The markets were up for the second day in a row, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.14% to close at 8083. The Nasdaq and the S&P were both up, closing at 1652.54 and 856.56 respectively. The price on the 10-year was down and it closed with a yield of 2.926%. Contracts for crude oil were up today settling at $52.24, while June gold was down settling at $883.30.
The markets soared today as a result of Wells Fargo [WFC: 19.61, +4.72 (+31.70%)] announcing that it expected earnings to be $0.55 cents a share, or a record $3 billion in profits, crushing analyst estimates of $0.31 cents a share. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia last year and said that the acquisition is exceeding expectations, and is estimating that they expect immense synergies by combining the two banks. Revenue in the first quarter is estimated at $20 billion, with 40% of combined revenue coming from Wachovia. Not including Wachovia, Wells is estimating that revenue will grow at 16%. Wells Fargo was up over 30% due to the news, with Bank of America [BAC: 9.55, +2.49 (+35.27%)] and JP Morgan [JPM: 32.75, +5.32 (+19.39%)] both benefiting from the news up as well. Wells will officially report earnings on April 22.
Despite strong financial news today, Wal-Mart [WMT: 50.66, -1.95 (-3.71%)] was down over 3%. Wal-Mart is down as a result of March’s same store sales falling below analyst expectations. Wal-Mart still expects that first quarter earnings and same store sales will be at the high end of expectations due to a strong February. Wal-Mart says that its same store sales were weaker in March due to a weaker economic climate and the fact that Easter was in April, not March. Last month’s increase was 1.4% in US same store sales, driven by sales in health and grocery items. Wal-Mart expects that Easter sales will drive April sales. Wal-Mart has benefited from the down economy as consumers shift to discount retailers to cut costs. Wal-Mart is down from a high of over $57 from earlier this year.
In economic news today, the Labor Department announced that initial unemployment claims were 654,000 in the week ended April 4. The Labor Department announced that initial claims for state unemployment benefits were still at all time highs. Those collecting state unemployment totaled 5.84 million, doubling the amount from the prior year. Currently 1.5 people million are collecting federal unemployment. State unemployment benefits run for about 26 weeks, only for people who are currently unemployed because of no fault of their own, while federal unemployment benefits extended past six months. With initial claims going up, many economists believe that unemployment is going to reach double digits by the end of the year. Continuing claims show that it is very hard for people to find replacement jobs, while the increase in initial claims shows that jobs are being cut resulting in layoffs.
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The markets soared today as a result of Wells Fargo [WFC: 19.61, +4.72 (+31.70%)] announcing that it expected earnings to be $0.55 cents a share, or a record $3 billion in profits, crushing analyst estimates of $0.31 cents a share. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia last year and said that the acquisition is exceeding expectations, and is estimating that they expect immense synergies by combining the two banks. Revenue in the first quarter is estimated at $20 billion, with 40% of combined revenue coming from Wachovia. Not including Wachovia, Wells is estimating that revenue will grow at 16%. Wells Fargo was up over 30% due to the news, with Bank of America [BAC: 9.55, +2.49 (+35.27%)] and JP Morgan [JPM: 32.75, +5.32 (+19.39%)] both benefiting from the news up as well. Wells will officially report earnings on April 22.
Despite strong financial news today, Wal-Mart [WMT: 50.66, -1.95 (-3.71%)] was down over 3%. Wal-Mart is down as a result of March’s same store sales falling below analyst expectations. Wal-Mart still expects that first quarter earnings and same store sales will be at the high end of expectations due to a strong February. Wal-Mart says that its same store sales were weaker in March due to a weaker economic climate and the fact that Easter was in April, not March. Last month’s increase was 1.4% in US same store sales, driven by sales in health and grocery items. Wal-Mart expects that Easter sales will drive April sales. Wal-Mart has benefited from the down economy as consumers shift to discount retailers to cut costs. Wal-Mart is down from a high of over $57 from earlier this year.
In economic news today, the Labor Department announced that initial unemployment claims were 654,000 in the week ended April 4. The Labor Department announced that initial claims for state unemployment benefits were still at all time highs. Those collecting state unemployment totaled 5.84 million, doubling the amount from the prior year. Currently 1.5 people million are collecting federal unemployment. State unemployment benefits run for about 26 weeks, only for people who are currently unemployed because of no fault of their own, while federal unemployment benefits extended past six months. With initial claims going up, many economists believe that unemployment is going to reach double digits by the end of the year. Continuing claims show that it is very hard for people to find replacement jobs, while the increase in initial claims shows that jobs are being cut resulting in layoffs.
Bullish Bankers
www.bullishbankers.com
