Bulls Denying October Pullback Proponents

• By the tickerspy.com Staff
• On 5:10 pm EDT, Monday October 5, 2009

Stocks had a strong day, bouncing back from Thursday's sell-off and Friday's weak jobs report. Just like in September, stocks have managed to fend off a couple poor days to start the month and bounce back. An October victory hasn't been won by the bulls just yet, but the action of the past two trading sessions show that they have regained the momentum in this market.

The Coffee Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Diedrich Coffee (Nasdaq: DDRX - News) with a 18% gain.

Stocks climbed on the day, with the Dow up 112 points to 9,600. The S&P added 15 points to 1,040, while the Nasdaq rose 20 points to 2,068. Oil climbed 46 cents to $70.41 a barrel, while gold jumped $13.50 to $1,017.80 an ounce.

On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management announced its service index rose to 50.9 in September from 48.4 the prior month. A reading above 50 indicates growth. Economists were expecting a reading of 50.

In earnings news, shares of RPM International (NYSE: RPM - News) slipped -0.4% despite the coating and sealant maker announcing a fiscal Q1 profit that cruised past analyst estimates. For the period ended August 31st, the company recorded net income of $73 million, or 57 cents per share, up 5% from $69.5 million, or 53 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue dipped -7% to $916 million. Analysts were looking for EPS of 44 cents on sales of $873.9 million. Looking forward, the company said its fiscal 2010 earnings would come in at the top end of prior guidance for 5-25% growth.

MKS Instruments (Nasdaq: MKSI - News) shares climbed 1.8% after the semiconductor test equipment maker raised its Q3 guidance. After previously predicting a loss of -7 to -18 cents per share, MKS now expects to post an adjusted profit between 2-4 cents per share. Revenue guidance of $105-$107 million was upped from an earlier forecast of $92 million.

Shares of Seattle Genetics (Nasdaq: SGEN - News) plunged -14.6% after the biotech firm had to halt a mid-stage trial for its lymphoma drug dacetuzumab. The company was developing the drug with Genentech. The Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended discontinuing the trial after reviewing interim analysis. Three Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

Brocade Communications (Nasdaq: BRCD - News) shares jumped 18.8% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the network gear and data storage company is shopping itself. The paper said no deal is imminent but that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ - News) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - News) are considering bids. Eleven Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

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