The markets were all higher today as the financial sector led. The Financial ETF (NYSE: XLF) shot up 1.11% today, hitting new highs in the process. This helped the Dow 30 add 59, the S&P 500 to gain 8, and the Nasdaq 100 to post a gain of 20 points. Tomorrow the week ends with the monthly options expiration along with some scheduled, economic numbers related to housing.
Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) took a 6.11% hit today after the company reported another, completely separate, data breach. The last time they announced a hack they said it affected 500 million accounts, but this most recent hack which dates back to August of 2013 claims to have affected more than 1 billion users. Different users than the prior attack. Verizon (NYSE: VZ), which is expected to close its buyout of Yahoo in the first quarter of next year, said it would evaluate the situation. Shares hit a new 4 month low today on the embarrassing news, and probably should have traded lower.
Pier 1 (NYSE: PIR) shares blasted off today, closing up over 32%. The home furnishings retail chain raised its earnings outlook for the holiday quarter and the year after reporting earnings on its top and bottom lines for the third quarter that beat Wall Street expectations. The company attributes the beat to improving sales trends in the second half of November.
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) shares shot up another 5.47% today as the drug maker gave an upbeat earnings and sales outlook for next year as it "sees strong demand for its recently launched drugs, including its new treatments for diabetes."