A Real Leader

March 27, 2002
Daniel Beighley

The major averages cruised
higher in early trading, consolidated for the middle of the session, then jerked
down, then up, to close the day with slight gains. Gold and silver, oil, and
energy issues were big gainers, with telecom, Internet, and semiconductors down
slightly as the biggest losers.

On the economic front, new
home sales for February rose 5.3% to an annual rate of 875,000. Economists
were looking for a rate of 890,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.03, and up-volume
over down-volume by a 2.47 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues
came in at 1.24, and up-volume beat down-volume by a 1.10 ratio. The
VIX
was down 0.48 at 19.27. The TRIN
was down 0.28 at 0.82.

Below average volume saw the
Dow fall short of its 20-day MA, the S&P 500 close on its 200-day MA, though
below its 20-day MA, and the Nasdaq make an inside day, but still well below its
major MAs. The Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.74%, made an
inside day below its 20-day MA. The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
up 0.78%, closed on its 20-day MA.

Software company Manugistics Group Inc (MANU),
up 12.23% at 20.46, reported a loss of 36 cents a share for the fourth-quarter,
compared to a loss of 26 cents a year ago. Analysts were expecting a greater
loss.

Electronics instrument and controls company
Sanmina-SCI Corporation (SANM),
down 1.49% at 11.20, has announced that it will lay-off half of its workforce in
Sweden, or 730 workers.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc (AMZN),
down 3.91% at 14.25, fell after Lehman Brothers expressed its concern over the
company’s business model.

Beverage company Coca-Cola
(
KO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.58% at 52.29, said it
expects a first quarter increase of 4% to 5% of unit case volume for its
international and North American operations. The company also said it expects to
see 5% to 6% growth in this area, but a weak global economic environment will
make this difficult.

Communications company AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 1.98% at 15.45, rose after
Bear Stearns upgraded the stock to Attractive from Neutral, citing that the
stock is undervalued and that will become more apparent when it merges with Comcast
Corporation
(
CMCSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 0.32 at 31.30. Bear Stearns also said that the
company is a real leader in its field and its efforts to reduce debt have proven
successful.

Concurrently, Bear Stearns downgraded shares of Sprint
(
FON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
0.20% at 14.73, to Attractive from Buy, claiming it will not benefit as
much as competitors from a recovery in IT spending.

The CEO of communications equipment maker LM Ericsson Telephone Co
(
ERICY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.23 at 4.22, said that the company is not seeing any signs
of a turnaround in business.

Greeting card company American Greetings
(
AM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 28.38% at 18.59,
announced earnings of 58 cents a share, beating estimates by 2 cents.

From TM’s proprietary Momentum
List, Zion Bancorporation
(
ZION |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 3.06% to 59.20 with no
news released on the company.

A Real Leader

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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