peter cardillo

Fiscal Talks Move Shares Higher

Shares on Wall Street rose in light trading on Monday as investors seemed encouraged by signs of movement on negotiations in Washington to avoid a fiscal crisis.

Speaker John A. Boehner edged slightly closer to President Obama’s primary demands as they try to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect in the new year.

Mr. Boehner’s latest offer would extend low tax rates for everyone who has earned less than $1 million, and rates would rise for wages above that. But Mr. Boehner’s new positions were still far from those held by Mr. Obama.

“It does solidify that a deal is very close and it could be announced by the end of this week,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. “We could be surprised. We could actually have a Santa gift that a deal has been reached.”

Uncertainty over when and if a federal budget deal would be reached has kept investors cautious in what is normally a quiet trading period heading into year-end.

Investors are worried that the economy could slide back into recession if the full brunt of the tax and spending changes are allowed, though most expect a deal will eventually be reached.

“The universal feeling is still that this will probably be solved,” but it might take until the last minute, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati.

The market shrugged off Monday’s less cheery economic data that showed manufacturing activity in the New York region declined for a fifth month in a row in December.

In afternoon trading, the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index was up about 0.9 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average was up about 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite was 0.9 percent higher.

If the S.P. 500 sustains its gains through the session, the index would snap a two-day losing streak. Despite the uncertainty of “fiscal cliff” talks, the S.P. 500 has performed well in the last month, grinding higher in mostly light volume.

Mr. Detrick said markets were likely to continue that sort of momentum through the end of the year, which is typically a bullish time for stocks.

Apple’s shares were about 0.5 percent lower after Citigroup cut its rating to “neutral” from “buy” and slashed its price target to $575 from $675. Apple shares have tumbled nearly 30 percent in about three months, losing 3.8 percent on Friday alone, helping lead the overall market lower.

The company said it sold more than two million iPhone 5 smartphones in China in the three days after its introduction there on Friday, but the figures did not ease worries about stiffer competition.

Sprint Nextel raised its offer for Clearwire, the wireless service provider, by 7 cents a share to buy the rest of the company that it did not already own for $2.2 billion. Clearwire tumbled more than 12 percent, while Sprint was flat.

The American International Group may raise as much as $6.5 billion from the sale of its remaining stake in the AIA Group, exiting a business it started nearly 100 years ago. A.I.G. was up 2.3 percent.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Stocks Cheered by Retail and Inflation Data

Stocks on Wall Street rose more than 1 percent Tuesday morning after American and Chinese economic data drew investors into an equities market that has been through six weeks of sharp declines.

In the United States, retail sales declined for the first time in nearly a year, but the decline was less than forecast, and so the report helped push stock prices higher and offered some respite to investors overwhelmed by recent weak economic data.

Despite the jump, some investors were still focused on a retreat in the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index to its March low near the 1,250 level. The index closed at 1,271.83 on Monday.

“The consumer isn’t dead,” said Michael Farr, president of investment management firm Farr, Miller Washington in Washington. “I question the sustainability, given the high levels of debt that consumers hold and the unemployment rate. But we don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s good news for the day.”

In early trading Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 115.83 points, or 1 percent, bringing it back over the 12,000 mark to 12,068.80 points. The S. P. rose 14.53 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,286.36, and the Nasdaq composite index added 32.13 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,671.82.

The S. P. 500 is down more than 7 percent from its high in early May as soft data sparked worries about the sustainability of the economic recovery.

In China, inflation is still a concern after data showed consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in almost three years, but industrial output grew 13.3 percent from a year ago, in line with forecasts.

China’s central bank later increased the reserve requirement ratio for commercial lenders by 50 basis points.

“News out of China is somewhat encouraging in spite of the fact they raised reserve requirements,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York. He said the data is a sign that perhaps China’s economy “can avoid a hard landing, and that’s cheering the markets.”

“The real focus will be on the fact that the market is in a technical correction,” Mr. Cardillo said. “We have options expiration this week, so any rallies might continue to be short-lived.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/15markets.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Fiscal Talks Move Shares Higher

Stocks Cheered by Retail and Inflation Data

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