U.S. markets traded slightly lower on Tuesday, despite a better-than-expected New Residential Construction Report, as investors remained cautious before the release of the latest minutes from the Federal Open ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Committee Wednesday afternoon.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported that , ahead of the 1.19 million the economists were expecting. The July increase in single-family units was 12%, the largest increase since 2007.
At the same time, permits (which provide some clue as to future building but are less important than starts) fell 16.3% to 1.1 million, and below market expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.1%, while the S&P 500 Index was down 0.2%. Weakest of all, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.6%. Sectors were mostly lower, with financials the only sector even close to breaking even.
Retail earnings were mixed today, with an earnings miss by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) leading WMT stock lower. However, Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE:TJX
) came through nicely for investors, while Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ:OMER) had good news of its own. Here are the stories behind the price jumps:
Home Depot (HD)
HD stock had a solid day, rising more than 2% after the home improvement retailer reported second-quarter earnings of $1.71 a share that met Wall Street’s expectations, but was 19 cents better than a year ago. Revenue of $24.8 billion was just slightly ahead of the estimates.
In addition, Home Depot for the second time this year. Their new estimate is for $5.36, up from $5.27 last quarter. HD said it would also buy back some $4 billion in stock over the next six months.
All in all, a terrific day from one of the leading retailers on Wall Street.
TJX Companies Inc (TJX)
TJX, the parent company of T.K. Maxx and Marshalls stores, gapped up over 7% today of 80 cents a share on $7.36 billion, ahead of street estimates for 76 cents a share on $7.25 billion. Sales were up 6% this quarter, as more shoppers frequented TJX-owned stores.
TJX also raised its guidance to $3.24 to $3.28 a share for the rest of the fiscal year. Previous guidance was $3.21 to $3.27 a share. TJX stock has been moving higher lately, in a nice uptrend with increasing volume.
Omeros Corporation (OMER)
Omeros was the largest gaining stock on Wall Street today, surging 72% after the biopharmaceutical firm reported a treatment for thrombotic microangiopathy. (TMA is a rare type of blood clots that can form in the brain or the kidneys and is life threatening.)
OMER stock touched $30 this morning, more than doubling Monday’s closing price, before pulling back to finish at $25.08. OMER stock had fallen from $26 in April, to a recent low near $12 before rebounding over the past two days. Today’s intraday action wiped out four months of losses, a good demonstration of the volatility of the small cap biotech sector.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
