Market Wrap-Up

January 31, 2008

DOW 12650.36 +207.53 (+1.64%) S&P 500 12650.36 +22.74 (+0.18%)
NASDQ 2389.86 +40.86 (+1.71%) 10 Year Bond 3.639% -0.094

The market opened up lower today after the Labor Department said jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 26 jumped to 375,000 from 306,000. Economists had expected 320,000 new claims. Although it is only one week’s worth of data it is something to be watched to see if a trend develops.

In other economic news the Chicago PMI, a survey of regional manufacturing came in weaker than expected at 51.5. Economist has been looking for a reading of 52.0. It was also a decline from December’s reading of 56.4.

MasterCard (MA) $207.00 +18.00 (+9.52%) had a nice gain today after the company reported better than expected earnings. MasterCard's earnings came in at $0.89, beating Wall Streets estimate of $0.72. The company’s revenue increased 27.8% year over year.

MBIA (MBI ) $15.50 +1.54 (+11.03%) reported larger than expected losses. The bond insurance company had an operating loss of $3.38 per share in the fourth quarter. The company’s CEO said that the 80% decline in the share price was unjustified and that the company will exceed all AAA rating requirements.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $23.02 -0.24 (-1.03%) missed its earnings expectations and issued lower guidance today, while Procter & Gamble (PG) $65.42 +0.33 (+0.51%) topped their earnings estimates.

Leading sectors today were Financials and Retailers which is expected after the recent Fed cuts. The question remains will they continue to recover from their recent slides.