Consumer Discretionary at New Highs

Published on Tuesday, 07 February 2012 12:34 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 7^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Consumer Discretionary stocks were climbing during the session, as the euro was gaining on hopes that a deal for Greece to access bailout funds and spurring participants into economic sensitive sectors.

The Consumer Discretionary SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLY) was climbing 0.38% to $42.31 after posting a new all-time high of $42.38. The sector was also receiving a boost from better than expected earnings from Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) and a rally in Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD).

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), the Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell restaurant chains owner and operator, was jumping 2.55% to $64.80 after the company posted better than expected earnings on higher than estimated revenues thanks to a surge in sales in China.

Another Stock rallying on earnings and helping the sector was Harman International (NYSE: HAR). The audio and electronics systems maker was jumping 5.4% to $46.90 after it posted earnings that beat consensus by $0.07 per share on revenues that jumped 18% year over year to $1.13 billion.

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) was surging 6.43% to $47.41, posting the biggest jump in the sector and the S&P 500. The stock is seeing another big upside day on no apparent news, which suggest additional short covering. Sears has been able to rebound sharply, surging close to 50% year to date.

The sector was also receiving a boost from Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). The video rental subscription service was adding 2.8% to $132.87, extending its year to date rally to a whopping 91.8%. Yesterday, the stock gained amid reports that the highly anticipated Apple TV set or iTV could include the Netflix streaming service. Rival Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR) was surging 19% after the owner of the Red Box DVD Rental kiosks beat earnings expectations, while issuing inline guidance for the year.

And shares Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), the world’s largest media company, was adding 0.32% to $40.59 ahead of its quarterly earnings report due our after the closing bell. On average analysts expect a profit of $0.71 per share on revenues of $11.2 billion. Last quarter, the company posted a 9.3% upside earnings surprise, as it earned $0.53 per share.  Wunderlich bumped its target price to $43 from $39 ahead of the report. Yesterday, Davenport upgraded the stock to a Buy from Neutral, with Disney trading above its calculated resistance at $40.25.