Thursday, December 1, 2011

STOCKS GO NOWHERE ON NO NEWS: Here's What You Need To Know, December 1, 2012

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

STOCKS GO NOWHERE ON NO NEWS: Here's What You Need To Know

Sam Ro | Dec. 1, 2011, 4:00 PM | 365 | 5

Well, we got retail sales, auto sales, job data, and manufacturing data. But nothing really blew anyone's minds.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow: -25.7 pts, -0.2%
S&P 500: -2.4 pts, -0.2%
NASDAQ: +5.9 pts, +0.2%

And now, the top stories:

Change may be coming to euro zone. "What I believe our economic and monetary union needs is a new fiscal compact," said ECB president Mario Draghi this morning. "Other elements might follow, but the sequencing matters." All of this seems to jibe with recent reports out of Germany and France regarding a "stability pact" that could pave the way for more ECB intervention. This Is What The World Will Be Like In 2012 And 2013 >
Initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 402k, from 393k last week. Economists were expecting a modest decline to 390k. All eyes will be on tomorrow's November BLS jobs number. The average estimate by economists calls for +131k private payrolls.
The November ISM manufacturing index increased to 52.7, beating the estimate of 51.8. The new orders component of the index jumped 4.3 percentage points to 56.7. However, the employment index fell 1.7 percentage points to 51.8. These 7 Things Could Derail The Economy In 2012 >
A strong black Friday helped retailers generally report strong same-store sales growth in November. Nordstrom, Ross Stores, and Costco were among the companies that delivered better-than-expected growth. Kohl's was the most disappointing retailer unexpectedly falling 6.2% while analysts expected 2% growth. KSS shares fell 6.4%.
November was also a strong month for U.S. auto sales. Chrysler and Ford beat expectations with year-over-year unit sales growth of 45% and 13%, respectively. GM sales grew 6.9%, but fell short of the expectation of 7.4% growth.
Shares of Yahoo! climbed 3.3% on ongoing speculation that a consortium could buy out the online search giant. Some of the players mentioned include Silver Lake Partners, Thomas H. Lee, Blackstone, and Bain Capital.
Yoga pants maker Lululemon dived in early trading. The company reported robust sales and earnings growth in Q3, but provided guidance that investors weren't too crazy about. Shares closed down 5.1%, paring most of its earlier losses.
Don't Miss: MORGAN STANLEY: The Complete Guide To China's Economy In 2012 And 2013