Here are where US indices are as of 1:30 p.m.
A few big-ticket companies reported earnings this morning. One big winner was Coca Cola (KO) which got a 1.40% boost this morning after reporting comparable earnings per share of $0.79 per share, slightly more than analyst estimates of $0.77 per share. Coca Cola is trading at 69.04, 1.48% over yesterday's close. Revenues for the blue-chip beverage giant grew in all geographic regions, also beating Wall Street's expectations.
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is expected to report earnings of $0.77 per share this afternoon, up almost 5% from the previous quarter. Disney is seeking a joint venture with Univision Communications Inc. to start a 24-hour English-language news network. Disney shares are trading at $40.70, 0.58% over yesterday's close.
Coinstar (CSTR) surged 18.26% today after smashing earnings forecasts. The owner of the Redbox DVD rental rental kiosks reported $1.00 per share for the fourth quarter of 2011, up from $0.35 per share in 2010 and beating expectations of $0.65 per share. Coinstar also announced that Redbox eliminated a major competitor when it bought NCR Corp's (NCR) DVD assets and Blockbuster Express kiosks. Coinstar will pay as much as $100 million for those assets. Shares of NCR rose 9.67% this morning.
In addition to the NCR deal, Verizon (VZ) started a joint venture with Coinstar for a video streaming service that could pose a credible threat to the Netflix (NFLX) DVD rental and streaming service. Netflix shares rallied this morning and fell back to 0.88% below yesterday's close.
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) took off like a rocket in the pre-market and early trading on a report that the mining company presents a cheap takeover for BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) or Rio Tinto (RIO). Cliffs' stock soon dropped back to yesterday's closing price. Cliffs is up 1.55%, trading at $76.15.
Kentucky-based Yum Brands (YUM), which owns the Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut brands, increased by 2.75% today after reporting a 30% increase in earnings. Yum is a China story: the lion's share of its revenues come from abroad. Revenue from its Chinese operations rose 35% year over year and the company plans on opening more than 600 additional restaurants in China this year.
Nevsun Resources (NSU) plummeted 30.28% to $4.42 after the Canadian mining company reduced its forecasts for gold extraction from two Eritrean mines by half. The company says that it overestimated reserves and will revise its forecast around mid-year.
Technology-based education company K12 Inc. (LRN) dropped over 11.56% this morning after it reported Q2 earnings of $0.11 per share, far lower than analyst expectations of $0.15 per share. K12 revised down its outlook for 2012 earnings to $680-60 million, below the consensus estimate of $693 million.
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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