REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Stocks climbed. Scoreboard:
Dow: 16,533.98, +0.13%
S&P 500: 1,884.49, +0.18%
NASDAQ: 4,135.87, +0.29%
And now the top stories:
- Today was the first day of the annual Ira Sohn Investing Conference. Among stocks discussed, big winners were Moody's, which investor Chris Shumway said enjoys return-on-equity of 220%; HMOs, lots of which Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital said enjoy "fresh blood" in their management; and Fannie and Freddie, which Bill Ackman argued should live.
- Among the losers were homebuilders, which Jeff Gundlach would be subject to flagging demand and rising lack of affordability; and oil, which said faces a buildup. "If you're long on crude, I'm sorry for you."
- We got two datapoints today. Markit Economics said services data slipped in April. Meanwhile ISM services surged to an 8-month high.
- The Fed announced banks had eased their lending policies for commercial loans on strong demand over the past three months. BI's Sam Ro explained why this is a bullish indicator.
- The global manufacturing index fell to a 6-month low.