The Market Today

Today was the day for Biomet (BMET). The Morgan Stanley news caused the stock to shoot up 9.7% today. (Check out this chart for the day.) Over the last year, the stock had traded in a fairly narrow range. This afternoon, Biomet finally made a new 52-week high.
Today was also a good day for many financial stocks. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York finally took Citigroup (C) off double-secret probation. The company had not been allowed to make any acquisitions until it got its financial house in order. Not being a fan of acquisitions, I wouldn’t mind seeing this applied to many other companies.
Now that the ban has been lifted, I don’t expect Citi to go on a massive buying spree. Chuck Prince, the new CEO, is far more conservative than Sandy Weill. Bear in mind, Citigroup is a gigantic company with assets of $1.5 trillion, so it’s still going to be a major dealmaker. To see the power and influence of Citigroup, today’s news lifted the entire financial sector. The stock currently yields about 4.1%. Interestingly, many of the international financial stocks were particularly strong.
The transports also did well today, as the Dow Transportation Average (^DJT) and Expeditors (EXPD) both hit new highs. Hey, someone has to move all those expensive commodities around.
We also had good news for AFLAC (AFL) which was upgraded today. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) will report its earnings tomorrow. The current estimate is for 65 cents a share. In December, the company said it was going to 64 cents a share for this quarter. BBBY said it’s expecting to make $2.08 to $2.10 a share this year.
The 30-year Treasury yield is now within striking distance of 5%. Today, the S&P 500 was up 0.63%, and the Buy List was up 0.97%.

Posted by on April 4th, 2006 at 5:08 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.