Durable Goods Orders Jump 9.9%

The stock market is gaining back some lost territory this morning. The S&P 500 is currently up about 10 points. Yesterday, the index closed at a seven-week low.

This morning, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims dropped by 23,000. I should caution you that that number has been swinging wildly in recent weeks. Economists have been closely watching the jobs figures for any sign confirming the improving trend in employment. Next Friday, we’ll get the jobs report for October and that will tell us a lot more.

Also this morning, the Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods soared 9.9% last month. That’s the biggest jump since January 2010.

The market is intensely focused on Apple’s ($AAPL) earnings which will come out after the close. I think the financial media greatly distorts the impact of well-known stocks. Apple is certainly important but please, there’s still another 97% of the stock market.

A few items for our Buy List.

Ford ($F) said it’s going to lose $1.5 billion in Europe this year. That’s much higher than their previous forecasts. The company is working to restructure its European operations which include shutting down a plant in Belgium in 2014. This is unfortunate but it has less to do with Ford and more to do with the weakness in Europe.

Medtronic ($MDT) is under fire this morning. The company is accused of manipulating studies on bone growth after spinal surgery.

The doctors and researchers who were the authors of the studies were part of a $210 million consulting and royalty payments program by Minneapolis-based Medtronic and never disclosed their ties or the company’s influence in their papers, the panel said in its report.

“Medtronic’s actions violate the trust patients have in their medical care,” Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat and committee chairman, said in a statement. “Medical journal articles should convey an accurate picture of the risks and benefits of drugs and medical devices, but patients are at serious risk when companies distort the facts the way Medtronic has.”

I can’t speak to the accusation but Medtronic has strongly denied doing anything wrong. The stock is currently up this morning.

Lastly, CA Technologies ($CA) will report after the close.

Posted by on October 25th, 2012 at 10:09 am


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