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| Currency | US Dollar |
|---|---|
| British Pound to US Dollar | 1.661900 |
| Euro to US Dollar | 1.485000 |
| Japanese Yen to US Dollar | 0.011100 |
| Canadian Dollar to US Dollar | 0.930600 |
Coca-Cola (KO, news, msgs) expanded in one hot trend and joined a second on Friday.
The soft-drink giant expanded its presence in the non-carbonated beverage business, and it got into the acquisitions game with a deal to buy Energy Brands, maker of Vitaminwater, for $4.1 billion in cash.
The deal for Energy Brands, better known as Glacéau, pushed Coke shares up 1.2% to $51.87. The stock was among third best among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The stock's gain helped the Dow rebound from Thursday's 85-point sell-off. The blue-chip index was up about 66 points to 13,507. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up more than 8.2 points to just under 1,516, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 19 points to 2,557.
Energy, materials and tech stocks powered Friday's market, but the gains were not enough to help the market to recover from Thursday's abrupt selling wave ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday.
Three times during the week, the S&P 500 crossed 1,527.46, its March 2000 all-time high, but it couldn't achieve a new closing high. For the week, the index was down 0.5%. The Dow also finished down 0.5% for the week. The weekly declines were the first for the indexes since the week of March 30.
The Nasdaq finished down slightly for the week, its third weekly decline in a row.
For the year, the Dow is up 8.3% for the year, the S&P 500 is up 6.8%, and the Nasdaq is up 5.9%.
Is Coke paying too much?
A question is whether Coca-Cola got into the game too late and is paying too much.Coca-Cola accounts for 5% of the U.S. market for water drinks, while rival PepsiCo (PEP, news, msgs) has 45% with its SoBe, Aquafina and Propel brands. Sales of such drinks rose about 50% last year while soda dropped for the second year in a row, according to John Sicher, the editor of Beverage Digest.
"We look at this as a play for the future," Coke President Muhtar Kent told CNBC Friday. "We see great opportunity for these growth categories."
"This is the position Coke's in, having to pay up because there are so few assets out there that can move the needle for them," said Walter Todd, a money manager with Greenwood Capital Management in Greenwood, S.C. "Coke needs Glacéau."
Stock Charts (Year)
Coca-Cola
PepsiCo
Coke has been working to expand its line of noncarbonated beverages and healthier drinks. It acquired Fuze Beverage, which makes juices and teas, in March, and recently introduced Diet Coke Plus, a nutrient-enriched soda.
Pepsi, meanwhile, bought Naked Juice in November to add to its range of healthier products. It bought Gatorade parent Quaker Oats in 2001, after Coca-Cola nixed a deal.
Coca-Cola's soda products make up 80% of its sales; PepsiCo relies on soda for less than 20% of its sales.
Investors have liked Coke of late. The stock is up 16.7% over the last year; PepsiCo is up about 14%. PepsiCo closed up 0.5% to $68.82 on Friday.
Existing-home sales hit 4-year low
The stock market took bad news on housing as good news on Friday.The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell 2.6% to an annual rate of 5.99 million in April, the slowest pace in four years.
Economists had expected a decline of 0.2% to 6.11 million units.
The supply of existing homes on the market rose 10.4% to 4.2 million, or an 8.4-month supply -- the highest level since April 1992.
This follows a much more upbeat report Thursday from the Commerce Department that said new-home sales had risen unexpectedly in April, up 16% from March.
Home building stocks, which jumped Thursday, were off Friday, in part because Standard & Poor's changed its rating outlook on several builders. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index ($HGX.X) finished down slightly at 236.30.
| Close for week | Wk. ago close | % chg. | YTD. chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dow Jones industrials | 13,507.28 | 13,556.53 | -0.36% | 8.38% |
S&P 500 | 1,515.73 | 1,522.75 | -0.46% | 6.87% |
Nasdaq Composite | 2,557.19 | 2,558.45 | -0.05% | 5.88% |
Russell 2000 | 829.93 | 823.66 | 0.76% | 5.37% |
Crude oil per barrel | $65.20 | $64.94 | 0.40% | 6.80% |
10-yr. Treasury yield | 4.86% | 4.80% | 1.19% | 3.21% |
Gold per troy ounce | $661.40 | $662.40 | -0.15% | 3.67% |
Oil, rates and a big week ahead on economic reports
Markets this week were bothered by higher oil prices and higher interest rates, and they'll be watched closely next week.Crude oil closed Friday at $65.20, up 1.6% from Thursday, and Americans were starting to complain loudly about record pump prices.
At the same time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note finished the week at 4.861%, up from 4.857% on Thursday. The yield on this key rate -- it helps set mortgage rates -- is up from 4.63% at the end of April, and some worry that, if it tops 5%, it will start to hurt interest-rate sensitive economic sectors like housing. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond moved to 5.01% this week for the first time this year.
Meanwhile, the economy will be the focus of a lot of market attention next week, and you'd do well to pay attention. Here's a rundown of the important reports:
- Tuesday: The Conference Board will issue its monthly Consumer Confidence report. The Briefing.com forecast is for a reading of 105, up from 104 in April and 108 in March. The index measures how consumers feel about current economic conditions and their future expectations.
- Wednesday: Minutes from the Federal Reserve's May 9 meeting. The Fed's rate-making body, the Federal Open Market Committee, left its key federal funds rate at 5.25%, and investors bought stocks on the assumption it won't be moving rates higher. The minutes will offer a peak into how the Fed is looking at the economy.
- Thursday: The Commerce Department will issue its second estimate on gross domestic product for the first quarter. This will give a clearer picture of the economic slowdown. An advance estimate put growth at 1.3%. The Briefing.com estimate is that the rate will be shaved to 0.7%. Bulls may well stampede the market if the estimate is 1% or higher because that suggests fears of a slowdown are overblown.
- Friday: The Labor Department will issue its April report on unemployment and nonfarm payrolls. The market pays more attention to the latter. The Briefing.com estimate is for a gain of 130,000 jobs. The March report showed a gain of 88,000. Watch to see if a revision of the number moves higher.
| Fri. | Thur. | Chg. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crude oil (NYMEX) (per barrel) | $65.20 | $64.18 | $1.02 | -0.78% | 6.80% |
Heating oil (per gallon) | $1.9391 | $1.9291 | $0.0100 | 1.34% | 21.35% |
Natural gas (per million BTU) | $7.6400 | $7.6810 | -$0.0410 | -2.84% | 21.29% |
Unleaded gasoline (per gallon) | $2.4037 | $2.3569 | $0.0468 | -1.51% | 50.03% |
A big week ahead, Part 2: Earnings
The first-quarter earnings season is largely done, and, while it wasn't a barn burner, it was better than expected.Thomson Financial estimates stocks in the S&P 500 will show growth of 8.1%. That's far better than April when Thomson estimated the rate at 3.7%, and the relatively good performance helped fuel the stock market rally in April and May. Telecoms and health care companies have had the biggest gains, Thomson says: 21% and 13%, respectively.
The biggest of the week will be personal computer giant Dell Inc.'s (DELL, news, msgs) report after Thursday's close. The Reuters consensus is that the company will report earnings of 26 cents a share, down from 33 cents a year ago. Reuters estimates revenue at $13.97 billion, down from $14.2 billion a year ago.
Dell has been struggling mightily in recent years as a resurgent Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, news, msgs) became the top seller of personal computers. This week, Dell shares fell slightly, but they're up 3.7% for the year. That's an improvement over 2005 and 2006 when the stock fell nearly 29% and 16%, respectively.
A number of high-profile retailers will report, including Polo Ralph Lauren (RL, news, msgs), Chico's FAS (CHS, news, msgs) and Williams-Sonoma on Wednesday and high-end jeweler Tiffany (TIF, news, msgs) on Thursday.
High-end home builder Hovnanian (HOV, news, msgs) will also report second-quarter earnings on Thursday. The Reuters consensus is for a loss of 48 cents, down from reported earnings of $1.55 a year ago. Revenue may come in at $1.13 billion, down 28% from a year ago.
Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on the stock on Friday to negative on Friday along with Centex (CTX, news, msgs), Pulte Homes (PHM, news, msgs), D.R. Horton (DHI, news, msgs) and privately held Kimball Hill and William Lyon Homes. A negative outlook means S&P is likely to cut the rating in the next two years.
Hovnanian shares were down 1.9% to $25.33 on Friday.
More from MSN Money
Worse off than your dad?
Men in their 30s in the U.S. are worse off than their fathers were just 10 years ago, a study released Friday says."There has been no progress at all for the youngest generation. As a group, they have on average 12% less income than their fathers' generation at the same age," the study says.
The median income for an American man in his 30s was about $35,000 in 2004, 12% lower than the median income for a man in his 30s in 1974, which was the equivalent of $40,000 in today's dollars.
- Video: Blame it on the grain
"Income in one's thirties is a reasonably good indicator of what one's lifetime income will be," the report says.
The study was done by researchers from the Pew Charitable Trusts, The Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Urban Institute.
| Close | Chg. for wk. | YTD chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 Index | 1,515.73 | -0.46% | 6.87% |
| Energy | 518.85 | 0.00% | 13.90% |
| Materials | 248.32 | -0.27% | 14.67% |
| Industrials | 349.57 | 0.38% | 8.35% |
| Consumer discretionary | 313.02 | -0.24% | 3.34% |
| Consumer staples | 282.49 | -0.38% | 5.25% |
| Healthcare | 424.26 | 0.01% | 9.14% |
| Financials | 503.67 | -0.75% | 1.69% |
| Information technology | 378.77 | -0.88% | 6.32% |
| Telecommunications | 177.75 | 0.57% | 14.57% |
| Utilities | 207.14 | -4.31% | 11.01% |
Nasdaq to buy European exchange
The Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ, news, msgs) said Friday that it will buy Swedish exchange OMX Group for $3.7 billion.The exchange -- Europe's fifth-largest -- is home to Scandinavian companies such as Volvo (VOLV, news, msgs) and Nokia (NOK, news, msgs).
The move will follow the completion of rival NYSE Group's (NYX, news, msgs) $14 billion acquisition of Euronext last month.
Video on MSN Money
Get a grip on gas pricesGo ahead and hate the big oil companies all you want -- even persuade your representatives to slap on a windfall-profits tax -- but that won't ease the pain at the pump, says MSN Money's Jim Jubak. The only way to lower gas prices is to use less.
The new company will be called Nasdaq OMX.
Capt. Jack Sparrow is back
Memorial Day weekend means the unofficial start to summer, with rising gas prices and blockbuster movie openings.Walt Disney (DIS, news, msgs) is banking on good old Capt. Jack Sparrow to charm viewers this holiday weekend, and executives are keeping their fingers crossed that the lovable pirate will outdo a superhero and a cartoon ogre to produce the No. 1 movie debut on record.
Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" comes out this weekend, debuting at a record 4,362 movie screens, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Earlier this month, Sony's (SNE, news, msgs) "Spider-Man 3" took in $151.1 million on its opening weekend, topping last year's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which had brought in $135.6 million.
DreamWorks Animation's (DWA, news, msgs) "Shrek the Third" debuted last weekend and rung in $122 million, making it the best debut for an animated film and the third-biggest ever.
Disney and Dreamworks shares were slightly higher on Friday.
Thirty years ago on Friday, the mother of all summer blockbusters, "Star Wars," made its debut.
That film, which also ushered in the era of licensed movie merchandise, earned $1.6 million on its opening weekend in 1977 and sent its studio's stock price soaring.
When "Star Wars" was re-released in theaters in 1997, it made more than $36 million on over 2,000 screens on its opening weekend.
| Fri. | Thur. | Chg. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treasurys | |||||
| 13-week Treasury bill | 4.740% | 4.765% | -0.025 | 0.32% | -2.97% |
| 5-year Treasury note yield | 4.796% | 4.785% | 0.011 | 6.20% | 2.02% |
| 10-year Treasury note yield | 4.861% | 4.857% | 0.004 | 4.99% | 3.21% |
| 30-year Treasury bond yield | 5.008% | 5.008% | 0.000 | 3.97% | 3.94% |
| Currencies | |||||
| U.S. Dollar Index | 82.27 | 82.34 | -0.07 | 1.13% | -1.39% |
| British pound in dollars | $1.984 | $1.986 | -0.002 | -0.83% | 1.23% |
| Dollar in British pounds | £0.5041 | £0.5035 | 0.0006 | 0.84% | -1.21% |
| Euro in dollars | 1.3459 | 1.3434 | 0.0025 | -1.37% | 1.97% |
| Dollar in euros | € 0.7430 | € 0.7444 | -0.0014 | 1.39% | -1.93% |
| Dollar in yen | ¥121.77 | ¥121.42 | 0.35 | 1.98% | 2.31% |
| Commodities | |||||
| Gold | $661.40 | $653.30 | $8.10 | -3.23% | 3.67% |
| Copper | $3.3205 | $3.1805 | $0.14 | -6.64% | 15.66% |
| Silver | $13.0000 | $12.9200 | $0.08 | -4.24% | 0.50% |
| Crude oil (NYMEX) (per barrel) | $65.20 | $64.18 | $1.02 | -0.78% | 6.80% |
By Charley Blaine and Elizabeth Strott
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