*from www.bloomberg.com, Mar. 15, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: U.S. stocks fell, after the S&P 500 Index moved within two points of its record high yesterday, as a report showed consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in March.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 0.2% to 1,560.76 at 1:58 p.m. in New York.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 38.84 points or 0.3%, to 14,500.30, poised for its first closing loss in 11 days.
- Trading in the S&P 500 stocks was 34% above the 30-day average at this time of day.
- Stock trading may be more volatile than usual as futures and options contracts expire in a process known as quadruple witching.
Take Away #2: Banks advanced the most out of 24 S&P groups, erasing earlier losses in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s stress tests.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Bank of America Corp. gained 3.8% to $12.57, gaining the most in the Dow.
- Bank of America won the Fed’s approval to buy back as much as $5 billion in stock, the firm’s first repurchase since the financial crisis.
- The bank said it can also redeem $5.5 billion in preferred shares.
- Morgan Stanley added 2.9% to $23.45.
- Morgan Stanley, got permission to buy the remaining 35% of its wealth-management venture with Citigroup Inc. after passing the Fed’s annual stress test.
- Discover Financial Services rose to 2.9% to $44.11, an all-time high.
- Discover approved a $2.4 billion stock buyback and boosted its quarterly dividend to 20 cents from 14 cents.
- JPMorgan fell 1.9%, the most in the Dow, to $50.02, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. rose 0.8$ to $155.22, reversing an earlier loss.
- The worlds biggest trading firms must submit new capital plans to regulators to address weaknesses the Fed found in their planning processes.
- A Senate investigation found that JPMorgan CEO, Jaime Dimon misled investors and dodged regulators as losses escalated on a “monstrous” derivatives bet last year.
Take Away #3: DirecTV advanced while telecomm retreats.
Key Facts and Figures:
- DirecTV surged 5.9% to a record $55.69 after pulling out of a bidding war for Vivendi SA’s GVT division.
- Phone companies and consumer discretionary shares retreated the most in the S&P 500 among 10 groups, losing 0.4%.
- Verizon Communications Inc. fell 1% to $47.98.
- AT&T Inc. slid 1.2% to $36.42.
- Carnival Corp. also slumped 2.1% after trimming its full-year earnings forecast.
Take Away #4: Boeing Co. continues to see gains despite its recent 787 Dreamliner setbacks.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Boeing Co. gained 1.8% to $86.17, its highest level in almost five years.
- Boeing said safety upgrades to the Dreamliner’s battery systems may allow commercial flights to restart within weeks, ending a two-month grounding.
Take Away #5: Equities declined today as Consumer Sentiment fell.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The Thomson Reuter/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index for March fell to 71.8 from 77.6 in February.
- The gauge was expected to increase to 78, according to the median estimate of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
- Industrial production rose more than forecast in February.
- Output at factories, mines, and utilities climbed 0.7%.
- Manufacturing in the New York region expanded for a second month in March and industry managers grew more optimistic about the future.
Take Away #6: The Chicago Board Exchange Volatility Index climbed.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The VIX climbed 1.6% to 11.48 today, after dropping to the lowest level since 2007 yesterday.
Take Away #7: U.S. economic growth will have to accelerate to “ridiculously strong levels” to justify any advance for the S&P 500 above 1,600.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs Asset Management has an estimate of 1,575 for the S&P 500 this year.
- The world’s biggest economy is forecast to grow 1.9% in 2013 and 2.7% next year.
- In order to justify the S&P above 1,600, we’d have to see growth expectations go to something like 4% and beyond,” said O’Neill.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.