In trading on Wednesday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.2%. Leading the group were shares of Hovnanian Enterprises Depositor Shr SR (HOVNP), up about 8.3% and shares of Pultegroup (PHM) up about 6.8% on the day.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) was upgraded from Buy to Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs today. The stock closed yesterday at $33.13 on volume of 7.4 million shares, below average daily volume of 11.8 million. In the past 52 weeks, Bristol-Myers Squibb share prices have been bracketed by a low of $28.70 and a high of $36.34 and closed yesterday at $33.14, 15% above that low price. Over the last five market days, the 200-day moving average (MA) has remained constant while the 50-day MA has declined 0.3%.
McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) releasing their August sales, reporting a weaker than expected 3.7 percent rise. This is better than July’s numbers, the company’s worst month in five years. By region, the fast chain saw a 3 percent rise in the U.S. and a 3.1 percent rise in Europe. Both results were below expectations. McDonald’s has seen success in recent years, but should be cautious about other companies. Both Wendy’s and Burger King are rolling out new menu items and revamping their stores, making more competition for America’s number one fast food joint. Analysts like the numbers increase this morning though. McDonald’s stock is currently up two tenths of a percent to $91.51.
The markets were in positive territory today due to speculation that the Fed will make a move to boost the economy. In corporate news, Navistar (NAV) was higher after Carl Icahn issued an open letter to shareholders stating that his his previous comments were demands, not threats.
AmerisourceBergen (ABC) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (GS) to neutral from buy with a price target of $42 due to a lack of catalysts in the near term to drive the stock price higher. Shares are lower by about seven tenths of a percent.
Caseys General Stores Incorporated (CASY) maintained its quarterly dividend of 16.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable November 15 to shareholders of record on November 1.
The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget discuss the latest Foxconn worker scandal
As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.
In trading on Tuesday, non-precious metals & non-metallic mining shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.9%. Leading the group were shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), up about 6.3% and shares of Alumina Limited (AWC) up about 5% on the day.
Kroger (KR) announced that it earned 51 cents per share in the second quarter, beating expectations. Net earnings were down slightly, to $279.1 million versus $280.8 million for the same quarter last year, which the company attributed to paying higher taxes.
