Weekly Market Wrap: March 30, 2012
Friday, March 30, 5:53 PM ET

Launch related slideshow:
This Week's Top Ranked Dividend Stocks »

Hi. I'm Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday March 30, 2012.

The S&P 500 the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were all higher for the week.

Crude oil futures are lower this week, trading around $103.05 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures are slightly higher this week, to $1668.16 an ounce in afternoon trading.

In notable economic news this week, the Labor Department said that the economy added 227,000 net jobs in February and has averaged 245,000 jobs per month since December. The unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years.

In corporate news this week, Sealy Corporation (ZZ) posted net sales of $312.3 million, a 2.2% increase compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Net income was $1.6 million or $0.01 per diluted share, compared to $0.1 million or $0.00 per diluted share in the prior year quarter. On the news, shares of Sealy are trading sharply higher this morning.

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ:JOSB) announced earnings per share for fiscal year 2011 of $3.49 as compared with EPS of $3.08 for fiscal year 2010. Net sales were $979.9 million in fiscal year 2011, versus net sales of $858.1 million in fiscal year 2010.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) announced that it earned $2.47 per share during is fiscal fourth quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.15 per share. The company projected full year earnings of $3.50 to $3.80 per share, while analysts expected $3.70 per share. The company also said it plans on closing fifty stores this year in an effort to control costs.

Fertilizer maker Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) posted a sharp drop in third quarter earnings, partly due to higher costs of raw materials. The results fell short of expectations and shares are trading lower today.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) reported fourth quarter profit and revenue below analyst estimates. The company reported a net loss of $125 million, or 24 cents per share, on a GAAP basis, on revenue of $4.2 billion, 19% lower than a year earlier.

This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday March 30, 2012. Please join us on Monday for the 'Week Ahead Market Report."