The biggest stock news of Thursday’s trading wasn’t relegated to just one or two companies, but a whole big bundle of ‘em.
Bill Gross joined the rapidly expanding world of exchange-traded funds, launching his PIMCO Total Return Fund (MUTF:PTTRX) clone, the PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE:TRXT). TRXT hopes to draw on the popularity and active management of the $245 billion-holding PTTRX while folding in the accessibility of ETFs.
The Total Return ETF’s first-day volume of more than half a million shares was a pretty good sign. Price movement was minimal, with an open at $100.10 and a close of $99.96.
Retailers also were a hot topic Thursday, with a few stocks jumping on strong same-store sales. Gap (NYSE:GPS) was one of the biggest winners, climbing more than 7% on a better-than-expected 4% increase in the metric. The Buckle (NYSE:BKE, +6.9%) also recorded strong gains. The Limited (NYSE:LTD) and Target (NYSE:TGT) were mostly flat despite positive same-store sales surprises.
Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) also made headlines despite its absence from monthly sales reports — it increased its dividend 9% to $1.59 per share, though investors shrugged as WMT stock lost less than a percent.
Automakers as a whole enjoyed modest gains as the sector also reported strong February sales. Ford (NYSE:F) was up 2.3%, Volkswagen (PINK:VLKAY) climbed 2%, General Motors (NYSE:GM) bumped up 1.5% and Honda (NYSE:HMC) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) each registered fractional gains.
Three Up
- Monster Worldwide (NYSE:MWW): Up 15.1% ($1.05) to $7.99.
- McDermott International (NYSE:MDR): Up 13.9% ($1.81) to $14.87.
- Fusion-io (NYSE:FIO): Up 8.8% ($2.40) to $29.70.
Three Down
- Sotheby’s Holdings (NYSE:BID): Down 9.2% ($3.60) to $35.74.
- First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR): Down 5.9% ($1.89) to $30.41.
- AdTran (NASDAQ:ADTN): Down 5.5% ($1.93) to $33.32.
Kyle Woodley is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here.
