Stock Market Wrapup Sept. 11th
Stocks staged a broad-based rally as investors speculated that consumer demand will help aid the economy. At the close, all major market averages ended the day with strong gains. The price of Gold continued to rise, ending up $8.90 to $721.10 an ounce.
OPEC said it would increase oil production by 500,000 barrels of oil a day as they believe near record oil prices would damage the world economy. The increase in output will mostly be led by Saudi Arabia. This is the first production increase by OPEC in more than a year. Oil prices were nevertheless up 74 cents to $78.23 a barrel.
Shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News) rose 3.2% after the burger giant reported an 8.1% same-store sales increase for the month of August. In the U.S., the world's largest restaurant chain said same-store sales grew 7.4% fueled by breakfast and new food and beverage offerings. Its European business also experienced a 6.1% rise in store sales growth buoyed by summertime offerings. In its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, the company said sales surged 12.4% helped by extended hours and new menu promotions. The company noted that sales were particularly robust in China, Japan and Australia. Subscribers can read our analysis of McDonald's in today's issue.
Biotech firm Imclone Systems (Nasdaq: IMCL - News) pleased investors today after a study released by Germany's Merck KGaA said that Imclone's Erbitux prolonged the survival of lung cancer patients. The drug is used to treat colon cancer, in addition to head-and-neck cancer. Shares surged 18%. Sepracor (Nasdaq: SEPR - News) and GlaxoSmithKiline (NYSE: GSK - News) agreed to team up on Sepracor's insomnia drug Lunesta. Under the terms of the agreement, Glaxo will commercialize the drug in markets outside the U.S., while Sepracor stands to receive an initial payment of $20 million, plus subsequent milestone payments that could total up to $155 million. Additionally, Sepracor will receive double-digit royalties that will increase in line with sales and compensation. The drug is currently under review by the European Union, where a decision is expected in the second half of 2008.
In tech news, VMware (NYSE: VMW - News) struck a deal to acquire Swiss based Dunes Technologies, a maker of virtualization management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Storage maker Western Digital (NYSE: WDC - News) upped its first quarter sales and profit forecast based on strong demand for hard disk drives. For the current quarter, the company now sees EPS reaching 61-65 cents, excluding charges related to its recent acquisition of Komag. Its previous forecast was for EPS of 43-47 cents a share. The company also noted that gross margins are expected to improve to 17.5%. Shares advanced 4.4% on the news.
In earnings news, video game maker Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO - News) reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter. The company lost -$58.5 million, or -81 cents a share, compared to a loss of -$91.4 million, or -$1.29 a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding items, loss was -$46.1 million, or -64 cents a share versus the loss of -67 cents per share expected by analysts. Sales fell to $241.2 million, but beat estimates for revenue of $200.6 million. For the fourth quarter Take-Two expects a loss of -20 to -25 cents a share on revenue of $275-300 million.
By The BullMarket.com Staff
OPEC said it would increase oil production by 500,000 barrels of oil a day as they believe near record oil prices would damage the world economy. The increase in output will mostly be led by Saudi Arabia. This is the first production increase by OPEC in more than a year. Oil prices were nevertheless up 74 cents to $78.23 a barrel.
Shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - News) rose 3.2% after the burger giant reported an 8.1% same-store sales increase for the month of August. In the U.S., the world's largest restaurant chain said same-store sales grew 7.4% fueled by breakfast and new food and beverage offerings. Its European business also experienced a 6.1% rise in store sales growth buoyed by summertime offerings. In its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, the company said sales surged 12.4% helped by extended hours and new menu promotions. The company noted that sales were particularly robust in China, Japan and Australia. Subscribers can read our analysis of McDonald's in today's issue.
Biotech firm Imclone Systems (Nasdaq: IMCL - News) pleased investors today after a study released by Germany's Merck KGaA said that Imclone's Erbitux prolonged the survival of lung cancer patients. The drug is used to treat colon cancer, in addition to head-and-neck cancer. Shares surged 18%. Sepracor (Nasdaq: SEPR - News) and GlaxoSmithKiline (NYSE: GSK - News) agreed to team up on Sepracor's insomnia drug Lunesta. Under the terms of the agreement, Glaxo will commercialize the drug in markets outside the U.S., while Sepracor stands to receive an initial payment of $20 million, plus subsequent milestone payments that could total up to $155 million. Additionally, Sepracor will receive double-digit royalties that will increase in line with sales and compensation. The drug is currently under review by the European Union, where a decision is expected in the second half of 2008.
In tech news, VMware (NYSE: VMW - News) struck a deal to acquire Swiss based Dunes Technologies, a maker of virtualization management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Storage maker Western Digital (NYSE: WDC - News) upped its first quarter sales and profit forecast based on strong demand for hard disk drives. For the current quarter, the company now sees EPS reaching 61-65 cents, excluding charges related to its recent acquisition of Komag. Its previous forecast was for EPS of 43-47 cents a share. The company also noted that gross margins are expected to improve to 17.5%. Shares advanced 4.4% on the news.
In earnings news, video game maker Take-Two Interactive (Nasdaq: TTWO - News) reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its third quarter. The company lost -$58.5 million, or -81 cents a share, compared to a loss of -$91.4 million, or -$1.29 a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding items, loss was -$46.1 million, or -64 cents a share versus the loss of -67 cents per share expected by analysts. Sales fell to $241.2 million, but beat estimates for revenue of $200.6 million. For the fourth quarter Take-Two expects a loss of -20 to -25 cents a share on revenue of $275-300 million.
By The BullMarket.com Staff
posted by Stock Administrator @ 5:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home