By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Okay, it's the third week in August. Volume in the stock market should be down. The trading range should be small and boring and considering how this year's shaping up - it should be snowing! I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
Obviously, August is just not acting like August. Accepting that fact, let's look at today's biz, some of it a little juicy. How can I help not talking about Martha Stewart? By 5:00 p.m. Eastern time today, the lawyers for that sweet little woman have to produce some e-mail and phone documents for the congressional committee investigating her for insider trading. She says one thing, her broker is saying another thing, and the broker's assistant is saying yet another. The word on the financial shows - the committee probably won't get what they're looking for. Even in yesterday's up market, her stock was down.
Yesterday's lower leading economic indicators were down, but who cares because the home improvement store Lowe's showed higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, as did Toys "R" Us. And that's what fueled yesterday's solid rally, which is why some investors want to take their profits and run, causing this morning's break in the market.
As the last of the quarterly earnings trickle, in Grapevine-based Gamestop showed a whopping 32.6% increase in sales from last year. Gamestop is the place your kid wishes he had his own credit card, too. It's the nation's largest video game and entertainment software specialty retailer.
The current issue of Fortune Magazine rates the top 100 Fastest Growing U.S. Companies. And two in the top ten are in...ta da!...Fort Worth! Fifth is XTO Energy. They drill all that "undervalued," as Fortune puts it, natural gas in East Texas. Now sixth is Quicksilver Resources. "They hunt for non-traditional energy sources like shale gas and coal-bed methane." Houston also has a couple on the top ten list. Go Texas! Can't wait to see what the rest of the month brings. For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.