12:45pm (EST)
The bulls continue their March towards new highs (no pun intended) as the President signs our nation’s new health bill today. The passage of the landmark legislation is now official and many of the changes will take place this year.
Obama said it gets the wheels rolling on “desperately needed reforms” sought by generations of Americans. He also said America can afford this bill so we shall see.
In economic news, existing home sales fell less than expected as the National Association of Realtors reported sales of previously occupied homes fell 0.6% last month to an annual rate of 5.02 million units. Wall Street had expected sales would fall to 5 million.
Despite some turbulence, the Dow is flying higher and is up 44 points to 10,830. The S&P 500 is up 3 points to 1,168 while the Nasdaq is enjoying a 6 point pop and is at 2,402.
Folks, if we can hold these levels, we could be setting our sights and our next set of targets for the indexes we have been mentioning all week. We would list them but you already know the deal if you have been following us.
Turning to earnings, Walgreen’s (WAG, $35.74, up $0.31) is getting a slight nudge higher despite reporting numbers that failed to match expectations. The company reported a profit of $669 million, or $0.68 a share, versus $640 million, or $0.65 a share, in the year earlier period.
Sales rose 3% to $17 billion but Wall Street was looking for Walgreen to earn $0.71 a share on $17.2 billion in revenue. Although they missed, Walgreen’s earnings matched depressed expectations and gross margins came in better-than-expected which is why shares are seeing a little bump.
We have a lot to discuss in our Members Area and a few of our trades are making explosive moves today to the good. We also have a NEW trade that we will be going after so let’s get to it!
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