Markets Little Changed After Release Of Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks ended Wednesday's trading session little changed after Fed officials expressed an ongoing concern that inflation may remain at low levels for some time despite efforts to boost the economy, according to October's FOMC minutes.

“The information reviewed for the October 28-29 meeting indicated that economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in the third quarter and that labor market conditions improved over the intermeeting period,” the FOMC noted in its minutes. “Consumer price inflation continued to run below the FOMC's longer-run objective of 2 percent. Market-based measures of inflation compensation declined somewhat, while survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations remained stable.”

The Fed expects inflation to move back to its two percent target over the "medium term as resource slack diminished in an environment of well-anchored inflation expectations."

• The Dow lost 0.01 percent, closing at 17,685.73.
• The S&P 500 lost 0.15 percent, closing at 2,048.72.
• The Nasdaq lost 0.57 percent, closing at 4,675.71.
• Gold lost 1.24 percent, trading at $1,182.30 an ounce.
• Oil lost 0.69 percent, trading at $74.60 an ounce.

News Of Note

MBA Mortgage Composite Index rose 4.9 percent after declining 0.9 percent last week.

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October Housing Starts fell 2.8 percent to 1.01 million (versus expectations of 1.025 million). Permits rose 4.8 percent to 1.08 million (versus expectations of 1.04 million.)

EIA Crude Inventories rose 2.6 million (versus expectations of a 0.8 percent decline) after declining 1.7 million barrels last week.

Equities News Of Note

Lowe's LOW reported its third-quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.59 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58. Revenue of $13.70 billion beat the consensus estimate of $13.54 billion. Shares lost 0.11 percent, closing at $42.63.

Staples SPLS reported its third-quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.37 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36. Revenue of $5.96 billion beat the consensus estimate of $5.93 billion. Shares gained 0.09 percent, closing at $13.92.

Target TGT reported its third-quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.54 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48. Revenue of $17.73 billion beat the consensus estimate of $17.56 billion. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $73.08 before closing the day at $72.50, up 7.39 percent.

Analysts at Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on Apple AAPL with a price target raised to $120 from a previous $112. Shares lost 0.70 percent, closing at $114.66.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded BlackBerry BBRY to Underweight from Equal-Weight with a $7 price target. Shares lost 5.30 percent, closing at $10.19.

Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on Home Depot HD with a price target raised to $110 from a previous $95. Shares gained 0.75 percent, closing at $96.70.

According to Reuters, Buyout firms KKR KKR along with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice are interested in acquiring PetSmart PETM for more than $7.5 billion to take the company private. Shares of PetSmart hit new 52-week highs of $78.37 before closing the day at $78.19, up 6.21 percent.

Caledonia Funds' Michael Messara said that shares of Zillow Z could be worth as much as $770 per share during a conference in London. Shares gained 1.68 percent, closing at $120.96.

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According to The Information, Google's GOOG Google Play store is being prepped for a launch in China. Shares gained 0.37 percent, closing at $536.99.

WWE WWE inked a deal with Warner Brothers covering rights to documentaries, reports and pay-per-view events. Shares of WWE lost 1.68 percent, closing at $11.72.

Qualcomm QCOM said that it expects to see fiscal 2015 sales to be in a range of $26.8 billion to $28.8 billion. Shares lost 2.14 percent, closing at $70.47.

Dollar General DG may be forced to divest more than 4,000 stores to gain regulatory approval needed to acquire Family Dollar FDO. Separately, Family Dollar pushed back the date shareholders will vote on its merger with Dollar Tree DLTR to December 23. Shares of Dollar General hit new 52-week highs of $66.29 before turning negative and closing the day at $66.10, down 0.11 percent. Shares of Family Dollar lost 0.51 percent, closing at $78.45. Shares of Dollar Tree gained 1.03 percent, closing at $62.63.

Cliffs Natural Resources CLF said that it is considering and exit from its iron ore operations in Eastern Canada. Shares lost 19.98 percent, closing at $8.17.

Keurig Green Mountain GMCR reported its fourth-quarter results after market close. The company earned $0.90 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77. Revenue of $1.20 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Shares were trading lower by 0.85 percent at $152.64 following the earnings release.

Salesforce.com CRM reported its third-quarter results after market close. The company earned $0.14 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13. Revenue of $1.30 billion missed the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Shares were trading lower by 3.87 percent at $58.66 following the earnings release.

Quote Of The Day

"Really hate it when companies bring out an awesome show car and then you can never actually buy it. So lame." - Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk taking to Twitter to defend his company.