By: Jennifer Saba Newspaper stocks out-gained the S&P this week, rising 1% while the S&P increased 0.9% (with printing stocks rising only 0.2%), according to a summary issued by Merrill Lynch.
The investment firm continues to eye the help wanted category as the Conference Board reported a slight dip in its index for the month of April (38 as opposed to March's 39). Online listings grew a few points according to the Monster Employment Index, up in May at 128 compared with 125 in April. Merrill Lynch does not expect the rebound in help wanted to abate but it does note that any gains have been built into present estimates and valuations.
The firm predicts that May will show continued improvement in advertising revenues perhaps especially for those newspaper companies with a broadcast component. Also, the summary reported "no real news on the potential newsprint strike" and the sense that prices "are gently moving upward."
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