This Could Get Things Going

December 12, 2002
Daniel Beighley

The
major indexes ended the day barely changed, as price action put in
reversals to the upside in early action, sold off to consolidate at the lows
mid-day, then chopped higher into the close. Volume continued its below average
streak, though the story of the day was gold
(
GCG3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), as it broke through
its $330 level. This seems to be anyone’s market now, as the Dow and S&P 500
have made inside
days on their daily bars, though as Kevin
Haggerty will attest, all it takes is for The Generals to show up to get
things rolling one way or another.Â

In economic news, retail
sales for November were up 0.4%, which was in line with expectations, and retail
sales (ex-auto) were up 0.5% vs. an expected increase of 0.8%. Initial
claims were at 441,000 vs. an expected 378,000. Also, export prices (ex.
ag.) were up 0.1% and import prices (ex. oil) were down 0.1%.

The 10-year U.S. Note
was -020 at 114 110.

The Dollar was -0.84 at
104.53.

Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,200,567,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,402,165,000.

Market breadth was slightly
positive, with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of
1.15, and up volume over down volume by a 1.05 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues
over advancing issues came in at 1.04, and up volume beat down volume by a 1.41
ratio.

The
VIX
was -0.59 at 30.81. The TRIN
was -0.15 at 1.08.

Leading the Dow lower:

Stocks in the news:

Optical networking company Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +19.69% at 6.20, rallied after the company announced it is
encouraged by the order activity it has seen in the fiscal first-quarter, and
believes revenues could increase by as much as 10% for the fourth-quarter.

In the biotech sector, Biovail
(
BVF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -7.31% at 30.13, sold off after it was announced that the company was
being investigated by the SEC for insider trading.

Drug maker Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+6.72% at 50.45, has raised its earnings guidance for the full year 2002 with an
expected earnings per share of $1.37-$1.39 vs. a consensus of $1.36.

Also in the drug making
business, Â Bristol-Myers Squibb
(
BMY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.62% at 25.35, is the
subjective a negative Wall Street Journal article which reports the company used
improper accounting practices to boost profits.

Household product maker
Procter and Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.27% at 87.70, has raised its
earnings guidance for its second-quarter, with expectations above the $1.10
predicted by analysts.

Oil services company
Haliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.96% at 20.00, has been upgraded by CSFB to
“outperform” from “neutral” as the company settles its
asbestos lawsuits.

Auto retailer AutoZone
(
AZO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-7.65% at 73.56, has beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.09 with
profits of $1.04.

Also in the auto retailing
group, Group One Automotive
(
GPI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.80% at 23.20, has reduced its
outlook for 2002 to expected earnings per share of $2.72-$2.77 vs. previous
estimates of $2.85-$2.90. The company also lowered its 2003 outlook.

Online auctioneer eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.68% at 68.73, has had its fourth-quarter earnings upped by Goldman Sachs to
$0.24 a share from $0.23 a share.

Chip maker Photronics
(
PLAB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.07% at 13.48, has been downgraded by Needham to “hold” from
“buy.”

In the software sector THQ-Inc.
(
THQI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.34% at 14.63, was downgraded by Bank of America to “market
perform” from “buy.”

This Could Get Things Going

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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