Look Who’s The Newest Wall Street Dealmaker

Stocks are higher as oil fell
by over $1.
The first day of the month
is typically a time when new money comes
into the market,a nd today is no exception. The Healthcare Providers Index
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is making an all-time high. Utilities, however, are weak on higher interest rate
concerns.

The EIA reported crude inventories rose by
900,000 barrels; gas inventories rose by 3 million barrels. OPEC meets next
week, on Friday.

Manufacturing activity rose in November, with the
ISM index coming in at 57.8 vs. 56.8 in October. October personal savings came
+0.2% vs. 0.3% in September. Personal income in October rose +0.6%; personal
spending rose +0.7%. Both were better than expected.

Sentiment is bullish. Among newsletter writers
surveyed by CNBC, 57.3% are bullish; mid-40’s is typical. 22.9% are bearish;
mid-high 30s is typical here. Sentiment is generally viewed as a contra
indicator and traders who follow this data closely are probably wary with
bullish numbers this high.

Rudy Giuliani’s consulting firm purchased Ernst &
Young’s investment banking unit and is forming Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC.
The new company will advise companies on acquisitions and restructuring.

Microsoft is making its $3/share distribution tomorrow.

The QQQs now trade on the Nasdaq.
Symbol: QQQQ. Question: Do the Cubes now become the Quads?

Dow +116.53 10544.55
S&P 500 +12.52 1186.34
Nasdaq +30.99 2127.80

The dollar is -0.15 at
81.67

Gold is +2.20 to 453.70

Crude Oil is -1.73 at 47.40

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 1.55 billion on the NYSE and
1.84 billion on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is positive.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 2246 Up Vol 579
Declining 934 Down Vol 142
Ratio 2.40 4.07
Nasdaq
Advancing 2065 Up Vol 908
Declining 911 Down Vol 124
Ratio 2.26 7.32

Stocks in the News.

IBM said it won 2 European deals worth $1 billion.

General Motors
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and Ford
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will announce November
sales results.

Cigna
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raised guidance for 2004 and 2005.

Humana
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guided to the high end of the recent range.

Novellus
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raised its Q4 guidance.

Wendy’s
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said it expects a loss  in the current quarter.

Dollar General
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missed by 0.03.

Fairchild
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said they see Q4 at the high end of guidance.

Omnivision
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reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

Raytheon
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raised guidance and is planning a dividend.

Anthem and Wellpoint have completed their merger. Anthem will
be renamed Wellpoint and trade under the symbol WLP.

Brice Wightman