Stock Market Today: Dish's Wireless Deal and Family Dollar's Bad News
Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Expect a strong start to the stock market today, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53 points in premarket trading this morning. Investors may bid stocks higher in advance of expected good news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will release its monthly payroll report tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. EST. That announcement should show continued improvement in the job market, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 7% and roughly 200,000 jobs created in December.
US Unemployment Rate data by YCharts.
Meanwhile, news is breaking this morning on a few stocks that could see heavy trading in today's session, including Dish Network , Family Dollar , and SUPERVALU .
Dish Network will officially cancel its offer for LightSquared today, according to The Wall Street Journal. Dish bid $2.2 billion for the bankrupt company's mobile frequency assets in an auction last year, but complications have developed over negotiations with creditors. Those wireless assets would have been valuable to Dish as it looks to push into the growing market for mobile broadband. Dish's stock is unchanged in premarket trading.
Family Dollar this morning reported disappointing results for its fiscal first quarter. Revenue ticked higher by 3.2% to $2.5 billion -- but that was all due to the addition of new stores, as sales at existing locations fell by 2.8%. Profit ,at $0.68 a share, also came in below expectations. Family Dollar did manage to improve its gross profit to 34.4% of sales, though, which is impressive given the intensely promotional environment in the industry. Yet the company had more bad news for investors, as it announced the departure of its president and COO, Mike Bloom, while slicing its financial outlook for the rest of the year. The stock is down 7% in premarket trading.
Finally, SUPERVALU said this morning that sales ticked lower by 1% in its fiscal third quarter, to hit $4.01 billion. The grocery chain saw earnings climb to $0.12 a share, as compared to the $0.07 loss it booked a year ago. Those profit and sales figures were both slightly below analyst expectations. Still, cost cuts helped profitability jump by more than a percentage point in the quarter, to reach 14.2% of sales. The stock is unchanged in premarket trading.
Start the New Year off right
There's a huge difference between a good stock, and a stock that can make you rich. The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for 2014, and it's one of those stocks that could make you rich. You can find out which stock it is in the special free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2014." Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.
The article Stock Market Today: Dish's Wireless Deal and Family Dollar's Bad News originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2014 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
