The summer breeze seemed to pull the stock market higher as traders blissfully ignored dire warnings about pressures on the petroleum market. That lasted until Thursday, when oil spiked perilously above $60 a barrel. Immediately, Wall Street was hit by a mini-blizzard of sell orders.
Not, however, before a rare convergence of the planets allowed more than a half-dozen area companies to achieve new 52-week highs for their stocks.
Exelon Corp., the nation’s No. 1 operator of nuclear power plants and parent of Commonwealth Edison, hit a 52-week high in the wake of remarks by President Bush about his much-delayed energy plan.
Speaking at a Maryland nuclear power plant, the president described “a growing consensus that more nuclear power will lead to a cleaner, safer nation. It is time for this country to start building nuclear power plants again.”
Shares of Chicago-based Exelon finished the week at $50.69, up 55 percent from their 52-week low of $32.69.
Caterpillar Inc. soared to an all-time high after a Lehman Brothers analyst said the heavy equipment-maker should have improved profit margins through 2006.
The Peoria-based earthmoving equipment-maker has seen sales mushroom, partly because it has streamlined its manufacturing and partly because of the weak dollar, which has given it an edge in global markets.
Shares of Caterpillar finished the week at $96.86, up 41 percent from their 52-week low of $68.50.
Motorola Inc. hit a 52-week closing high after Banc of America Securities raised global wireless handset sales estimates for 2005 and 2006.
Motorola ended the week at $18.55, up 34 percent from a 52-week low of $13.83.
Other new 52-week highs were hit by Allstate Corp., Nicor Inc., Peoples Energy Corp. and Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
Job-cut expenses hit DeVry; Sara Lee slips
On the downside, DeVry Inc., the Oakbrook Terrace-based provider of technology training and higher education, saw its shares slip after it announced that it expects pretax expenses of $3.5 million for job cuts made in its latest quarter. Shares of DeVry finished the week at $19.50, down 31 percent from a 52-week high of $28.23.
And Sara Lee Corp. hit a fresh low after rival food conglomerates offered ho-hum forecasts. Chicago-based Sara Lee, which is undergoing the biggest overhaul in its history, selling off apparel units, finished at $19.31, off 23 percent from its 52-week high of $25.00.
