Stocks turned higher on Tuesday, Oct. 30, following a volatile session on Wall Street that saw a 900-point swing for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 432 points, or 1.8%, to 24,875, while the the S&P 500 and NasdaqComposite both rose 1.6%.
"Bulls hit the button today and garnered a win, only the 5th up session in the month of October," said Bob Lang, founder of ExplosiveOptions.net and a contributor to TheStreet.com's Trifecta Stocks Newsletter. "It's been a difficult month for the bulls and most indices are now solidly below their 200-day moving average, something not to go unnoticed," he added.
The Dow sank on Monday, Oct. 29 after Bloomberg reported the U.S. was preparing to announce by early December tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if talks next month between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping didn't result in a significant breakthrough in their ongoing trade war. Early Tuesday, Trump sent a tweet that tied further stock market losses to a victory for Democrats in next week's midterm elections.
General Electric Co. (GE) tumbled 9% after the company disclosed the expansion of federal investigations. GE slashed its dividend, a move that analysts and investors initially cheered.
The Boston-based industrial conglomerate reported a loss of $2.63 a share from GAAP continuing operations for the third quarter as GE recorded a non-cash, pretax goodwill impairment charge of $22 billion related to GE Power.
GE said Securities and Exchange Commission expanded its investigation to include the goodwill impairment charge related to GE's Power business. The Department of Justice also was investigating this charge, Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller said during a conference call. GE said it was cooperating with the SEC and the DOJ, Miller said.
Adjusted earnings of 14 cents a share missed analysts' estimates of 20 cents. Revenue at GE of $29.57 billion during the third quarter also fell short of forecasts calling for $29.77 billion.
Larry Culp's First Big Move at General Electric: Cut the DividendPfizer Inc. (PFE) posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, the last under the leadership of outgoing CEO Ian Read, but narrowed its guidance range for full-year sales, sending shares lower by 0.8%.
Pfizer said adjusted earnings for the three months ended in September were 78 cents a share, topping the Wall Street consensus of 75 cents. Revenue was $13.3 billion, up 1% from the third quarter in 2017 but just shy of analysts' estimates of $13.55 billion. Pfizer also said full-year sales would come within a range of $53 billion to $55 billion, a figure that is around $2 billion lower at the top end.
Pfizer Tops Q3 Earnings Estimate, Narrows Full-Year Guidance RangeCoca-Cola Co. (KO) rose 2.5% after the soda giant reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 58 cents a share, higher than estimates of 55 cents, and revenue of $8.25 billion that beat expectations.
Organic sales rose 6%, while volumes rose 2%, with Coca-Cola citing "double-digit volume growth of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar across all groups." Coke also said earnings were impacted by an 8% currency headwind owing to the strength of the U.S. dollar.
Coca-Cola Beats Q3 Earnings Estimate as 'Coke Zero' Sales ImpressUnder Armour Inc. (UAA) shares jumped 28% after the company posted a third-quarter adjusted profit of 25 cents a share handily beating estimates of 12 cents. Revenue was $1.44 billion, higher than expectations of $1.42 billion. Revenue in North America fell 2% while international sales jumped 15%.
Under Armour Is Off and Running Following Q3 Beat and Upbeat GuidanceFacebook Inc. (FB) and eBay Inc. (EBAY) are expected to report earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday.
Facebook live blog on earningsFacebook's Earnings Report on Tuesday: 3 Top Things to Watch ForFacebook is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells the stock? Learn more now.
TheStreet will be live blogging Facebook's earnings after the close of trading on Tuesday. Please check our home page then for more details.
BP PLC ( BP) rose 3% on Tuesday after the oil giant posted its strongest quarterly profit in five years following the "transformational" acquisition of BHP Billiton Ltd.'s ( BHP) U.S. shale assets earlier this year.Because of the strength in oil prices, BP, a holding in Action Alerts PLUS, said Tuesday it could fully fund the $10.5 billion acquisition of BHP Billiton's nshore U.S. oil and gas assets entirely in cash instead of with its planned rights issue.
BP Surges After Best Quarter in Five Years: US Shale Poised To Drive GrowthBP is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells the stock? Learn more now.
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