$5 Billion Buyback
Stocks were higher Tuesday, as
economic news trumped Saddam news.
The Dow made a fresh 52-week high,
with cyclicals and financials showing
strength. A
slew of economic data included the CPI dropping an unexpected 0.2% in November;
and single-family Housing Starts rising 4.5%, the fastest rate in 19 years.
Industrial output across the board experienced a good pickup. Chip Maker
Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) named ex-Sun Executive Chairman Edward Zander as CEO. The
move comes amid Motorola’s problems with delivery of some of its wireless phones
and the spin-off of its semiconductor unit. Boston Federal Reserve president
Cathy Minehan sees economic expansion picking up and advised the Central Bank to
postpone raising interest rates. She also expects a stronger job growth in 2004.
Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported it might miss its previous earnings forecast
by as much as 10% due to higher pension expenses.
Korean online game
developer Webzen began trading today. The IPO was priced at $11.17; the
stock closed at 10.00. Tomorrow, look for China Life Insurance (LFC).
| Dow | +106.74 |
10129.56 |
| S&P | +7.09 | 1075.13 |
| Nasdaq | +6.03 | 1924.29 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.55%, Natural
Gas
(
XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.41%, Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and +1.27%.
Weak today were Amex Gold
Bugs [HUI.X|HUI.X] -3.22%, Gold and
Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.90%.
Economic news releases included
Core CPI down 0.1%, with CPI Basic Groups falling 0.2%. The Current Account was
-$135 billion. Housing Starts came in at 2.07 million, with requests for
building permits at 1.874 million. Capacity Utilization was at 75.7%, with
Industrial Production up 0.9%.
The dollar
was -0.10 at 88.31.
Gold was -2.65 at
407.05.
Crude Oil was -0.33 at
32.95.
Volume was
1,500,745,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,821,722,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1947 | Up Vol 926 |
| Declining | 1360 | Down Vol 557 |
| Ratio | 1.43 | 1.66 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1565 | Up Vol 963 |
| Declining | 1628 | Down Vol 845 |
| Ratio | 1.04 | 1.13 |
Stocks in the news:
After the close, Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided
lower for 2003 and 2004; the company also announced a $5 billion stock buyback.
Wireless service provider Sprint PCS
(
PCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
announced its net loss for the year would be at the low end of forecasts, from
43 to 48 cents, on an improved financial outlook. Sprint expects no material
fourth-quarter impact from the number-portability rule. The company plans to
take a $65 million charge related to its 2000 job cut and says its new billing
system should help reduce the value of PCS business by $300 million.
Verizon Communications
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received an
upgrade from Banc of America. The analyst raised his
price target to $38, citing favorable pension factors and a strong wireless
operation. VZ rose .39 to 33.91.
Retailer Pier 1 Imports lost 8% after
announcing fourth-quarter earnings below previous forecasts. Sales for December
were weak due to recent snowstorms and revised earnings for the quarter are
expected to be around 55 cents.
Lehman Brothers
(
LEH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was upgraded by
UBS to “Buy” on valuation. UBS stated that the broker has one of the highest
pretax margins in the group and trades at a steep discount relative to
competitor Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
bricew@tradingmarkets.com