Fourth Quarter Earnings Season Kicks Off on Positive Note ololo

In keeping with a long-held tradition Alcoa kicked off the US markets earnings season this week, giving markets a boost on Wednesday by meeting analyst forecasts and predicting an increased demand for aluminum in 2013. Investor response was evident in the three main stock market indexes with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 61.66 points to 13,390.51, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 3.87 points to 1,461.02 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 14 points to 3,105.81. Agricultural giant, Monsanto, also boosted markets by reporting a revenue increase of 21 percent to $2.94 billion and earnings per share of $0.62, as well as raising its forecast for 2013.

Boeing’s earnings were somewhat overshadowed by the recent, and much reported on, fuel leak experienced by its Dreamliner, causing its shares to decline sharply at the beginning of the week, but Boeing shares jumped 3.6 percent to $76.76 on Wednesday, regaining its losses, as investors apparently responded to reassurances from the aircraft manufacturer of its confidence in the plane.

Other stock market listed companies that gained Wednesday included Facebook which rose 5.3 percent to $30.59, being the first time since July that its shares closed above $30. Seagate Technology gained 6.6 percent to $33.48, most likely due to its outlook being raised for fiscal second-quarter revenue. Dow component Hewlett Packard climbed 3 percent to $15.85. In the healthcare sector, UnitedHealth Group advanced 1.9 percent to $52.37, wish Pfizer gaining 1.7 percent to $26.47.

Announcements advising release dates for fourth quarter earnings have been issued by United Technologies Corp (January 23); St Jude Medical Inc (January 23); Higher One (February 12); Omnova solutions (January 22); Panera Bread Company (February 5); The Cheesecake Factory (February 20); Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (February 7); Simmons First National Corporation (January 24); The McGraw-Hill companies (February 12); Allstate Corporation (February 7); Sprint Nextel (February 7); Citizens Republic Bancorp (January 22); FirstMerit Corporation (January 22) and Renasant Corporation (January 15).