Market Wrap: Dow is Running Hot; Cisco Books Big Deal; Apple Joins 600 Club


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March 15, 2012 5:45 PM EDT Send to a Friend
Market wrap-up for March 15th

End of the Day: Dow Jones up 58.7 to $13,252.76; Nasdaq up 15.6 to 3,056.37; S&P 500 up 8.3 to 1,402.60

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:
  • Markets are on a hot streak: The Dow Jones closed 0.4 percent better Thursday, making it the seventh session to do so. After dropping about 1.6 percent on March 6th, the index has traveled 3.9 percent -- or about 493 points -- to its new mark.

    One financial blog listed the four listed stocks to have a similar streak:
    • General Electric (NYSE: GE);
    • IBM (NYSE: IBM);
    • 3M (NYSE: MMM); and
    • United Tech (NYSE: UTX).
  • Now you see it, now you don't: Oil plummeted intraday following a release that the U.S. and the U.K. agreed to release strategic reserves. Shortly after headlines crossed and crude prices dropped, an Obama administration aide said reports of the agreement were, in fact, inaccurate. Crude ended up closing just about flat on the session.

  • Streaming to a deal: Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) recently seemed to be taking one step forward, two back. Today, it looks like they've taken two steps forward, none back.

    Earlier chatter suggested Cisco would make a move to acquire NDS Group Ltd., described as "a leading provider of video software and content security solutions that enable service providers and media companies to securely deliver and monetize new video entertainment experiences." The deal was later confirmed by a release.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $5 billion, including the assumption of debt and retention-based incentives, to acquire all of the business and operations of NDS. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

    The acquisition will give Cisco better tools to produce an Internet TV-like device, or something for a set-top-box (STB). CEO John Chambers commented today that Cisco will be pitching content producers and cable operators with NDS software in tow.

  • Six bills, ya'll: Ahead of the highly-anticipated iPad launch, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares broke briefly through the $600 milestone before pulling back on the session. Analysts have been trying to gauge just how many iPads will be sold, raising price targets in the process, and reviewers have been impressed with the device so far.

  • Wear your green hat: Heading into St. Patrick's Day, there may be a little more cheer this weekend. Labor Department data Thursday showed the number of US citizens applying for first-time jobless benefits continued to remain near four-year lows into mid March. The figures underscore recent indications from the Fed related to labor market conditions which continue to improve.

    Initial jobless claims for the week ended March 10th totaled 351,000, down nearly 4 percent from an upwardly-revised reading of 365,000 for the prior week. Economists were expecting a jobless claims reading at 357,000.

    With today's reading, there has only been one week since the end of January when actual numbers came in above views (knock on wood).
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