Choppy Session Ends in Upswing as Earnings Season Begins

Originally published: 10.16.15 by Margot Crabtree

In contrast to typical trends, the Federal Reserve said it will not raise interest rates, and all 10 sectors of the S&P 500 took a hit.

As our trading session ended October 15, 2015, however, a further slowdown in job creation led the central bankers to decide not to raise rates at least for the next few months, and Wall Street hit an eight-week high. Between those bookends, the economic picture was mixed.

While new home sales surged to a seven-year high in August, September consumer sentiment fell to the lowest level in a year. The University of Michigan's sentiment index slid to 87.2, from 91.9 in August, the third straight monthly decline, on concerns about worldwide economic health.

In contrast, the Commerce Department reported that new home sales jumped 5.7 percent in August, the strongest pace since February 2008. Overall construction spending increased 0.7 percent in August to the highest in seven years, driven by government projects and home construction.

September's manufacturing growth remained at a two-year low, and Chinese factory activity slid to a six-and-a-half year low. The Labor Department reported an increase of only 142,000 jobs in September, rather than the 203,000 expected in a Reuters survey.

The Conference Board said

that its consumer confidence index rose to 103 in September, from 101.3 in August, the highest reading since January. Economists had expected a decline.

"There's a lot of cash on the sidelines, and we did break through to a new high since the August decline," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group. "Volume picked up as well, which is a strong indicator."

Exchange	Symbol	Company Name	Price 10/15/15	Price 9/15/15	Net Change	PercentChange	52-Week High	52-Week Low	Shares Outstanding	Market Capitalization
NASD	AAON	AAON, Inc.	21.07	20.32	0.75	3.69%	25.17	17.55	54230	1142626.1
NYSE	ABB	ABB Ltd.	18.66	18.62	0.04	0.21%	23.66	17.13	2220000	41425200
NYSE	ARG	Airgas, Inc.	92.79	93.98	-1.19	-1.27%	119.00	86.09	74650	6926773.5
NYSE	AOS	AO Smith Corp.	69.44	69.74	-0.30	-0.43%	77.43	45.40	75730	5258691.2
NYSE	FIX	Comfort Systems USA, Inc.	29.50	28.95	0.55	1.90%	30.89	13.42	37390	1103005
NYSE	DOV	Dover Corp.	59.80	61.32	-1.52	-2.48%	83.55	55.50	156460	9356308
NASD	ELON	Echelon Corp.	0.61	0.60	0.01	1.67%	2.18	0.48	44160	26937.6
NYSE	DD	E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.	56.70	48.30	8.40	17.39%	76.59	47.11	904840	51304428
NYSE	EME	EMCOR Group, Inc.	45.85	46.38	-0.53	-1.14%	48.89	39.43	62800	2879380
NYSE	EMR	Emerson Electric Co.	46.82	46.32	0.50	1.08%	65.94	42.21	657140	30767294.8
NYSE	FCAU	Fiat Chrysler	16.32	14.82	1.50	10.12%	17.08	8.56	1290000	21052800
NYSE	F	Ford Motor Co.	15.22	14.31	0.91	6.36%	16.74	10.44	3970000	60423400
NYSE	GM	General Motors Co.	33.32	30.99	2.33	7.52%	38.99	24.62	1570000	52312400
NYSE	HON	Honeywell International, Inc.	98.50	100.32	-1.82	-1.81%	107.41	83.48	781760	77003360
NASD	HDSN	Hudson Technologies, Inc.	3.30	3.12	0.18	5.77%	4.80	2.45	32620	107646
NYSE	IR	Ingersoll-Rand Plc	54.25	56.48	-2.23	-3.95%	70.93	49.74	265350	14395237.5
NYSE	JCI	Johnson Controls, Inc.	44.21	40.94	3.27	7.99%	54.52	38.48	654070	28916434.7
NYSE	LII	Lennox International Inc.	117.82	123.19	-5.37	-4.36%	126.85	73.71	45030	5305434.6
NYSE	LXU	LSB Industries, Inc.	17.71	22.53	-4.82	-21.39%	47.33	14.52	22790	403610.9
NYSE	MTW	Manitowoc Co., Inc.	15.07	17.03	-1.96	-11.51%	23.15	13.86	136590	2058411.3
NYSE	MLI	Mueller Industries, Inc.	31.78	30.42	1.36	4.47%	37.18	28.01	56990	1811142.2
NYSE	NWL	Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.	42.42	42.50	-0.08	-0.19%	44.51	31.14	267800	11360076
OTC	NSANY	Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.	20.17	18.95	1.22	6.44%	21.75	16.65	2100000	42357000
NASD	NTK	Nortek, Inc.	62.80	77.90	-15.10	-19.38%	92.96	59.21	16270	1021756
NASD	OFLX	OmegaFlex, Inc.	36.45	37.62	-1.17	-3.11%	41.06	19.66	10090	367780.5
NYSE	PH	Parker-Hannifin Corp.	102.37	108.17	-5.80	-5.36%	133.41	93.47	136170	13939722.9
NYSE	RBC	Regal-Beloit Corp.	60.83	63.84	-3.01	-4.71%	81.36	54.51	44840	2727617.2
NYSE	ROK	Rockwell Automation	105.24	106.55	-1.31	-1.23%	127.05	98.47	134110	14113736.4
OTC	SIEGY	Siemens Aktiengesellschaft	96.68	96.36	0.32	0.33%	120.26	87.88	822420	79511565.6
NYSE	SPWC	SPX Corp.	11.80	14.12	-2.32	-16.41%	26.01	11.02	41100	484980
NYSE	TXN	Texas Instruments	52.43	48.30	4.13	8.55%	59.99	42.04	1030000	54002900
NYSE	UTX	United Technologies Corp.	93.18	92.68	0.50	0.54%	124.45	85.50	890600	82986108
NYSE	WSO	Watsco, Inc.	126.64	123.76	2.88	2.33%	132.23	87.98	27570	3491464.8

The HVACR Business Stock Index rose 32.35 points, or 2.91 percent, and ended at 1145.52. Advancing issues inched past declining issues at a 17-to-16 count.

Shares of DuPont jumped 8.40 points, or 17.39 percent after the company announced the retirement of Ella Kullman, chair and CEO. Kullman, CEO since 2009, is succeeded by interim CEO Edward Breen, member of DD's board of directors. Citi analyst P.J. Juvekar upgraded DuPont to "buy" from "neutral" and increased its price target to $63, from $58. DD ended at 56.70, and was the top dollar and percentage gainer.

Nortek has ended its review of strategic objectives and said it has decided to end discussions to sell the company. The company also announced it has acquired the HVAC distribution business Phoenix Wholesale, which was funded by available cash. The purchase is expected to generate between $15 million to $20 million in revenue over the next year. NTK tumbled 15.10 points, or 19.38 percent, and was the top dollar loser. Nortek closed at 62.80.

Texas Instruments rose 4.13 points, or 8.55 percent. TXN upped its dividend and announced a stock buy-back program. TXN increased its dividend by 12 percent, to $0.38 per share. The $7.5 billion share repurchase program was given no firm deadlines, but noted that the purchases will be made "over time." Texas Instruments ended at 52.43.

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Margot Crabtree is president of Trade Trends, Inc., a financial data services provider. She has been offering market analysis with customized stock indices and financial commentaries since 1999. For additional information, visit www.tradetrendsonline.com.

 

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About Margot Crabtree

Margot is president of Trade Trends, Inc., a financial data services provider. She has been offering market analysis with customized stock indices and financial commentaries since 1999. For additional information, visit tradetrendsonline.com.

 

 

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Articles by Margot Crabtree