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| Currency | US Dollar |
|---|---|
| British Pound to US Dollar | 1.829491 |
| Euro to US Dollar | 1.471670 |
| Japanese Yen to US Dollar | 0.009141 |
| Canadian Dollar to US Dollar | 0.951747 |
Overall it was another flat day for stocks as Wall Street waited for the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. But dig down, and there was plenty of action.
Consider MasterCard (MA, news, msgs), whose stock jumped nearly 13% to $273.98 after the company said quarterly profit more than doubled.
Cardholder spending soared overseas and rose at a more moderate pace in the United States as Americans increasingly turned to plastic in a weak economy. The company said it earned $446.9 million, or $3.38 a share, up from $214.9 million, or $1.57 a share, a year ago.
The report was so big that it erased the bad feelings that drove rival card processor Visa (V, news, msgs) down 6% in after-hours trading last night after the company's growth outlook disappointed investors. Today, however, Visa jumped to $80.88, a 7% gain from Monday.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials fell about 40 points to 12,832. Standard & Poor's 500 Index was off 5 points to 1,391. But the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2 points to 2,426.
Tech stocks were another big story. The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX.X) was up 10 points to 1,934. On a percentage basis, it was considerably ahead of the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500.
Apple (AAPL, news, msgs) jumped 1.6% to $175.05. Research In Motion (RIMM, news, msgs) jumped 3.2% to $126.29. Google (GOOG, news, msgs) added 1.2% to $558.47.
The tech move appears to be the result of the rising dollar, which was up against the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen. Result: Crude oil fell 2.6% to $115.63 a barrel. Gold fell 2.1% to $876.80 an ounce. Copper was off 1.2% to $3.881 a pound.
Commodity stocks tumbled. Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold (FCX, news, msgs) fell 4.4% to $110.72. Fertilizer maker Potash of Saskatchewan (POT, news, msgs) dropped 6.2% to $181.49. Seed and agricultural chemical company Monsanto fell 9.1% to $110.93, the second-biggest loss among S&P 500 stocks.
Money had to go somewhere; it went to tech.
At the same time, transportation stocks had a decent day, with the Dow Jones Transportation Average($DJT) rising 40 points to 5,209, its best close in since July 25. Airline stocks moved higher as crude oil fell, and BNSF Railrway (BNI, news, msgs), better known as Burlington Northern, was up 1.6% to $102.72 as heavy demand for U.S. farm products produced a strong earnings report.
Will Wednesday's rate cut be the last?
Wednesday's big story will be the Federal Reserve's move.The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee, which began a two-day meeting today, is expected to cut the federal funds rate -- the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans -- to 2% from 2.25%. That's not much of a cut, and most economists see the Fed signaling it won't cut further because it's worried about growing inflation.
The Fed's rate cuts since September are widely regarded as a big reason oil and metals prices are much higher. Crude oil is up about 40% since mid-September. Gold is still about 20% higher than mid-September.
- MSN's Stock Challenge: Win $15,000!
The Fed opened its meeting amid a flurry of worrisome economic news: lower consumer confidence, falling home prices, inflation and high gasoline prices. It has focused on trying to help a slowing economy, a global credit crisis and the mortgage-market meltdown.
The Fed will release its statement Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET.
| Tues. | Mon. | Chg. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude oil (NYMEX) (per barrel) | $115.63 | $118.75 | -$3.12 | 13.83% | 20.47% |
| Heating oil (per gallon) | $3.2465 | $3.2988 | -$0.0523 | 6.47% | 22.54% |
| Natural gas (per million BTU) | $10.8420 | $11.3290 | -$0.4870 | 7.34% | 44.89% |
| Unleaded gasoline (per gallon) | $2.9392 | $3.0307 | -$0.0915 | 12.34% | 18.00% |
Merck shares slapped on FDA news
The Dow might have finished in the green today if drug company Merck (MRK, news, msgs) hadn't been such a mess. The stock fell 10.4% to $37.14, subtracting about 35 points from the blue-chip index. It was the worst performer among the 30 Dow stocks and the S&P 500.The pharmaceutical company said late Monday that the Food and Drug Administration wants more information about research on a new anti-cholesterol drug.
The FDA issued a "not approvable" action letter for the drug and rejected the name "Cordaptive." Merck said it would submit more information to the FDA, but one doctor was skeptical about Merck's research on the drug.
"We are tired of them saying, 'Whoops, we didn't anticipate that.' This is a good example of the need to slow down," Allen Taylor, a cardiologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, told Bloomberg News. "They've already got doctors hawking the drug, and it isn't even available."
Merck reiterated its profit forecast for $3.28 to $3.38 per share for 2008.
The Dow did get a bit of a boost from IBM Corp. (IBM, news, msgs), whose shares rose 1% to $122.85 after the company said it had increased its dividend 25% to 50 cents a share.
Earlier this month, Big Blue reported a 26% jump in profit for the first quarter.
Still, 18 of the 30 Dow stocks were lower. In addition, 260 S&P 500 stocks were lower. But 58 Nasdaq-100 stocks were higher today.
Chevron (CVX, news, msgs), which reports first-quarter profits on Friday, was the Dow leader. Shares rose 2.4% to $94.74 after rivals BP plc (BP, news, msgs) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, news, msgs) reported that higher oil prices pushed first-quarter profits sharply higher.
In New York trading, BP was up 4.6% to $72.18, and Royal Dutch Shell was up 4.5% to $80.19.
ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs), however, was off 0.7% to $91.79.
- Top Stocks blog: Exxon: The world's 18th-largest economy?
Consumer confidence falls
Consumers aren't optimistic about the economy, according to the Conference Board's key indicator.The business-research group said its consumer
confidence index fell in April to 62.3 -- the lowest level in five years -- from a revised level of 65.9 in March.While disappointing, the reading was better the 61 reading that analysts had expected. The index's March reading was originally 64.5.
- Video: Consumer confidence declines
"Even if it doesn't get worse, it certainly is not going to get better in the next three to six months and very likely, longer than that," Ken Goldstein, Conference Board economist, told CNBC.
Consumers have been slammed by soaring energy and food prices, with commodities like oil, corn and wheat trading at record highs in recent months. "It's a tough time for our economy," President Bush said this morning at a Rose Garden news conference, as he called on Congress to allow more oil drilling in Alaska.
Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Last week, the Reuters/University of Michigan April report on consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in 26 years.
Foreclosures soar; home prices drop
One issue the Fed has been concerned about is the slumping housing market, and news today doesn't offer much hope.Nearly 650,000 foreclosures were filed in the first quarter of 2008, up 23% from the fourth quarter of 2007 and 112% from the first quarter of 2007, according to RealtyTrac. Approximately one in every 194 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing, the foreclosure-tracking company reported. The number of foreclosures rose in 46 states, led by Nevada, California and Arizona.
"Foreclosure activity hasn't slowed down yet," RealtyTrac spokesman Rick Sharga, spokesman for RealtyTrac, told CNNMoney -- "but I was a little surprised that foreclosure filings more than doubled since last year."
Video on MSN Money
What will a rate cut mean?The Fed will probably lower interest rates again this week, which could result in a pause in cuts. The problem is the Fed may not make its intentions clear, says Jim Jubak.
A separate report showed a drop in home prices around the country. Home prices fell 12.7% in February from a year ago, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. The index showed a 2.6% decline from January in all of the 20 metropolitan cities surveyed.
"There is no sign of a bottom in the numbers," said Standard & Poors' David Blitzer said.
Las Vegas and Miami showed the biggest year-over-year declines.
More from MSN Money
'Grand Theft Auto IV' hits shelves
The most anticipated video game this year -- Take-Two Interactive's (TTWO, news, msgs) "Grand Theft Auto IV" -- hits store shelves today, and analysts think the game could break records. But the stock market wasn't so sure. Take-Two shares closed up 0.6% to $26.63.- Top Stocks blog: Take-Two shines with 'Grand Theft Auto IV'
Analysts and critics have raved about the controversial video game, priced at $59.99 to $89.99. The game scored a perfect 100 for Sony's (SNE, news, msgs) PlayStation 3 version on the entertainment Web site Metacritic.com; the Xbox 360 version received a rating of 99.
Take-Two hopes that strong sales will help the company get more money out of rival Electronic Arts (ERTS, news, msgs), which launched a $2 billion takeover bid that expires on May 16.
If the launch is successful, Take-Two may be able to extract a larger bid from Electronic Arts, analysts said.
The video-game market has managed to thrive in spite of the economic slowdown; last year, Microsoft's (MSFT, news, msgs) "Halo 3" was the best-selling video game, with more than 8 million copies sold. (Microsoft is the publisher of MSN Money.)
Electronic Arts was down 0.3% to $51.68. Microsoft was off 1.2% to $28.64.
| Tues. | Mon. | Chg. | Month chg. | YTD chg. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treasurys | |||||
| 13-week Treasury bill | 1.440% | 1.330% | 0.110 | 6.67% | -54.14% |
| 5-year Treasury note yield | 3.108% | 3.135% | -0.027 | 22.60% | -10.04% |
| 10-year Treasury note yield | 3.825% | 3.835% | -0.010 | 10.36% | -5.20% |
| 30-year Treasury bond yield | 4.559% | 4.565% | -0.006 | 4.93% | 2.24% |
| Currencies | |||||
| U.S. Dollar Index | 73.100 | 72.800 | 0.300 | 1.30% | -4.69% |
| British pound in dollars | $1.9701 | $1.9920 | -0.0220 | -0.69% | -0.97% |
| Dollar in British pounds | £0.5076 | £0.5020 | 0.0056 | 0.69% | 0.97% |
| Euro in dollars | $1.5584 | $1.5664 | -0.0081 | -1.06% | 6.62% |
| Dollar in euros | € 0.6417 | € 0.6384 | 0.0033 | 1.07% | -6.21% |
| Dollar in yen | ¥103.99 | ¥104.19 | -0.20 | 4.19% | -7.03% |
| Canadian dollar in U.S. dollars | $0.988 | $0.987 | $0.0009 | 1.05% | -0.50% |
| U.S. dollar in Canadian dollars | $1.013 | $1.013 | -$0.0001 | -1.04% | 0.52% |
| Commodities | |||||
| Gold | $876.80 | $895.50 | -$18.70 | -1.45% | 4.63% |
| Copper | $3.8810 | $3.9290 | -$0.05 | -0.77% | 27.62% |
| Silver | $16.6400 | $17.1230 | -$0.48 | -1.88% | 11.53% |
| Corn | $5.9125 | $6.0000 | -$0.09 | 4.23% | 29.80% |
| Crude oil (NYMEX) (per barrel) | $115.63 | $118.75 | -$3.12 | -2.44% | 20.47% |
Countrywide reports loss
Troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (CFC, news, msgs) reported a huge loss this morning, due in part to surging late payments and foreclosures.- Video: Second-half stocks
Countrywide lost $893.1 million, or $1.60 per share, down from a profit of $434 million, or 72 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Analysts had expected a loss of 12 cents per share.
Stock Charts(Year)
Bank of America
It was the third loss in a row for Countrywide, causing some concern about whether Bank of America (BAC, news, msgs) plans to go through with its move to buy the lender. Bank of America said in January it would purchase the company for $4 billion in stock.
Still, Countrywide shares rose 2 cents to $5.85 today. Bank of America fell 0.9% to $37.86.
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