Monday has been a low volume and relatively calm session on an
overall slow news day. At midday, the S&P 500 is posting a modest
gain. In corporate news, Boeing's (BA 51.85, -0.57) machinists union
voted in favor of a new contract as expected. Boeing was added to the
Conviction Sell list at Goldman Sachs. Wal-Mart (WMT 56.97, +1.16) was
upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
Struggling retailer Circuit City (CC .36, +0.10) is closing 155
domestic stores, about 20% of its U.S. stores, due to its
"deteriorating" liquidity position and the weak macroeconomic
environment.
Eight of the ten sectors are posting a gain. Telecom (+5.0%) is
showing the most strength. The energy sector (-1.6%) is the main
laggard as crude prices fall 3.6% to $65.41 per barrel.