Wall Street Charges Ahead to Begin 2018
Originally published: 01.17.18 by Margot Crabtree
Wild and wooly 2017 hardly hesitated before charging into 2018 as our trading session ended Jan 15, 2018. Despite some churning and low volume at year’s end, index records continued to be made and broken again.
For the year, a strong economy was bolstered by recovering world markets and a lower dollar, and the Dow industrials surged past 25,000 for the first time.
The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence fell in December, down to 122.1, from November’s revised 128.6 reading. Economists had expected a drop, but the decline was more than expected.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index increased in December to 59.7, from a reading of 58.2 in November. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales were up 0.4 percent in December, after a 0.9 percent increase in November. Spending for those months together was the healthiest since 2005.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes in November increased at the fastest rate in almost 11 years, up 5.6 percent, despite the lack of housing stock. This dovetailed with a report from the Commerce Department, which said that sales of single-family homes and permits shot up 5.3 percent in November, the highest rate since Sept. 2007.
To pile on, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index jumped 5 points in December, to 74. It’s the strongest index reading since July 1999. The Commerce Department reported that construction was up 0.8 percent in November, from October’s revised 0.9 percent gain. It was the fourth straight monthly increase.
The Labor Department reported that 148,000 jobs were added in December: less than economists were expecting, but the unemployment rate stayed at 4.1 percent for the third consecutive month, the lowest since 2000. The unemployment rate was 4.7 percent a year ago.
“The improving labor market, robust consumer confidence and the imminent boost to disposable incomes from the recently-enacted tax cuts suggest that spending will continue to grow at a healthy pace over the first half of this year,” said Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics.
Exchange |
Symbol |
Company Name |
Price
|
Price
|
Net
|
PercentChange |
52-Week
|
52-Week
|
Shares
|
Market
|
| NASD | AAON | AAON, Inc. | 36.55 | 35.20 | 1.35 | 3.84% | 38.25 | 29.95 | 52470 | 1917778.5 |
| NYSE | ABB | ABB Ltd. | 28.09 | 26.00 | 2.09 | 8.04% | 28.13 | 22.04 | 2130000 | 59831700 |
| NYSE | AOS | AO Smith Corp. | 65.32 | 60.73 | 4.59 | 7.56% | 65.37 | 46.44 | 145820 | 9524962.4 |
| NYSE | FIX | Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 44.10 | 43.55 | 0.55 | 1.26% | 44.80 | 31.90 | 36970 | 1630377 |
| NYSE | DOV | Dover Corp. | 104.14 | 97.48 | 6.66 | 6.83% | 104.56 | 75.51 | 155790 | 16223970.6 |
| NASD | ELON | Echelon Corp. | 5.90 | 5.22 | 0.68 | 13.03% | 7.20 | 4.26 | 4520 | 26668 |
| NYSE | DWDP | DowDuPont | 75.41 | 70.00 | 5.41 | 7.73% | 76.34 | 56.76 | 2340000 | 176459400 |
| NYSE | EME | EMCOR Group, Inc. | 84.14 | 81.09 | 3.05 | 3.76% | 85.08 | 59.76 | 58810 | 4948273.4 |
| NYSE | EMR | Emerson Electric Co. | 73.91 | 67.26 | 6.65 | 9.89% | 74.45 | 56.00 | 638640 | 47201882.4 |
| NYSE | FCAU | Fiat Chrysler | 23.39 | 17.61 | 5.78 | 32.82% | 23.80 | 9.46 | 1540000 | 36020600 |
| NYSE | F | Ford Motor Co. | 13.23 | 12.58 | 0.65 | 5.17% | 13.29 | 10.47 | 3900000 | 51597000 |
| NYSE | GM | General Motors Co. | 44.07 | 40.95 | 3.12 | 7.62% | 46.76 | 31.92 | 1420000 | 62579400 |
| NYSE | HON | Honeywell International, Inc. | 159.07 | 154.25 | 4.82 | 3.12% | 159.49 | 116.98 | 756810 | 120385766.7 |
| NASD | HDSN | Hudson Technologies, Inc. | 6.37 | 5.72 | 0.65 | 11.36% | 10.40 | 5.40 | 42040 | 267794.8 |
| NYSE | IR | Ingersoll-Rand Plc | 91.10 | 86.75 | 4.35 | 5.01% | 96.23 | 76.31 | 249870 | 22763157 |
| NYSE | JCI | Johnson Controls, Inc. | 39.80 | 37.26 | 2.54 | 6.82% | 44.70 | 34.51 | 925440 | 36832512 |
| NYSE | LII | Lennox International Inc. | 210.68 | 204.67 | 6.01 | 2.94% | 214.70 | 147.98 | 41770 | 8800103.6 |
| NYSE | LXU | LSB Industries, Inc. | 9.76 | 8.12 | 1.64 | 20.20% | 11.71 | 5.55 | 28410 | 277281.6 |
| NYSE | MTW | Manitowoc Co., Inc. | 39.36 | 39.30 | 0.06 | 0.15% | 42.12 | 21.00 | 35180 | 1384684.8 |
| NYSE | MLI | Mueller Industries, Inc. | 36.91 | 35.31 | 1.60 | 4.53% | 43.96 | 27.72 | 57810 | 2133767.1 |
| NYSE | NWL | Newell Brands, Inc. | 32.26 | 30.59 | 1.67 | 5.46% | 55.08 | 27.46 | 490100 | 15810626 |
| OTC | NSANY | Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. | 20.75 | 19.53 | 1.22 | 6.25% | 20.97 | 18.18 | 3910000 | 81132500 |
| NASD | OFLX | OmegaFlex, Inc. | 66.20 | 69.06 | -2.86 | -4.14% | 76.63 | 41.87 | 10090 | 667958 |
| NYSE | PH | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 210.04 | 194.26 | 15.78 | 8.12% | 210.35 | 141.06 | 133230 | 27983629.2 |
| NYSE | RBC | Regal-Beloit Corp. | 78.05 | 76.15 | 1.90 | 2.50% | 87.50 | 70.25 | 44300 | 3457615 |
| NYSE | ROK | Rockwell Automation | 207.92 | 190.93 | 16.99 | 8.90% | 210.72 | 139.38 | 128390 | 26694848.8 |
| OTC | SIEGY | Siemens Aktiengesellschaft | 74.65 | 68.81 | 5.84 | 8.49% | 74.74 | 59.26 | 815520 | 60878568 |
| NYSE | SPXC | SPX Corp. | 32.93 | 30.69 | 2.24 | 7.30% | 33.18 | 21.97 | 42610 | 1403147.3 |
| NYSE | TXN | Texas Instruments | 112.72 | 101.22 | 11.50 | 11.36% | 113.00 | 73.87 | 985560 | 111092323.2 |
| NYSE | UTX | United Technologies Corp. | 136.58 | 126.17 | 10.41 | 8.25% | 136.58 | 106.85 | 798570 | 109068690.6 |
| NYSE | WSO | Watsco, Inc. | 174.24 | 165.27 | 8.97 | 5.43% | 175.16 | 134.08 | 27610 | 4810766.4 |
|
|
Price 1/15/18 |
Price 12/15/17 |
Net Change |
Percent Change |
| HVACR Business Stock Index | 1,716.84 | 1,590.61 | 126.23 | 7.94% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 25,803.19 | 24,651.74 | 1,151.45 | 4.67% |
| S&P 500 Index | 2,786.24 | 2,675.81 | 110.43 | 4.13% |
| NASDAQ Composite | 7,261.06 | 6,936.58 | 324.48 | 4.68% |
Gainers/Losers |
||||
| $ Gainer | Rockwell Automation | 16.99 | ||
| $ Loser | OmegaFlex, Inc. | -2.86 | ||
| % Gainer | Fiat Chrysler | 32.82% | ||
| % Loser | OmegaFlex, Inc. | -4.14% | ||
| Advancers | 30 | |||
| Decliners | 1 | |||
The HVACR Business Stock Index left the major markets in the dust, jumping 126.23 points, or 7.94 percent, and ending at 1716.84, a second consecutive index record. Advancing issues nearly shut out declining issues at a 30-to-1 count.
After Rockwell Automation’s rejection of Emerson’s acquisition offer, reported last month, shares of Rockwell soared 16.99 points, or 8.90 percent. Rockwell will report fiscal first quarter 2018 earnings after production deadlines. ROK closed at 207.92, and was the top dollar gainer.
Omega Flex fell 2.86 points, or 4.14 percent and was the top dollar and percentage loser. Analysts at BidaskClub cut their rating to “sell” from “hold.” OFLX ended at 66.20.
“We’re not going to break up anything,” said Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, amid acquisition rumors. “We have no intention of breaking it up and giving anything to the Chinese,”
Marchionne said at the Detroit Auto Show. Brokerage JP Morgan upgraded FCAU to “overweight” from “neutral.” Fiat Chrysler jumped 5.78 points, or 32.82 percent, and was the top percentage gainer. FCAU ended at 23.39.