Stock Market Wrapup Apr. 3
Signs that tensions were easing between Iran and Britain over captured British sailors sparked a sharp drop in crude oil prices today and helped spur a rally on Wall Street. Investors were also encouraged by a report that indicated home sales might be picking up. Trading was light, however, on a day that marks the start of Passover. The 10-year Treasury note closed lower.
The National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales of existing homes increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7% in February compared with January. The industry group tracks signed contracts for used homes. Its index is still -8.5% below year-ago levels. In the oil markets, comments from a senior Iranian diplomat that the dispute over 15 British sailors and marines Iran says it captured trespassing in its waters would be resolved soon helped to cool a recent rise in futures prices.
Health insurers spiked today on a surprise announcement from the federal government that it would increase payments to firms operating private Medicare benefits plans by a greater amount than was expected. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said preliminary payments to companies that run Medicare Advantage programs will increase 3.5% in 2008. The market was looking for increases of between 2% and 3%. Among the shares rising today was Aetna (NYSE: AET - News). Also gaining today was Humana (NYSE: HUM - News), up 3.6%; Wellcare Healthplans (NYSE: WCG - News), which added 2.2%; and Coventry Health Care (NYSE: CVH - News), which closed 1.9% higher.
American automakers continued to fall short of efforts to post market share gains. Ford Motor (NYSE: F - News) reported a -9% drop in March vehicle sales; General Motors (NYSE: GM - News) said its sales declined -7.7%; and the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX - News) reported a -4% decline. Japan's Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM - News), meanwhile, continued its assault on Detroit, posting a 12% gain in U.S. sales during the same period. Despite the advance, Toyota has not yet overtaken Ford as the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - News) rose 3.1% after it announced a deal with EchoStar Communications (Nasdaq: DISH - News) to create a system for auctioning advertising time over EchoStar's satellite TV network. Under the deal, Google will develop an online auction system, with advertisers bidding on the amount of money they are willing to pay per thousand households watching each commercial. Google has undertaken similar efforts in the radio and newspaper ad markets.
The planned merger of the two Chicago exchanges is on hold. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (NYSE: CME - News) announced it was postponing an April 4th shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed acquisition of CBOT Holding (NYSE: BOT - News). CBOT previously postponed a shareholder vote on the CME bid so its board could consider a competing offer from Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE - News). ICE is reported to have submitted a bid that is as much as $1 billion more than the $8 billion CME offered for its Chicago rival.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
The National Association of Realtors reported that pending sales of existing homes increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7% in February compared with January. The industry group tracks signed contracts for used homes. Its index is still -8.5% below year-ago levels. In the oil markets, comments from a senior Iranian diplomat that the dispute over 15 British sailors and marines Iran says it captured trespassing in its waters would be resolved soon helped to cool a recent rise in futures prices.
Health insurers spiked today on a surprise announcement from the federal government that it would increase payments to firms operating private Medicare benefits plans by a greater amount than was expected. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said preliminary payments to companies that run Medicare Advantage programs will increase 3.5% in 2008. The market was looking for increases of between 2% and 3%. Among the shares rising today was Aetna (NYSE: AET - News). Also gaining today was Humana (NYSE: HUM - News), up 3.6%; Wellcare Healthplans (NYSE: WCG - News), which added 2.2%; and Coventry Health Care (NYSE: CVH - News), which closed 1.9% higher.
American automakers continued to fall short of efforts to post market share gains. Ford Motor (NYSE: F - News) reported a -9% drop in March vehicle sales; General Motors (NYSE: GM - News) said its sales declined -7.7%; and the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX - News) reported a -4% decline. Japan's Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM - News), meanwhile, continued its assault on Detroit, posting a 12% gain in U.S. sales during the same period. Despite the advance, Toyota has not yet overtaken Ford as the No. 2 U.S. automaker.
Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - News) rose 3.1% after it announced a deal with EchoStar Communications (Nasdaq: DISH - News) to create a system for auctioning advertising time over EchoStar's satellite TV network. Under the deal, Google will develop an online auction system, with advertisers bidding on the amount of money they are willing to pay per thousand households watching each commercial. Google has undertaken similar efforts in the radio and newspaper ad markets.
The planned merger of the two Chicago exchanges is on hold. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings (NYSE: CME - News) announced it was postponing an April 4th shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed acquisition of CBOT Holding (NYSE: BOT - News). CBOT previously postponed a shareholder vote on the CME bid so its board could consider a competing offer from Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE - News). ICE is reported to have submitted a bid that is as much as $1 billion more than the $8 billion CME offered for its Chicago rival.
By the BullMarket.com Staff
Labels: AET, BOT, CME, CVH, DISH, F, GM, GOOG, HUM, ICE, TM, WCG
posted by Stock Administrator @ 6:40 PM
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