Stocks Plunge In Broad Sell-Off
1 Disappointing existing-home sales data chilled stocks, especially builders and financials. The NYSE composite fell 2.5% and the Dow 2.4%, their worst drops since June 26. The S&P 500 skidded 2.3% and the Nasdaq 2%. Russia's Mechel led a rout in metals. But volume fell. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 13 ticks to 4.01%. More on B1, B2
Existing-Home Sales At New Low
2 June home and condo resales fell 2.6% to an annualized 4.86 mil, the lowest since the data series began in '99. The supply of unsold homes rose to 11.1 months' worth at the current sales pace, just shy of April's record. Home builders sold off on the report and Ryland's big loss. Also, jobless claims spiked 34,000 to 406,000, matching late March's post-Katrina peak. More on this page
Fertilizer Makers Smash Views
3 Potash Corp.'s (NYSE:POT - News) Q2 profit more than tripled to $2.82 a share, beating views by 21 cents, on surging demand. Sales climbed 94% to $2.62 bil, above forecasts. Potash raised its '08 EPS outlook. Oilseed processor and fertilizer maker Bunge's (NYSE:BG - News) Q2 profit soared 319% to $5.45 including charges. Analysts forecast $2.27. But Bunge shares fell 2% and Potash 3%. More on this page
Soft Economy Helps Strayer, ITT
NatGas Dives, Oil Up On Dollar
5 Sept. crude rose $1.05 to $125.49 a barrel, snapping a 5-day losing streak but still 15% below its July 11 peak. Natural gas continued diving after data showed a surprise jump in weekly stockpiles. The Aug. contract fell 55.8 cents to $9.32 per mil British thermal units. That's 32% below its July 2 high and its lowest close since March.
Obama To Germans: It's Our Time
6 Dem Barack Obama told over 200,000 Germans in Berlin that "the walls between old allies ... cannot stand," contending he'll rebuild U.S. relations frayed by the Iraq War. He also repeated campaign rhetoric touting himself as an agent of change. "This is our time," he said. GOP rival John McCain chided Obama for campaigning in Europe rather than in the U.S.
SEC, Fed Want More Authority
7 SEC head Christopher Cox urged Congress to give his agency more power over brokerages, while N.Y. Fed President Timothy Geithner said the central bank should have direct oversight of them now that they can borrow from the Fed. Cox said investment banks shouldn't be regulated like commercial banks. Geithner said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need a major rethink long term.
Ford Posts Worst Loss In History
8 The automaker lost $8.67 bil in Q2, the worst quarter in Ford's (NYSE:F - News) 105-year history, as truck and SUV sales dived amid rising gasoline prices. It lost 62 cents a share ex items, widely missing views of only a 27-cent loss, as sales fell 13% to $38.6 bil. Ford will retool 2 more truck plants to build small cars and will bring six small models to the U.S. from Europe by late '12. It fell 15%. GM slid 11%.
Banks Fall On Housing, Warning
9 Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News) dived 20% and 18% after worse-than-expected home sales and a warning by Pimco's Bill Gross that lenders face "nearly $1 tril of cumulative losses." WaMu (NYSE:WM - News) fell 13% after an analyst cited liquidity fears. Citi (NYSE:C - News) fell 10%, Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER - News) 14% and Lehman Bros. (NYSE:LEH - News) 12%. UBS (NYSE:UBS - News) fell 7% on U.S. legal woes; Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS - News) rallied 2% on strong Q2 results.
Cancer Drug Powers Celgene
10 The biotech's Q2 EPS rose 42% to 37 cents ex items, beating views by 2 cents. Sales gained 64% to $571.5 mil, above forecasts. Revenue for cancer drug Revlimid jumped 80%. Celgene (NasdaqGS:CELG - News) hiked its '08 EPS outlook to $1.50 on sales of $2.2 bil, in line with views. Shares rose 4% to a 10-month high of 73.26.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20080724/bs_ibd_ibd/20080724top10;_ylt
=AsrRTCJCoaaeHCr.8raaRaXv5rEF