Are the Bulls Going To Let This Get To Them?
The
markets are lower at mid-day, with the three major averages breaking
south of consolidation patterns established in early trading. A negative outlook
from Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Gateway
(
GTW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) have dented sentiment, as traders now
gauge whether the selling is part of a healthy pullback, or the beginning of a
new move down. Retail is a bright spot in today’s action, despite a negative
reaction to Coach’s
(
COH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) upped earnings guidance.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -1.17% at 8,638.57; the S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is -0.95% at 914.18; and the Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is -1.83% at
1,405.41.
Leading to the upside are
natural gas
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.01%, gold and
silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.43%, and utilitiesÂ
(
$UTIL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.63%.
The day’s laggards are
semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.54%, networking
(
$NWX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.90%, and telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.74%.
There were no economic releases
this morning.
The 10-year U.S. Note
is +130 at 113 300.
The Dollar is -0.58 at
102.36.
Gold is +5.70 at 353.40.
Crude Oil is -0.68 at
30.40.
Volume is at 736,296,000
on the NYSE, and at 797,546,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.58, and down
volume over up volume by a 1.96 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came are at 1.90, and down volume is over up volume by a 3.49 ratio.
The biggest Dow losers are:
Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -8.78% at
22.24, SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.32% at 28.67, JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-3.92% at 26.75, Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.80% at 16.70, General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.26% at 38.54, and Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.58% at 54.36.
Stocks in the news:
Aluminum maker Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-8.86% at 22.22, dropped off after reporting a bigger loss than expected.
From the computer hardware
sector, Gateway
(
GTW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -7.57% at 2.93, reduced its fourth-quarter
revenue estimates to $0.18-0.19. Elsewhere in the industry, Dell Computer
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.68% at 28.17, and Apple Computer
(
AAPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.56% at
14.47.
Gaming stocks are under
pressure as Mandalay Resorts
(
MBG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -10.43% at 27.58, lowers its
fourth-quarter earnings expectations to $0.10 vs. previous estimates of $0.20,
and MGM Mirage
(
MGG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -12.11% at 28.67, lowers its fourth-quarter
expectations to $0.24-$0.27 vs. a consensus of $0.44.
Elsewhere in the casino biz,
Park Place Entertainment
(
PPE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -9.06% at 7.63, and Harrah’s
Entertainment
(
HE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.03% at 45.00, which is listed on TM’s Implosion
List.
In the gold-mining sector, CIBC
World Markets has downgraded AngloGold
(
AU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.76% at 35.20, and
Gold Fields
(
GFI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.52% at 14.11, to “sector underperform” from
“sector perform” due to an 18% decline in the Rand over the past three months.
The firm maintains a 2003 target for the price of gold at $350/oz, and has a
2004 target at $375/oz.
Bomb detection company
Invision
(
INVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.76% at 29.04, has raised its fourth-quarter revenue
forecast to at least $210 million vs. previous estimates of $160 million.
In the software sector,
VeriSign
(
VRSN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.37% at 9.75 has been upgraded by USB Piper Jaffray
to “outperform” from “market perform”. Also, SAP AG
(
SAP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.80% at
22.60, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to “overweight” from “neutral.”
Regional Bells are looking to
open lower on the heels of UBS Warburg downgrades to “reduce” from “hold” on
Bell South
(
BLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.43% at 27.64, Alltel
(
AT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.44% at
53.61, SBC Communication
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.05% at 28.75, and Verizon
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-6.33% at 40.56.
Investment bank JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.99% at 26.73, has been downgraded by UBS Warburg to “hold” from
“buy.”
Electronics Instruments &
Controls company Solectron
(
SLR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.06% at 4.13, was downgraded by
Credit Suisse First Boston to “underperform” from “neutral.”