What the heck is Target (TGT) up for? Or SanDisk (SNDK)?. Akamai Technologies (AKAM)? Express Scripts (ESRX)? Limited Brands (LTD)? Prudential (PRU)? Starbucks (SBUX)?
Each one tells a story. I think Akamai and SanDisk are examples of sellers' exhaustion. You can't keep pounding the same stocks over and over. Express Scripts signals a recession. It's what you buy. Prudential may be related to the strength of MetLife (MET), which is something that Doug Kass has pointed out. Target and Limited Brands? These are signs of health. They are signs that there is a pulse.
Starbucks says that earnings matter, and so does its accelerated revenue growth. The company posted terrific numbers -- 30% growth in China, for heaven's sake!
Chesapeake Energy (CHK)? More on this one later, but if you take them at their word, something I have very much learned to do, CHK's management is saying that they may just have had the biggest find of oily liquids in 40 years: the Utica shale. And it is in Ohio! That's right, Speaker John Boehner's homeland.
Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake's CEO, is talking about how his million-plus acres in Utica could be worth $15 billion-$20 billion. He says it is economically equal to Eagle Ford, which IS the largest find in 40 years. Given that CHK's market capitalization stands at $22 billion, that's a pretty important find, even after you discount Chesapeake's big debt load.
No wonder it is moving higher. That kind of move can truly move the needle -- even with Washington's chaos front and center.
