y'know i'm glad it's national nude day today, after the last fortnight, my undies needed changing anyway, so here's a good excuse
Guys, this is my last opening, so someone else will have to take up the mantle starting monday
i hope i entertained, i hope i informed, if i offended anyone.....grow up!
Dow jones 21553 plus 21
S&P 500 2447.83 plus 4.58
DAX 12641 plus 14.75
FTSE 7413minus 3.49
OIL 46.05 plus 0.56
GOLD 1218.06 minus 0.04
AUD77.31
SPI futures minus 13
The Dow added 0.10%, enough to clinch a new record of 21,553. The S&P 500 added 0.19%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.21%.
Upbeat guidance from Target Corp. (TGT) inspired a rally in the retail sector. Target anticipates a "modest increase" in same-store sales over the quarter, far better than analyst consensus of a 1.2% decline. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in "above the high end" of its previous target range of 95 cents to $1.15 a share. CEO Brian Cornell said the company had seen "additional, broad-based improvement in traffic and category sales trends in the second quarter, despite continued challenges in the competitive environment."
Target rose more than 4%. Other retailers took Target's lead. Macy's Inc. (M) , Kohl's Corp. (KSS) , Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) and Gap Inc. (GPS) were higher, while the S&P Retail SPDR ETF (XRT) increased 2.3%. Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT) , up 1.5%, led the Dow.
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) increased 7%, caught up in the retail rally and also climbing on its announcement of new toy stores. The retailer will open toy shops in all of its brick-and-mortar locations in order to continue to explore new merchandise categories and differentiate its business. The toy shops will be strategically placed near the retailer's Disney Collection (DIS) and feature an extensive selection of toys for kids of all ages including dolls, action figures, race cars, arts and crafts sets, and board games.
Healthcare names were under pressure on Thursday after the Senate GOP released a revised repeal-and-replace bill draft. The new draft includes an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz which allows insurers to offer cheap, bare-bones insurance plans so long as they also offer Obamacare plans.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has struggled to whip up votes for the initial iteration of the controversial healthcare bill since it was released to the public in late June. The Congressional Budget Office calculated that the previously released bill would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026.
Major industry names such as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) , Novartis AG (NVS) , Pfizer Inc. (PFE) , Merck & Co. (MRK) and Sanofi SA (SNY) were lower.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen headed to Capitol Hill again on Thursday, this time appearing before the Senate Banking Committee. The two-day affair is part of her semiannual appearance before lawmakers known as the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony.
Yellen again took a measured approach to her outlook on recent soft inflation trends in comments to the Senate. Yellen said she regards "the risk with respect to inflation as two-sided," arguing that it has been weak but that a tightening labor market should bring upward pressure to wages and prices. Inflation's struggle to get to the Fed's 2% target rate has raised questions over whether the Fed is tightening too soon.
Yellen engaged in a lengthy Q&A before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, July 12, covering everything from whether inflation targets need to be revised to the Fed's plans to tighten monetary policy. A measured appearance by Yellen soothed fears of a central bank moving too fast, while bolstering confidence in the U.S. economic recovery.
In her House testimony, Yellen reiterated that rate increases would be gradual. Like Fed Gov. Lael Brainard, Yellen doesn't expect rates will have to rise by too much to reach neutral. Also in her testimony, Yellen said that the central bank will likely begin unwinding its $4.5 trillion balance sheet this year, while closely monitoring low-inflation trends.
No monthly meeting this year has chances greater than 50% of seeing another rate hike from the Fed. The closest, the December meeting, has a 0.25% interest rate increase at a 47.3% likelihood, according to CME Group fed funds futures.
Market relief over Yellen's Wednesday testimony sent markets rallying. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed out at a new record of 21,533 on Wednesday, superseding the last record notched on June 19.
President Donald Trump's budget would slash the deficit by one-third over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office calculated on Thursday. However, the budget does not balance as the Trump administration had said. The CBO estimated larger deficits than the Trump White House as revenue projections were lower.
Initial jobless claims fell in the past week, another sign of a tightening job market. The number of new claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell by 3,000 to 247,000. Analysts expected a slightly sharper decrease to 246,000. The less-volatile, four-week average increased by 2,250 to 245,750.
Producer prices crept higher in June, while the longer-run 12-month core cooled. U.S. producer prices rose by 0.1% last month, while core prices excluding food and energy increased by 0.2%. Producer prices over the past 12 months grew 2%, down from 2.4% in May. Core 12-month core prices also increased 2%, 10 basis points lower than the month earlier
what we can expect
hopefully a better opening on monday than that drivel taughtbuffet has been serving up
