The stock market retreated from its bull market surge over the last few days as oil prices once again collapsed, this time due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to discount oil pricing to Asia and the U.S.
The market was also concerned that European Central Bank President Mario Draghi had not expressed enough of a commitment to the ECB starting a quantitative easing in the near future.
The day began on a solid note with the Labor Department reporting that new jobless claims had once again fallen below 300,000, coming in at 297,000, but still the market spent most of the day in the red. At the bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.07%, while the S&P 500 gave back 0.13%, and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.11%.
Despite the pull back in the major indices, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL), Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HE), and Array BioPharma Inc. (ARRY) were three of the better stocks on Wall Street today.
Delta Air Lines (DAL)
DAL stock was strong again today, after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that international air travel demand was 5.7% higher in October, an improvement on the 5.2% increase that was reported in September.
DAL finished up almost 4% on the day. On Wednesday, DAL had reported a 4.5% year-over-year increase in passenger unit revenue for the month of November. The company reports strong domestic traffic is responsible for the higher numbers. DAL stock is up 50% since mid-October, mostly due to lower fuel costs. DAL stock was recently cited as a “strong buy” on Portfolio Grader.
Hawaiian Electric Industries (HE)
HE stock had a tremendous day, gapping up over 14% on strong volume of 13.7 million shares on word that the company has been bought by NextEra Energy Inc (NEE) for $4.3 billion. As part of the deal, NextEra will take on $1.7 billion of debt currently held by HE. However, the deal excludes American Savings Bank, the banking subsidiary owned by HE. NEE stock was off just under 1% on the merger news.
Array BioPharma (ARRY)
An after hours agreement with Novartis AG (ADR) (NVS) on Wednesday to regain all worldwide rights to Binimetinib, an MEK inhibitor used in cancer treatments, boosted ARRY stock over 14% today on strong volume of 17.1 million shares.
Binimetinib is currently in phase III trials. Back in 2010, ARRY had given Novartis the exclusive licensing rights to develop and commercialize Binimetinib. That agreement has now been terminated, and ARRY will receive up to $85 million, and have the patent rights to develop Binimetinib.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
