Half Empty Or Half Full?
Traders are ignoring an upgrade by UBS Warburg on Cisco
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and are looking hard at performance facts for clues about market direction in the
busiest week of this quarter’s earnings announcement cycle.
The Dow is down 95 at 10,481, the Nasdaq is down 14.64 at
2014.91, and the S&P 500 is down 11.66 at 1199.16.
Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing
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beat lowered earnings estimates, but traders are punishing it for a weaker
quarterly performance. Earlier this month, MMM lowered earnings estimates. The
company said that a stronger dollar hurt overseas sales and results. MMM is the
biggest loser among Dow components, down 1.42 at 111.58.
In a move that would only take it to a test of the top of
its current trading range or base, UBS Warburg upped the target price on Cisco
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to $24. Still, the largest maker of networking gear has been unable to rise above
its 50-day moving average and push the market higher.
Other performance figures released today show that all of
the bad corporate news may not be priced into shares.
The third largest local telecom, Bell South
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its earnings outlook. Goodyear
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profit fell 90%. And United Steel
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has seen in a year after reporting a net loss.
Demonstrating that stocks which perform well will be
rewarded, TradersWire Interactive caught Eclipsys
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PowerRating) as it moved out of
an intraday setup and ran more than $1.50 out of the pattern to an intraday high
of 26.20. ECLP beat earnings views by two cents to 11, cash flow doubled last
quarter, and bookings for its healthcare enterprise software rose by
half.