All 3 Majors Gain Despite Weak GDP Numbers

A report that showed weak GDP numbers for Q4 2005 was balanced out by a stronger-than-expected New Home Sales report from The Commerce Department, as all 3 major indices enjoyed gains today. An estimated 1.95 billion shares were traded on The Big Board today.

For the week, The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 2.3%, The NASDAQ gained 2.5% and The S&P 500 Index gained 1.8%.

Microsoft had the honor of being the best performer on The DJIA today. Shares of Microsoft gained $1.29 (4.9%) to close @ $27.79. Microsoft is the global #1 software maker (as if you didn't know) and has done well recently with server software and Xbox 360 related products.

Shares of household products conglomerate Procter & Gamble gained $0.92 to close @ $59.74. The list of Procter & Gamble-owned brands is almost overwhelming: Gillette, Zest, Tide, Duracell, Pampers, Tampax, Mr. Clean, Pringles...

Pfizer announced that the company has FDA approval for a new, inhaled diabetes drug called Exubera®. Inhaled insulin: could be very popular for diabetes patients who have heretofore only had one option for insulin delivery: needles! Shares of Pfizer added $0.94 to close @ $25.99. Pfizer is the global #1 pharmaceutical company.

European steel giant Mittal is trying for a hostile takeover of its #1 competitor Arcelor. If successful, the new combined company would have annual revenue of $69 billion and would be 3 times bigger than The Nippon Steel Corporation of Japan, and that is very big. 100 million metric tons big. U.S. steel companies gained today on the news, as investors are predicting more takeover action in the industry.

Shares of Mittal gained $1.96 to close @ $34.26 in regular trading, then gained another $0.34 in after-hours action.

Shares of #1 American steelmaker U.S. Steel gained $2.46 to close @ $58.73 in regular trading, then added an additional $0.21 in after-hours trading.

Shares of #2 American steelmaker Nucor gained $5.08 to close @ $85.50 in regular trading, then lost $0.69 in after-hours action.

Shares of Broadcom gained an impressive $11.15 (19%) to close @ $69.87 in regular trading, then lost $0.12 in after-hours trading this evening. The company announced a 3-for-2 stock split.

Shares of global #1 flash memory card manufacturer SanDisk lost $7.30 to close @ $63.38 in regular trading, then lost an additional $0.04 in after-hours trading. The company announced price cuts as part of a strategy to boost demand for new products.

Shares of semiconductor manufacturer Marvell Technology Group gained $4.54 to close @ $70.64.

Shares of Avid Technology fell by $5.43 to close @ $48.40.

Shares of Emulex fell by $2.41 to close @ $18.50.

Halliburton announced plans to spin-off the engineering unit of Kellogg, Brown and Root in Q2, 2006. Shares of Halliburton gained $3.78 in regular trading to close @ $78.93; the stock gained another $0.57 in after-hours trading. Halliburton is the global #1 energy services company.


Today's Numbers:

DJIA: Closed Up @ 10,907.21 (+97.74)

NASDAQ: Closed Up @ 2,304.23 (+21.23)

S&P 500: Closed Up @ 1,283.72 (+9.89)

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NYMEX Crude Oil Future closed @ $67.76/barrel

New York Spot Gold closed Down @ $558.50/ounce

Currently, The U.S. Dollar buys 0.8269 Euros
Currently, The Euro buys 1.2094 U.S. Dollars

The Prime Rate is currently 7.25%

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