The markets finished out the quarter, as well as the first half of the year on a positive note. The Dow 30 was higher by 63, the S&P 500 added 3, but the Nasdaq 100 sold off 3. Oil was one of the big movers today adding over 2%, finishing off a strong week. Going into next week investors will get a look at manufacturing numbers Monday. Tuesday the markets will be closed in celebration of Independence Day.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) made headlines today thanks to Warren Buffett's announcement that his company would be cashing in its preferred shares in Bank of America to buy 700 million common shares. After passing the Federal Reserves stress test on Monday, the company announced it would raise its quarterly dividend to 12 cents per share. Buffet announced that after that dividend he will make the swap to common which will officially make him the bank's largest shareholder. Shares were flat today on the news.
Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) shares were lower today by 5.12% as the company announced earnings that were better than Wall Street's assumptions. Their earnings release showed that earnings per share were $1.62 on revenue of $5.57 billion. Shares were lower on the day though as it seemed investors chose to take profits on the news. Shares are still higher by over 35%.
Nike (NYSE: NKE) shares soared 10.96% today after the athletics apparel maker announced earnings that were much better than Wall Street expectations. Earnings per share came in at 60 cents on revenue of $8.68 billion. Analysts were forecasting 50 cents and revenue of $8.63 billion. The big news that everyone was focused on was that Nike confirmed its partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) on its conference call, saying that it will start selling some of its products on Amazon's platform. This was a partnership that Nike has publicly avoided up until now. Shares are now higher by 13% on the year.