Two in a row, you say:
- Stocks slid for the second day in a row — this hasn’t happened since Jan. 7. Oil’s touching of $100 barrel got the headlines, but it was tech that was again the big underperformer. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) started it all off, or re-started it, with its underwhelming first-quarter financial forecast late Tuesday, but momentum in semiconductors also looks to be out of gas (and now you have all these chips coming along to feed the tablet PC craze….well, maybe that’s a concern for later.) As you’d expect oil and gas ETF were booming, and check out ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) being up 5% in the last week. Auto and airline stocks took it on the chin again. Possible upside: bonds mostly fell, perhaps signalling that enough is enough, for this week anyway.
- After the closing bell, Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN) shares rose 4.6% after the company blew away analyst’s fourth-quarter profit estimates.
- On Thursday, we’ll get an instant automaker snapshot from General Motors’ (NYSE:GM) earnings. Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) and Target (NYSE:TGT) also weigh in with quarterly numbers in the morning. After the bell, you’ll get a little taste of AIG (NYSE:AIG). In economic data, we have weekly jobless claims, the January report on durable goods and January’s data on new home sales.
OUT THERE SOMEWHERE:
- If you really want to know about the WTI/Brent oil spread.
- Eric Sprott notes that there’s really no silver left.
- Doug Short goes inside the CPI.
- Wow, surprise: Ireland needs help with its debt.
- Another oil ETF, if you’re interested.
- Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad: Not just for rich people anymore.
- Speaking of Apple, is it possible people are underestimating growth prospects?
- Well, here’s an idea: tax gas even more.
