Alan, Throw Us A Bone
With the Federal Reserve meeting getting underway shortly, traders are
wondering whether enough damage has been done to stocks this year to placate the
Fed’s obsession with inflation and the "Wealth Effect."
In other words, with the Nasdaq down 22% year-to-date, and dot.coms
thoroughly decimated, (along with telecom. semiconductors, B2Bs, retailers and
just about everything else tech-related) are we perhaps going to get a neutral
bias toward inflation? Other than energy prices, there have been few signs of rampant inflation.
Whatever the Fed’s decision, stocks are looking at a slightly lower open.
The Nasdaq futures are down 3 points, and the Dow futures are down 45 points.
The S&Ps look to open down 7.50 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is holding steady at 5.74%.
Wednesday Movers
Sycamore Networks
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PowerRating) posted earnings of 2 cents per share after the
bell on Tuesday, topping analyst estimates by a penny. Sycamore closed up 3
15/16 at 64 7/16 and is trading up to 67 5/8 in pre-market activity.
Network Appliance
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PowerRating) earned 10 cents per share for the company’s
fiscal second quarter, which beat First Call/Thomson Financial estimates by a
penny. Despite beating expectations, concerns mounted over future revenue
growth. Network Appliance gained 11 3/4 to 96 1/4 Tuesday but is trading down to
77 in pre-market activity.
eCommerce infrastructure software maker BEA Systems
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PowerRating) said it
earned 7 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter, and that beat analyst
estimates by a penny. Revenues increased 77% from the same year-ago quarter.
BEAS closed Tuesday up 7 15/16 to 70 15/16 but is trading down to 69 in
pre-market activity.
Retailers Regroup
Wal-Mart
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PowerRating) and Home Depot
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PowerRating) met analyst earnings expectations
Tuesday, and that helped give a lift to a retail group that has been under
pressure and in a downward trend for most of the year. Wal-Mart rose 1 1/2 to 46
7/8 and Home Depot added 1 13/16 to 39 3/16.