Big Verdict, Plus, Shake-Up At SEBL
Stocks were higher Monday
on light volume with the Semis bouncing off a 6-month low at the end of the
session. The $SOX is now down six days in a row after being off 8% last week.
Energy was strong, as were airlines.
Former investment banker Frank Quattrone, famous for taking tech
companies public, was found guilty on all counts in New York. The conviction contains a maximum of 25 years in prison,
though observers say that he will likely face one to two years; his attorney
said they would appeal the verdict. Quattrone’s first trial ended in a hung
jury.
Thomas Siebel of
Siebel Systems
(
SEBL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is stepping down as CEO, to be replaced by IBM
executive Mike Lawrie. Tom Siebel will stay on as Chairman.
Warren Buffett said that “at
least short-term rates will be quite a bit higher in the next couple of years,â€
adding that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, is feeling the pinch of higher
prices.
Adobe Systems
(
ADBE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose after guiding the Street higher, earning 39 cents a share on revenue of
$400 million. This is the second time this quarter ADBE has upped earnings
estimates. Accredo Health
(
ACDO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell after reporting earnings of
$21.1 million on revenue of $409.3 million. Earnings were one penny ahead of
analysts’ estimates, but revenue was $4 million short. The company expects 2004
earnings to reach $1.60 a share on revenue of $1.5 billion.
The Fed meets tomorrow,
with no change in rates expected, although the comments will be analyzed
closely.
After the close ICOS Corp.
(
ICOS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a narrower than expected loss of $1.36/share, beating the
estimates by 0.05; Gen-Probe
(
GPRO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.06 and guided Y04
higher; Avanex
(
AVNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by a penny.
^next^
| Dow | +88.43 |
10314.00 |
| S&P 500 |
+10.26 |
1117.56 |
| Nasdaq | +18.57 |
1938.72 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.32%; Oil
(
OIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.29%;
Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.27%; and Internet
(
ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.14%.
Weak today were Hardware
(
UTY.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.73%
and Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.58%.
Economic news releases today
include a higher-than-expected increase in construction spending at 1.5%; and a
lower-than-expected ISM index at 62.4.
The dollar
was +0.25 at 90.73
Gold was -1.07 at 386.95
Crude Oil was +0.64 at
38.21
Volume was 1.57 billion
on the NYSE, and 1.89 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing |
1997 | Up Vol 1007 |
| Declining | 1312 | Down Vol 537 |
| Ratio | 1.52 | 1.87 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing |
1740 | Up Vol 1168 |
| Declining |
1430 | Down Vol 696 |
| Ratio | 1.21 | 1.68 |
Stocks in the news:
InterActive
(
IACI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted earnings of $38 million
on revenue of $1.5 billion. Its travel business grew by 41% with a 282% growth
rate in local and media services.
El Paso
(
EP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has launched an independent audit of
its proven reserves after reports that some of its employees may knowingly used
incorrect estimates to boost proven natural gas reserves over the past five
years.
Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will resume its share buyback program
and has raised its quarterly dividend by 18%.
ISP United Online
(
UNTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat Wall Street
consensus, earning $15.2 million in the first quarter on revenue of $102.1
million. The company raised its second-quarter revenue forecast to $111 million.
Brice Wightman
bricew@tradingmarkets.com