The S&P 500 Has Gained 1,000.58 Points

I’m back in the office today. I was out traveling last week so there was no newsletter. I’m happy to report that the market had a very good day on Friday. The S&P 500 closed at its intra-day high of 1,667.47 which is a remarkable gain of 1,000.58 points since the intra-day low from March 6, 2009. One point in the S&P 500 is currently worth about $8.9 billion. I was happy to see that Ford finally broke $15 per share. The auto stock closed at $15.08 on Friday.

The stock market is down a bit this morning. Bed Bath & Beyond ($BBBY) is taking a little hit after it was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. I’m not at all worried.

Even though Cognizant ($CTSH) disproved its critics by reporting good earnings, the shares have been shaken up by the recent debate on the immigration bill. I’m not yet able to say how this will impact Cognizant but the company is the largest recipient of visas bringing H-1B temporary workers to the United States. CTSH hires these folks then sends them around the country to work at clients’ sites. Whatever bill emerges will probably make it tougher for outsourcing firms, but we don’t know how tough the rules will be. Until then, expect some volatility in CTSH.

Medtronic ($MDT) is due to report its earnings tomorrow and Ross Stores ($ROST) will follow on Thursday. These are the only two Buy List stocks on the January-April-July-October reporting period.

The other big story for our Buy List is tomorrow’s shareholder vote on the fate of Jamie Dimon. JPMorgan Chase ($JPM) shareholders will decide whether to split the roles of Chairman of the Board and CEO. The vote is non-binding and only advisory. Still, I hope they vote yes, or at least enough people do so that Mr. Dimon makes the right decision.

Posted by on May 20th, 2013 at 10:02 am


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