The summer doldrums continued today as the markets remained almost flat again. The Dow 30 was up only 4 today along with the S&P 500 which was only up a fraction of 1 point. The Nasdaq 100 was able to hold onto a small gain of 12. Going into tomorrow the scheduled news is light once again. Traders will be able to look forward to crude oil inventories, due out in the morning but that's about it.
Disney (NYSE: DIS) saw above average volume today along with a 1.02% rally as the company gets ready to report third-quarter results after the close. Analysts expect revenue to be over $14 billion, but we should note that the company has fallen short of revenue expectations three out of the last four quarters. The problem continues to be ESPN and its slowdown in subscriber growth.
Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) shot up 26.71% early this morning as the online job search company behind Monsterboard and Jobs.com is being bought by rival Dutch staffing firm Randstad for $429 million, or $3.40 a share. That's a 23% premium based on Monster Worldwide's closing price yesterday. The deal will expand Randstand's online recruiting presence and help it better compete in the US.
Coach (NYSE: COH) reported earnings today that topped analysts' estimates. Unfortunately revenue slightly missed expectations, and the stock sold off 2.27%. The company was positive in its conference call and even stated that sales in its stores in North America increased for the first time in more than three years, but investors couldn't forgive the revenue miss.
Also reporting earnings in the retail space is Gap (NYSE: GPS). Shares dropped off over 6% today as analysts commented that "It seems the retailer's turnaround in June was short lived." Gap posted a steeper than expected 4% drop in same-store sales last month due to declines in its namesake and Banana Republic brands.
Lastly, News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA), the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post enjoyed a 3.74% gain today despite the company reporting earnings that came in below forecasts. Traders looked past this as their revenue beat estimates. Sales rose 5% from a year ago, thanks to a jump in its digital real estate business, but newspaper advertising revenue remained weak.