Healthcare Bill Passes, Markets Open Higher

March 22, 2010 6:53 AM |
The markets opened modestly higher with the Dow rising 42 points to 10,784 as passage of the historic healthcare bill created certainty. Nasdaq gained 10 points to 2385.

 

On the upside

Passage of the healthcare bill will increase insured patients at hospitals lifting shares of Health Management Associates (NYSE: HMA) and Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC).

Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) rejected Elliott Associates' $2 billion acquisition offer saying that the bid was too low.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) impressed with sharply higher fourth quarter earnings that topped estimates, forecast 2010 results ahead of expectations and increased its quarterly dividend.

On the downside

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) relaxed certain income documentation requirements for loan modifications.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) said that demand was mixed during its most recent sale of $4 billion worth of bills.

E-Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) named Steven Freiberg to replace interim chief executive Robert Druskin and announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped a point to 672.

Tags:

Search


About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by published on March 22, 2010 6:53 AM.

Fears Of Greek Default Sends Markets Down To Lower Close was the previous entry in this blog.

Healthcare Stocks Rise, Markets Advance At Midday is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Powered by Movable Type 5.12