Housing Starts Drop, Markets Open Lower

A drop in April housing starts and permits for new projects made a possible recovery of the housing market more elusive. Investors took profits as the Dow lost 17 points to 8486 while Nasdaq gave up 5 points to 1727.

On the upside

Luxury retailer Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) reported lower revenues and a 1st quarter loss, but the results surpassed expectations. Cost-cutting was expected to add $60 million to the bottom line this year.

Shares of Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) rose after the cosmetics company signed up 1 million new sales reps in the 1st quarter.

Shares of FONAR Corporation (Nasdaq: FONR) soared after the medical device company posted higher revenues that resulted in an unexpected profit.


On the downside

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) posted lower 1st quarter profits that beat expectations. However, the results could not overcome worries about the slow home-building environment.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) applied for permission to repay TARP funds in the ammount of $10 billion each.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) announced plans to cut up to 4000 jobs in order to save $800 million this year.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 5 points to 489.
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