Market Wrap-Up

January 16, 2008

DOW 12,466.16 -34.95 (-0.28%) S&P 500 1,373.20 -7.75 (-0.56%) NASDQ 2,394.59 -23.00 (-0.95%) 10yr Bond 3.7120% +0.0110

The stock markets opened up mixed today. It appeared that the markets would open lower after Intel (INTC) $19.88 -2.81 (-12.38%) reported earnings that missed Wall Street estimates and gave first quarter guidance below expectations.

But the market was helped by news that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) $41.43 +2.26 (+5.77%) had a smaller than expected write-down of only $1.3 billion. The bank did miss their earnings estimates by six cents. Also news that Oracle (ORCL) $21.92 +0.61 (+2.85%) was acquiring BEA Systems (BEAS) $18.64 +2.88 (+18.49%) for $8.5 billion helped boost the market.

Wells Fargo (WFC) $27.37 +0.88 (+3.32%) reported earnings today that were inline with estimates.

In economic news today the December CPI jumped more that expected rising 0.3%. Economist had expected a rise of 0.2%. The Core CPI which excludes food and energy rose 0.2% inline with estimates.

AMBAC Financial (ABK) $12.97 -8.17 (-38.65%) shares got crushed today when the company announced that raising $1 billion and cutting its dividend 67% to shore up its finances. Just three weeks ago the company said that it would not cut its dividend. The stock is now down over 84% from its 52 week high.

Wall Street will be watching Merrill Lynch (MER) tomorrow since they a due to report earnings and the street is anticipating large write offs. Other companies reporting earnings are: BB&T Corp (BBT), Comerica (CMA), Intl Game Tech (IGT), and Norvartis (NVS)

On the economic side housing starts and building permits will be released.

I would expect more volatility in the market until we get a clearer picture of how the credit mess is affecting the major banks and the overall economy.