The Market Today

It was a good day right up until 3 p.m. Still, the market held on for a small gain. The S&P 500 closed up 0.13% while our Buy List gained 0.16%. The 10-year Treasury bond saw its yield again fall below 4.5%. Oil closed just below $60 a barrel. Frontier Airlines (FRNT) had good news. The spunky airline said that its traffic for November grew by 10.8%. The shares are still only at $8.46.
The latest from the Guidant (GDT) wars seems to be that Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is ready to walk away. Plus, I’m hearing more that indicates that St. Jude Medical (STJ) is in play. For now, I think Medtronic (MDT) is just too big to get involved.
One of oddest events of 2005 has been the plunging shares of orthopedic stocks. I still think this is an excellent sector. Today, Barron’s takes a look at the industry:

After skyrocketing for years because of fast-growing profits, shares of industry giants Zimmer, Stryker and Biomet tanked late in 2005 amid concerns that government probes, a stronger U.S. dollar and demand from hospitals for lower prices would squeeze profits.
But upbeat remarks by company executives at a Merrill Lynch investor conference last week persuaded some investors and analysts that their fears were exaggerated.
In fact, demand for joint reconstruction surgery keeps climbing, as do sales of new devices.
And with their valuations bouncing off five-year lows, shares of Zimmer Holdings, Stryker and Biomet may be attractive.

The NYSE just reported that its members voted in favor of the Archipelago deal by more than 95%. I imagine the seatholders are happy. When the deal was announced, a seat was worth $1.62 million. Today, seats are going for $4 million.

Posted by on December 6th, 2005 at 7:24 pm


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