Stocks Stumble Into the Close

• By the tickerspy.com Staff
• On 5:05 pm EST, Wednesday November 4, 2009

The market continues to give us mixed signals; the broad market averages were up strongly for most of the day but gave back a lot of the winnings in the final 30 minutes.

The Airplane Leasing Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Babcock & Brown Air Limited (NYSE: FLY - News) with a 7% gain.

Stocks again ended mixed, the Dow up 0.3%, or 30 points, to 9,802 while the S&P edged up 0.1%, or 1 point, to close at 1,046. The Nasdaq lost -0.1%, or -2 points, to end at 2,056. Meanwhile, oil moved up 80 cents to $80.40 a barrel and gold climbed $2.10 to $1,087.00 an ounce.

On the economic front, the Federal Reserve said its key bank lending rate would remain between zero and 0.25% for an "extended period." As a result, the prime lending rate for commercial banks will stay at about 3.25%. Elsewhere, the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) service index sank to 50.6 last month, down from 50.9 in September but still above 50, which indicates growth. Economists had expected a reading of 51.5. In earnings news, shares of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX - News) inched down -0.2% despite the company raising its full-year outlook and its Q3 earnings beating analyst estimates. For the period ended September 30th, net income was $661 million, or 55 cents a share, down -38% from $1.1 billion, or 89 cents a share, last year. Adjusted EPS was 61 cents, coming in ahead of the 53-cent consensus. Revenue slipped -6% to $7.1 billion. For FY09, the media conglomerate said it expects EPS of at least $2.05, an increase from its previous view of $1.98.

Despite a 22% jump in Q3 profit, shares of cable TV operator Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA - News) fell -3.1%. For the third quarter, the company earned $944 million, or 33 cents per share, up from $771 million, or 26 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue moved up 3% to $8.8 billion. Investors waited anxiously for more details about Comcast's expected deal for a stake in NBC Universal, 80% of which is owned by General Electric (NYSE: GE - News). Comcast assured shareholders that it would continue paying a dividend and buying back shares.

The nation's largest builder, Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM - News), saw its shares rise 3.5% after it announced new home orders had spiked 35%. For the third quarter, the company lost -$361.4 million, or -$1.15 a share, compared with a loss of -$280.4 million, or -$1.11 a share, a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for a loss of -64 cents a share. Revenue fell to $1.1 billion from $1.6 billion. Pulte said it expects annual savings of $440 million as a result of its August acquisition of Centex. 10 Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

Shares of Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN - News) inched up 0.9% on news its Q3 earnings had topped estimates. For the quarter ended September 30th, the oil and gas producer posted a profit of $499 million, or $1.12 per share, down from $2.6 billion, or $5.88 per share, last year. Ex-items, adjusted EPS came in at $1.10, beating the consensus by 20 cents. Revenue dropped -65% to $2.10 billion. 60 Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

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