By Rita Nazareth - Feb 6, 2012 10:02 PM GMT+0700
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Nicholas Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, talks about investment strategy and the outlook for global markets. Colas, speaking with Deirdre Bolton and Dominic Chu on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop," also discusses Europe's debt crisis. (Source: Bloomberg)
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Dennis Stattman, a fund manager at BlackRock Inc., talks about the stock and bond markets and investment strategy. He speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks declined, snapping a three-day rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, amid concern about Europe’s debt crisis as Greek leaders wrestled with spending cuts to get aid and avert a default.
Boeing Co. (BA) dropped 1.3 percent as the company ordered inspections of 787 Dreamliners after finding signs of fuselage delamination. Humana Inc. (HUM), the second-largest Medicare provider, slid 3.9 percent after raising its 2012 earnings forecast less than analysts estimated. Micron Technology Inc. slumped 2.7 percent as it named Mark Durcan as its chief executive officer, replacing Steve Appleton, who died on Feb. 3.
The S&P 500 retreated 0.3 percent to 1,341.29 at 10 a.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 41.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 12,820.57 today.
“Markets are not a very patient beast,” Michael A. Gayed, chief investment strategist in New York at Pension Partners LLC, said in a telephone interview. “When you have these talks that the Greece situation is going to be resolved, then, it gets postponed to next week and the week after, markets get impatient.”
European leaders stepped up pressure on Greek politicians to meet the conditions of a 130 billion-euro ($171 billion) bailout, saying time was running out. French President Nicolas Sarkozy met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris today as Greece’s interim prime minister, Lucas Papademos, planned to confer with the so-called troika of international lenders in Athens. A gathering of Greek political leaders was delayed by a day until tomorrow as they struggled for a unified response.
Five Weeks
Equities rose for five straight weeks, extending the best start to a year for the S&P 500 since 1987, after a report showed that employment growth topped estimates and the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 8.3 percent. The index has recovered after plunging 19 percent between April 29 and Oct. 3 amid better-than estimated economic data and corporate profits.
Boeing dropped 1.3 percent to $75.38. There is no “short- term safety concern” from the fault, which was caused by an incorrect assembly in a support structure within the plane’s aft fuselage, Scott Lefeber, a spokesman, said yesterday in a statement. The new checks add to the challenges in boosting output of the twin-engine 787, which entered service in 2011 after more than three years of delays.
Humana fell 3.9 percent to $86.59. The company says it may add about 40,000 more Medicare Advantage members in 2012 than previously expected. The increase will help overcome an anticipated increase in demand for medical services.
Hand Over
Micron (MU) retreated 2.7 percent to $7.74. The shares fell 3.1 percent to $7.70 in late trading Feb. 3, after having been halted at $7.95. Durcan, who joined Micron in 1984, had been scheduled to hand over his role as chief operating officer to Mark Adams in August. Adams, head of sales, was named company president.
Kroger Co. (KR), the largest U.S. grocery-store chain, is trading at an 86 percent discount to its projected sales this fiscal year, leaving it cheaper than 99 percent of companies in the S&P 500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Cincinnati-based company, which lost $4.7 billion in market capitalization during the last recession, is now valued at 10.8 times estimated earnings, the lowest level for a U.S. food retailer greater than $2 billion, the data show.
Takeover Target
Kroger, which has increased sales in every year since at least 1987 even as Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grabbed market share from other supermarkets, may now become a target for retailers outside the U.S. or private equity firms, according to Northcoast Research Holdings LLC. Valued at $13.7 billion, Kroger could still attract a takeover offer 30 percent above its current price, Point View Wealth Management Inc. said, making it the largest grocery acquisition on record.
“Of the traditional pure-play grocery stores, Kroger is the crown jewel,” David Dietze, president and chief investment strategist at Summit, New Jersey-based Point View, which owns shares of Kroger, said in a telephone interview. “They have a long consistent record of positive same-store sales performance. It’s timely to acquire Kroger because it’s cheap.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment