Bulls Shrug Off Healthcare Bill (TIF, WSM, NOVL, GOOG, HMA)

Stocks shrugged off the passage of the healthcare bill in Congress and a rocky start to rise on the day. The momentum in stocks remains and the bulls are clearly in control for now. We remain cautiously optimistic, as we think the economic recovery is progressing but that there certainly could be bumps in the road. There is also the specter of rising rates and other possible political reforms for stocks to deal with.

The Hospital Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Health Management Associates (HMA) with a 11% gain.

Stocks rose on the day, with the Dow up 44 points to 10,786. The S&P rose 6 points to 1,166, while the Nasdaq jumped 21 points to 2,395. Oil moved 57 cents higher to $81.25 a barrel, while gold fell -$8.10 to $1,099.30 an ounce.

In earnings news, jeweler Tiffany (TIF) saw its Q4 profit surge to $140.4 million, or $1.10 per share, up from $31.1 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier when it recorded a -61 cent restructuring charge. Revenue rose 17% to $981.4 million, as comparable-store sales climbed 11%. The Wall Street consensus was for EPS of $1.13 on sales of $970.9 million. For 2010, the company forecast adjusted EPS of between $2.45-$2.50 versus estimates of $2.43. The stock edged up 0.3%. Eleven pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q1, while over 120 tickerspy members included the stock in their portfolios.

Shares of Williams-Sonoma (WSM) climbed 12.3% after the home goods retailer’s Q4 results and guidance topped analyst views. For the quarter ended January 31st, the company earned $88.4 million, or 81 cents per share, up from $12.2 million, or 12 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS came in at 86 cents, above the 74-cent consensus. Revenue rose 8% to $1.09 billion, as same-store sales jumped 7.6%. Looking forward, the company projected a 22%-33% increase in EPS, which equates to $1.16-$1.26, above estimates of $1.02.

In M&A news, Novell (NOVL) shares rose 4.4% after the enterprise software provider rejected a takeover offer from private equity firm Elliott Associates. The firm offered to buy Novell for approximately $2 billion, or $5.75 per share, in cash. Novell said it will look for other ways to unlock shareholder value, including possibly paying a dividend or seeking another buyer.

Search giant Google (GOOG) began redirecting traffic from China to its Hong Kong search engine in an attempt to keep a presence in the country but to avoid censorship laws. Google also announced it will maintain its engineering and sales offices in China and continue to sell ads for the Chinese-language version of its search engine in the U.S. The company said it hopes “that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services.” The stock fell -0.5%. Over 400 pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q1, while over 3700 tickerspy members included the stock in their portfolios.

Tags: GOOG, HMA, NOVL, TIF, WSM