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Stock market news today, Oct. 30: In a move many investors had anticipated, The Federal Reserve this afternoon said it would not begin scaling back its bond-buying program just yet.
The Fed buys about $85 billion in bonds each month as a form of economic stimulus that helps keep interest rates low, but that program must be tapered eventually. The Fed has been deliberating on whether the economy is strong enough to withstand tapering, but amid recent negative economic indicators, it opted to delay tapering yet again.
The Fed, which gave no indication of when it would begin paring back bond-buying, says it will wait for stronger signs of an economic recovery, including more positive signs in the housing market and stronger employment numbers.
Describing economic growth as "moderate," the Fed said it noted improved unemployment rates, but wanted to see U.S. unemployment fall closer to 6.5% versus the current 7.2% rate.
We think the pairing of a slow economic recovery and the arrival of Janet Yellen in 2014 to take over the Fed from Ben Bernanke will delay any tapering until at least the second quarter of 2014.
Markets fell a bit on the news. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended the day down 8 points, or 0.49%, to 1,762.31 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 61 points, or 0.39%, to 15,618.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 21 points or 0.55%.
Meanwhile, crude oil is trading down yet again today, with light crude oil for December delivery trading down about 1% near $97.29. And gold is up about 1% near $1,357.50 an ounce. Silver is up more than 3% at $23.04 per ounce.
Earnings News Today
Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) and Comcast Corp.'s (Nasdaq: CMCSA) quarterly reports are among the more notable earnings news today.
Comcast is trading down about 1% after it reported third-quarter earnings per share of $0.65 and revenue of $16.2 billion. The Street view was for $0.61 per share on $16.2 billion in revenue.
And Sprint has pulled up 1% out of the red in volatile trading today as it reports third quarter net revenue of $8.68 billion and a profit of $383 million, versus a loss of $767 million a year prior. Revenue was down froom $8.8 billion a year prior and off from the $8.81 billion the Street expected.
In other earnings news today, Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD) is trading up about 8%, marking a new 52-week high as it reports third quarter earnings of $0.95, up from the $0.85 Street view. Revenues were $315.8 million, also above analysts' estimates of $311.9 million. Same store sales increased about 5% year-over-year.
Finally, Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) has plunged about 7% today after its third-quarter earnings release in after-hours trade yesterday. Yelp said it expects between $66 and $67 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, topping the Street view of $64.8 million.