5 Stocks To Watch For Tuesday

Stocks were higher after traders were relieved by
good economic data. The Producer Price Index for December fell 0.7%,
more than expected and the biggest drop since April 2003. Core PPI rose 0.1%. 
Factory output rose more than expected, to 0.8% in December.

The major indices closed near the highs of the day, which was welcome news.
So far, we’ve had a mixed start to earnings season. Next week, look for more
earnings, with Bank of America (estimate 0.94), Wells Fargo
(estimate 1.06), Motorola (estimate  0.24), Linear Technology
(estimate 0.32) and Yahoo (estimate 0.11) on Tuesday.

Here is what the major indices have done thus far in 2005:

    Transports        
-7%

    Russell 2000     -6.4%

    Nasdaq           
-4.8%

    S&P 500          
-2.8%

    Dow                 
-2.6%

    Utilities             
-1.6%

The market is closed Monday for the observance of the Martin Luther King
holiday.

General Motors (GM)
said it sees 2005 EPS at $4-$5 for 2005; the previous estimate was $4.78.

Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will take a $615 million charge related to its 767 Air
Force tanker and 717 series aircraft.

Sun Microsystems
(
SUNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported 0.01, in-line, but revenues were
light. Cree
(
CREE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.04.

Strong sectors were: Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.12%, Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.50%, Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.75%.

Weak sectors were: Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.92%.

 

Stocks in the News

An Arizona man’s death was linked to the use of a Taser
(
TASR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gun.

Looksmart
(
LOOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) guided lower.

Flextronics
(
FLEX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was upgraded at UBS to a buy from neutral.

Brice Wightman