Market Wrap-Up

January 7, 2008

DOW 12,827.49 +27.31 (+0.21%) S&P 500 1,416.18 +4.55 (+0.32%) NASDQ 2,499.46 -5.19 (-0.21%) 10yr Bond 3.8390% -0.0150

The stock market opened today high and fluctuated between gains and losses during trading before ending the session in a mixed fashion.

McDonalds (MCD) $58.03 +0.98 (+1.72%) traded higher on new that the company would be adding it high-end coffee bars to it 14,000 restaurants.

International Business Machines (IBM) $100.05 -1.08 (-1.07%), Sun Microsystems (JAVA) $16.11 -0.20 (1.23%), Dell (DELL) $21.26 -0.83 (-3.76%) and EMC (EMC) $16.04 -0.95 (-5.59%) shares all traded lower after a UBS analyst downgraded the companies.

In a speech today U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that the markets should not be surprised if financial intuitions announce more write-downs going forward and the overhang of unsold homes will be a prolonged drag on growth. Additionally, Atlanta Fed President Lockhart said the Fed needs to balance concerns about inflation with "serious" concerns about growth.

It was reported today in the Daily Telegraph the Merrill Lynch believes that the US economy is already in recession.

As expected the defensive sectors outperformed and the worst performing sector was energy.

Tomorrow we will see the release of Pending Home Sales for November. Economists are looking for a decline of 0.8%. I would not be surprised if that number comes in much lower.

Earnings releases to watch for are: Constellation Brands (STZ), Family Dollar (FDO), KB Home (KBH), and Apollo Group (APOL)