The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up just two points to over 1,164 early Wednesday. Early gains were dragged down by gloomy economic reports in manufacturing and housing. The most recent consumer sentiment poll is at a 30-year low. Bullish sentiment was at 52% with bearish at 48%. For the year, the S&P is down more than 6%, and it’s about 1.6% in the past five days of trading.
McGraw-Hill (NYSE:MHP) was up more than $2.60 to about $41.30, around a 6.8% gain. Responding to pressure from its largest shareholders, McGraw-Hill is moving to spin off its education business and revitalize its Standard & Poor’s rating arm. MHP is up more than 40% for the year.
Up more than 2.5% was Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC) as it gained around 80 cents per share to move around $32.70. The building sector has been strong this week, and Vulcan, down about 10% for the month, is bouncing back. There is a short float of over 16% for Vulcan, which is very high.
JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) was up around 90 cents, or 2.5%, to over $35.60. Global investment firm Nomura and analyst Meredith Whitney have come about in support of banks this morning, and the financial sector is performing well in response. JP Morgan is down more than 3% for the week and about 17% for the month.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) was down more than 3.5%, around 20 cents, to under $5.50. A poor earnings report earlier this summer has crushed Micron shareholders, as the chip maker is off more than 40% for the quarter.
Corning (NYSE:GLW) was down more than 40 cents, around 2.2%, to under $14.25. The diversified electronics company was off along with the rest of the tech sector. Corning is down about 4% for the week, 15% for the month and 25% for the quarter.
CarMax (NYSE:KMX) could not escape the reports of a weaker economy, falling more than 0.5% to under $26, shedding more than 20 cents per share. For the year, CarMax is up almost 28%. However, it is down more than 3% for the week and 18% for the month. There is a short float of 4.89% for CarMax, which is high.
Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
