Investors found the good news they needed to take the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher by more than 32 points, an almost 3% rise to over 1,153, on solid earnings and stock buybacks. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by better than a 4-to-1 margin. For the year, the S&P 500 is down almost 10%. The past five days of trading have sliced about 5.5% from the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA) was up more than $2, about 15%, to around $15.75 on a stock buyback announcement. The phone hacking scandal has News Corp. down more than 12% for the week and more than 20% for the quarter.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) was up about $1.50, more than 8%, to more than $19 per share on an upgrade by Cowen. In the recommendation, it was estimated that Electronic Arts has a 25% growth potential in share price over the next year. Down about 18% for the week, Electronic Arts has a relative strength index rating of 33.35. An RSI rating of 30 is viewed as the standard for a stock to be viewed as oversold.
Up more than $3.50 per share was Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE:KSS), as the retailer rose about 8% to over $47.80 as it boosted its profit forecast. Kohl’s is down about 15% for the week and 20% for the month. The retail sector was strong this morning thanks to a better employment outlook for the U.S. on data released today.
Sprint (NYSE:S) continued to plummet as it fell about 5% to around $3, a drop of about 14 cents per share, in the wake of a negative Wall Street Journal article out today. Over the last week, the wireless communications company is down about 25%. For the month, Sprint is more than 40% lower. In the past month, Sprint has received two positive analyst recommendations. There is now a short float of 3.31% for Sprint.
Down more than 3.2% to under $16.20 was Sara Lee (NYSE:SLE) as lower profits displeased Wall Street. Sara Lee also lowered its sales projections for the future. For the week, Sara Lee is down about 10%. Sara Lee has an RSI rating of 27.51.
PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was off slightly, about a penny to $4.23, as home builders still are faced with a bleak outlook. The U.S. housing market has been down for more than five years, with Beazer the latest home builder to report poor earnings. For the week, PulteGroup is down about 30%. There is a short float of 9.5% for PulteGroup.
Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
