All 3 Major Indexes Advanced As The Cost of Crude Fell

All 3 major indexes advanced today as crude oil got cheaper. An estimated 1.44 billion shares were traded on The Big Board today.


The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the merger of The New York Stock Exchange® and Archipelago Holdings today. Shares of the new NYSE Group will begin trading under the symbol "NYX" on March 8, 2006.


Shares of Lowe's gained $3.78 to close @ $69.30 on news that fourth quarter earnings beat analyst expectations.


Shares of Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) component Home Depot gained $0.82 to close @ $42.45.

Shares of DJIA component Microsoft gained $0.42 to close @ $27.05.

Shares of DJIA component Hewlett-Packard gained $1.39 to close @ $33.41.


Shares of Target gained $1.43 to close @ $55.48.


Shares of global #1 flash memory card manufacturer SanDisk gained $4.74 to close @ $61.08.


Merrill Lynch is buying back $6 billion of Merrill stock. Shares of Merrill Lynch gained $1.12 to close @ $77.88.


Cablevision signed up 130,000 new phone subscribers in Q4 2005. Shares of Cablevision advanced by $1.26 to close @ $26.46.


China Welcomes The Avon Lady
China had banned the practice of door-to-door selling, but that ban has been lifted, as evidenced by a recent granting of a direct selling license to Avon Products, Inc.

Shares of Avon gained $0.70 to close @ $28.99.


Today's Numbers:

DJIA: Closed Higher @ 11,097.55 (+35.70)

NASDAQ: Closed Higher @ 2,307.18 (+20.14)

S&P 500: Closed Higher @ 1,294.12 (+4.69)

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NYMEX Crude Oil Future is currently @ $61.00/barrel

New York Spot Gold closed Lower @ $554.60/ounce

Currently, The U.S. Dollar buys 0.8377 Euros

Currently, The Euro buys 1.1938 U.S. Dollars

The U.S. Prime Rate (WSJ Prime Rate) is 7.5%

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