Are The Markets Telling You Something?
Stocks wavered in a narrow range for
most of the day with a small afternoon rally that fizzled out in the last hour
of trading. The three major indexes closed with gains on the day.
Technology sectors represented the majority of the weakness, though the
Semiconductor Index
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$SOX.X |
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PowerRating) made a gain of 2.31% to close at 549.2 in an
attempt to regain its 200-day MA.
size=2>The Dow Jones Industrial Average
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0.46%Â style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”> to
9,811.15style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>. The S&P 500
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$SPX.X |
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PowerRating) closed up 0.30%style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”> to
1,122.78style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>. The Nasdaq [$COMPQ
|$COMPQ] closed up 0.34%style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”> to
1,953.18style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>.
On the economic front, two studies from the
government were released today. U.S. consumer prices were unchanged for the
month of November. Falling food and energy prices offset rising new car pricesÂ
to create a non-inflationary environment. October’s consumer prices fell .03%. U.S. business inventories beat analysts’ expectations with a 1.4% decline. This is the biggest monthly decline on record since 1992.
Falling stocks at retailers and auto dealers were cited as the reason.
style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>Overall, NYSE volume was
1,282,035,000face=Arial>. NYSE
advancing issues were size=2>1,756style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>, with up-volume at
685,324,000face=Arial>; declining
issues were 1,353face=Arial>, with down-volume at 584,128,000face=Arial>. Overall,
Nasdaq volume was size=2>1,870,607,000style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>. Nasdaq advancing issues were
1,839style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”>, with up-volume at
812,684,000face=Arial>; declining
issues were 1,780 face=Arial>with down-volume at 1,009,219,000face=Arial>. The href=”https://tradingmarkets.com.site/stocks/indicators/timing/mbias.cfm”>VIX
was down 0.73 to 25.97. The href=”https://tradingmarkets.com.site/stocks/indicators/timing/mbias.cfm”>TRIN
was up 0.02 to 1.10. Below-average volume on the day sent all three indexes into
the weekend with losses for the week. The Dow and S&P 500 remain below their
200-day MAs with trendline breaks to the downside this week. The Nasdaq
managed to stay above its 200-day MA, and closed right on its downward trend
line.Â
size=2>Top sectors of the day were the
Gold and Silver Index
(
$XAU.X |
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PowerRating), up 6.33% at 578.57,style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”> and the
Oil Service Sector Index
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PowerRating), up 5.92% at 359.69.
size=2>Losing sectors of the day were the size=2>CBOE Internet Index
(
$DRG.X |
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PowerRating), down 0.62% at 394.75style=”mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt”> and the Computer
Hardware Index
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$INSR.X |
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PowerRating), down 0.18% to 2328.47.
Mechanics from United Airlines announced they have voted to authorize a strike due to working without a pay
increase since 1994. The White House said it might intervene to delay the strike
as it could further injure the already crippled industry. Shares of United
Airline’s parent company UAL Corp.
(
UAL |
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PowerRating) were down 2.76% to 14.79.Â
The world’s number two software vendor Oracle
(
ORCL |
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down 0.82% to 14.55, posted second quarter fiscal earnings that were down from a year
ago, but expects to see profit growth to resume fourth quarter.
Biotechnology giant Amgen
(
AMGN |
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56.89, is in merger talks with Immunex Corp.
(
IMNX |
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a deal worth $17 billion in stock and cash.
The French media group Vivendi
(
V |
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up 0.97%Â to 49.00, announced it wants to buy a 10% stake in EchoStar
(
DISH |
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PowerRating), up 0.08% to 25.92, for an eight-year distribution
deal.
Software company Adobe Systems
(
ADBE |
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PowerRating), up 5.03% to 32.17, announced that its fourth quarter income fell over 50% due to a fall in software spending after the
Sept. 11 attacks.
size=2>Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
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BMY |
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PowerRating), up face=Arial size=2>2.04% to
50.00, announced it expects to earn less in 2002 due to a losing battle to keep
its diabetic drug Glucophage a monopoly.
face=Arial size=2>Electric utilities company Calpine
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CPN |
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PowerRating), down 18.07% to
13.15, had its credit downgraded by Moody’s Investment Service to “junk” status.
Internet insurance specialist style=”FONT-FAMILY: Arial”>InsWeb
(
INSW |
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PowerRating), up
4.67%style=”FONT-FAMILY: Arial”> at size=2>0.785, said it has
higher expectations for fourth quarter revenue due to “very high” demand for its
services.