U.S. markets staged a nice rebound today after five consecutive days of decline. The Shanghai index found some stability and a decent home prices report supported indices, while traders eyed the two-day Fed meeting beginning today.
The Chinese market, while off 5% intraday, rallied to finish up 1.7%, giving traders hope that the worst of the selling may be over.
While back in the U.S., home prices rose 4.9% from April against expectations of 5.7%. In addition, the Conference Board reported that the Consumer Confidence Index dropped from 99.8 a month ago to a current reading of 90.9.
Indices were respectable on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up a percent. The S&P 500 climbed up 1.2% and the Nasdaq climbed a respectable 0.9%. All sectors shot higher today, with energy and basic materials stocks up more than 2%.
Good earnings and good news propelled the likes of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) and TrueCar Inc (NASDAQ:TRUE), putting them among the best stocks today.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS)
UPS delivered a great second-quarter earnings report to investors, today, and UPS stock climbed 5% on the news. UPS reported EPS of $1.35 a share, up from $1.21 last year, and ahead of estimates for $1.27 a share.
However, revenue of $14.1 billion was well below the Street’s view of $14.51 billion. The decline from $14.27 billion a year ago was blamed on a drop in UPS’ international business.
UPS also announced it will expand its access point store locations to 100 cities across the U.S. over the coming year.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX)
It’s been a rough few weeks for commodities and the stocks that mine them, but FCX was golden today after telling the Street there will be a “sweeping operational review” to cut costs and make production adjustments.
Prior to today’s action, FCX stock was at $11.37, its lowest price in six years. But a rise in the price of copper, along with the FCX announcement boosted the stock 8% higher on strong volume.
Also helping out was analyst Paretosh Misra of Morgan Stanley who said the 40% selloff in FCX stock was overdone. Misra maintained an “overweight” rating on FCX stock.
TrueCar Inc (TRUE)
After a couple of days in which TRUE stock was absolutely clobbered, TRUE rebounded over 15% higher after projecting its July sales to rise 4.9% from a year ago due to robust demand, particularly from premium cars and summer sales momentum.
Last Friday, TRUE stock lost 40% and then an additional 14% on Monday, after disappointing on both earnings and revenue guidance and having been downgraded and having their price cut by both JP Morgan & Chase Co. and RBC Capital to boot.
While it’s positive that July sales are surging, today’s announcement sounds like management’s way of applying a band-aid to stop the bleeding from getting worse.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
