Several Best Stocks For 2010 ended the week on a 52-week high note along with the popular market indexes.
Cerner Corp., Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., Entertainment Properties Trust & Commerce Bancshares Inc. each posted 52-week highs during the trading day.
Cerner’s $1.66 jump to $91.58 marked the largest percentage gain for the tiny group, though Waddell & Reed added 1.2 percent at the close.
Regional names Jack Henry & Associates Inc., Collective Brands Inc. & Westar Energy Inc. also saw 52-week highs today.
Sprint Nextel Corp. shares didn’t rise to a 12-month high but their 13-cent gain was a welcome 3.1 percent boost for owners. H&R Block Inc. rose a healthy 2.3 percent today.
Entertainment Properties closed higher each day this week. Best Stocks For 2010 Commerce would have similar bragging rights but for its 12-cent dip on the close today, despite the 52-week high during trading hours.
For the record, the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq & Russell 2000 indexes all posted 52-week highs as well.
Stocks rose after a strong document on new home sales offset mixed news from corporate earnings reports. The market was held in check for much of the day after Greece decided to tap a bailout program.
Sales of new homes jumped 27 percent in March, bouncing off a record low in February, the Commerce Department reported. It was the best month since July & the biggest every month increase in 47 years. The gains were likely fueled by customers who are trying to qualify for federal tax credits that will die at the finish of this month.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher for the 11th time historicallyin the past 12 trading days. Today’s gains wrapped up the index’s eighth consecutive every week gain, which matches the longest winning streak for the Dow since a two-month stretch that ended in January 2004.
Joe Heider, principal at Rehmann in Cleveland, said the home sales document is a strong indication that consumers are growing more confident about the economy.
“We’re seeing that people have the confidence to make the biggest purchase of their lives,” Heider said. “And that bodes well for the markets.”
Stocks got another dose of lovely news on the housing sector on Thursday, when the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes also rose last month.
Shares of homebuilders including PulteGroup Inc. & Lennar Corp. rose for a second day as hopes rose that the troubled housing sector may finally be on the mend. Housing has been five of the hardest-hit sectors in the economy, helping to the economy in to recession in late 2007.
Gold & oil rose after the housing document, pushing shares of energy & materials stocks higher throughout the day.
Some mixed earnings had dragged stocks early in the day before the strong housing numbers boosted major indexes.
One stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume came to 1.2 billion shares.
Dow components Microsoft Corp. & Travelers Cos. both fell after their quarterly results failed to impress investors.
Travelers fell after its first-quarter profit missed expectations because of severe winter storms in the United States & the earthquake in Chile. Travelers fell 41 cents to $53.38.
Microsoft’s 35 percent jump in earnings wasn’t for investors. Investors were looking for bigger growth in corporate spending after other technology companies showed a huge rebound in that area. Its shares fell 43 cents to $30.96.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq was being hurt by a disappointing earnings outlook from Amazon.com Inc. Its shares fell $6.46, or 4.3 percent, to $143.63.
In Europe, stock indexes rose after Greek officials said they would tap a rescue package from the 15 other countries that use the euro & the International Monetary Fund. The move gives Greece better interest rates on its debt than it would be able to get from private investors.
Homebuilders were the huge gainers on the day. Pulte shares rose 71 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $13.19. Lennar jumped 79 cents, or 4 percent, to $20.53.
Some remained skeptical, however, if the bailout would provide a long-term solution to Greece’s debt woes. Investors also expect that other weak European countries such as Portugal may need help, further undermining confidence in the euro, Europe’s shared money.
The dollar fell against the euro after rising earlier in the day to touch its highest level in a year.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.99 points, or 0.63 percent, & closed at 11,204.28.
Bond prices fell as investors moved in to stocks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.82 percent from 3.78 percent late Thursday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 8.61 points, or 0.71 percent, & closed at 1,217.28.
The Nasdaq composite index climbed 11.08 points, or 0.44 percent, & closed at 2,530.15.
An early reading of the KansasCity.com index of 145 regional companies showed a gain of 1.57 points, or 0.23 percent, at 676.50.
Best Stocks For 2010
Among Kansas City area companies of interest:
Cerner Corp. closed at $91.58, up $1.66.
Capitol Federal Financial closed at $38.22, down 24 cents.
Commerce Bancshares Inc. closed at $42.89, down 12 cents.
Compass International Inc. closed at $79.06, up 85 cents.
DST Systems Inc. closed at $44.69, up 49 cents.
Garmin Ltd. closed at $37.52, down 1 cent.
Great Plains Energy closed at $29.03, up 1 cent.
H&R Block Inc. closed at $18.07, up 40 cents.
Inergy L. P. closed at $37.98, down 2 cents.
Kansas City Southern closed at $38.28, up 32 cents.
Sprint Nextel Corp. closed at $4.32, up 13 cents.
UMB Financial Corp. closed at $44.51, up 29 cents.
Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. closed at $38.81, up 46 cents.
YRC Worldwide Inc. closed at 74 cents, up 0.5 cent.
The Closing Bell is compiled from staff & wire reports.
Submitted by Mark Davis on April 23, 2010 – 3:41pm.
Contact Mark Davis at mdavis@kcstar.com
