What’s The Cure For Tech?
Technology shares are taking a bath again following a second day of earnings
warnings, this time from wireless leader Nokia. Earnings warnings from Juniper
Networks and semis equipment maker Du Pont Masks put a skittish Wall Street into
a selling mood yesterday and stocks are retreating again as the handset giant’s
caution takes a toll on related companies and the broad tech sector.
The Nasdaq is down 48.32 to 2122.46, the Dow is down 90
to 10,832, and the S&P 500 is down 13.20 to 1241.19.
Traders are punishing Scandinavian Nokia
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sending ADR shares down 20% on heavy volume after the cell phone maker cut sales
forecasts in half and scaled back estimates for the global mobile market.
Qualcomm
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sympathy and on the view that all of the bad news may not yet be priced into
theses leading providers of wireless technology.
For the day at least, selected healthcare stocks are
proving to be the cure in an otherwise earnings-anemic shares market.
Two stocks which were among the leaders earlier this year in the healthcare
field are back and trading at new all-time highs. Cardinal Health
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up 1.14 at 73.76 and Tenet Healthcare
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Although the gains are restrained, oil services are one
of the few green sectors in today’s market. Notice that the
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28% since April, pulled back, but is finding support at the 50% retracement from
the May 21 high. Leaders in the OSX include Smith International
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to 74.31, Cooper Cameron
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+.97 to 46.80.
Though biotech
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today, down 4%, Taro Pharma
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setup in an outside day and trading within 50 cents of its all-time high close,
up 4.05 at 73.25.