A Good Sign In Front Of A Big Report

February 6, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
markets were mostly down on another round of selling pressure, though
a late session rally lifted the Naz into a just barely positive close. The Dow
and S&P 500 dropped below their two week trading ranges for new three-month
lows. The Nasdaq also hit a new three-month low, with the bellwether
Semiconductor Index remaining within a five-session range. Tomorrow we’ll get a
fresh batch of employment data, an event many traders think twice about stepping
in front of, though today’s afternoon rally was a sign of confidence as it’s
often the smart money that finishes the day.

In economic news was
disappointing today as initial jobless claims came in at 391K vs.
expectations of 380K, and productivity preliminary number came in at
-0.2% at 0.7%.

The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was +135 at 114 110.

The U.S. Dollar
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was -0.21 at 99.69.

Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,369,407,000
and the Nasdaq at 1,220,000,000.

Market breadth was negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.76, and down
volume over up volume by a 2.55 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came in at 1.45, and down volume beat up volume by a 1.04 ratio.

The
VIX
was +1.68 at 38.52. The TRIN
was -0.13 at 1.44.

Leading the Dow down were:

Stocks in the news:

Software giant Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.97% at 47.42, announced that
it has reached an agreement with Nvidia over a price dispute relating to the
Xbox.

Media company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
(
MSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.19% at
8.90, was under pressure after federal prosecutors said they might have enough
evidence to build a criminal case against the CEO, Martha Stewart.

Telecom gear maker Ericsson
(
ERICY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+7.58% at 7.23, announced an new CEO in what hopes to be a new start for the
struggling company.

Oil company ConocoPhillips
(
COP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.13% at 48.85, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to “overweight” from
“neutral”.

Electric utilities company TXU Corp.
(
TXU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -7.46% at 16.70, has been downgraded by Morgan Stanley to
“equal-weight” from “overweight”.

Communications services company j2 Global
(
JCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.63% at 21.80, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations
by $0.03 with profits of $0.38 per share.

Online travel company Expedia
(
EXPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +7.29% at 63.36, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations
by $0.07 with profits of $0.48 per share. The company has also raised its
guidance for the year.

Testing equipment maker Agilent
(
A |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -24.87% at 12.26, has said it will likely take a first-quarter loss for
twice as much as initially anticipated, as customers are buying less.

Beverage giant PepsiCo’s
(
PEP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.09% at 40.22, posted profits inline with expectations at $0.50 per
share

Retailer Michaels Stores
(
MIK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -21.55% at 25.76, has warned that it expects to earn less for the
full year due to unusually cold weather. The company now estimates earnings per
share to come in between $2.05-$2.10 vs. previous expectations of $2.11.

Insurance company Allstate
(
ALL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.89% at 32.05, has beat its fourth-quarter earnings estimates by
$0.12 with profits of $0.89 per share.

Also in the insurance sector, Unumprovident
(
UNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -15.14% at 14.45, has been downgraded by CSFB to
“underperform” from “neutral”.

Biotechnology company Cephalon
(
CEPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.82% at 50.43, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to
“overweight” from “neutral”.

Healthcare facilities company Coventry
Health Care
(
CVH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.31% at 25.47, has been upgraded by Salomon Smith
Barney to “outperform” from “in-line”.

From TM’s Implosion List,
insurer American International Group
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.15% at 48.20.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

A Good Sign In Front Of A Big Report

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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