Welcome to The Daily Stock Report...brought to you by QualityStocks.Net, performance tracked daily.
I'm Cathy Rankin and for Tuesday March 27th... we're bringing you the latest news from around the markets as well as the top movers to look out for today...
In Headline News Today...
With the S&P 500 fresh off its best weekly percentage gain (+3.5%) in four years and the Dow logging its fifth straight advance, it wasn't surprising to see the stock market take a bit of a breather Monday.
At 10:00 ET, the Commerce Dept. showed that new home sales unexpectedly fell in February to the lowest level in nearly seven years. More troubling was the fact that inventories rose to the highest level in 16 years.
Even though the data do not mean that the housing market is crashing and will pull the overall economy into recession, the broader perspective showed that housing is still in a correction and will remain a moderate drag on real GDP for several more quarters.
Not surprising, Homebuilders, this year's biggest disappointment, ranked among today's worst performing S&P industry groups.
However, new signs of weakness in the troubled housing sector exacerbated ongoing concerns of further impairment charges among mortgage lenders. That, in turn, left investors wondering if Financials is likely to see some downward earnings revisions over the next couple of weeks as the Q1 earnings season gets underway.
Crude oil prices eclipsing $63/bbl for the first time this year amid potential supply disruptions after the U.N. tightened sanctions against Iran also weighed on sentiment throughout the session.
Eventually the Energy sector took notice and helped to offset the adverse effect oil's uptick had on transportation stocks, especially Railroads.
Industrials ranked second among the five sectors closing lower while a late-day tech rally provided enough of a boost to close the major averages mixed.
Internet Software & Services was one of the day's top ten performers as eBay got a big boost after Goldman Sachs raised their Q1 revenue and earnings estimates. Computer Hardware was another bright spot for tech as Dell surged 3.5% after Goldman upgraded the stock to a Buy while Apple climbed 2.5% after a favorable mention in Barron's.
And now for our Small Cap News... brought to you by Lucas Enegry
Lucas Energy, Inc. (LUCE.OB) engages in the acquisition and operation of oil and gas properties in the state of Texas, the United States. The company operates eight separate oil and gas leases.
CompleteAuto (RCAU) announced today that they have received certification to operate as a Solutions Provider in eBay Motors' Local Market Program. Certification by eBay will now allow dealers to utilize the CompleteAuto software to bring more local buyers directly into their dealerships making the eBay selling process more simplistic and allowing buyers to test drive the car before purchase
Dealers will now be able to list their entire lot on eBay Motors for one flat subscription fee per month allowing buyers within a 100 mile radius of the dealership will see a dealer's entire inventory online.
Previously at $0.08 a share Complete Auto opens today up a whopping 2,212% or to $1.85 a share with over 7 million shares traded by yesterday's bell.
Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares surged on news of positive results in recent studies of its inhalable schizophrenia and migraine drug candidates.
The companies drug candidate AZ-004, administered with the company's Staccato vaporizing device, significantly reduced agitation in schizophrenia patients after two hours when given at the highest dose, 10 milligrams, compared with a placebo.
(ALXA) previously at $9.98 a share Alexza Pharmaceuticals opens today up 52% at $15.21 a share with over 9 Million shares traded by yesterdays close.
And that's our newsmakers, Stay tuned right here to Quality Stocks Daily for the latest news from small cap to large cap, and everything in by QualityStocks.Net, where performance is tracked daily.
Thank you for tuning in, I'm Cathy Rankin. Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow, right here on the daily report.
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