Big Win For Tobacco Today. Here’s What Happened…
Stocks
were mixed, as the major indices were in a
seesaw battle for most of the day. News of the heightened terror alert, Mad Cow
disease, and electronics giant Philips’
(
PHG |
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PowerRating) warning all weighed down the
market. Hewlett-Packard’s
(
HPQ |
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PowerRating) better than expected results failed to
inspire tech buyers. Tobacco stocks, including
(
RJR |
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PowerRating),
(
CG |
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PowerRating),
(
MO |
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PowerRating) and Loews
(
LTR |
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PowerRating) were up after a Florida court
reversed a $145 million judgment against them. The focus today was on Fed
Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimony to the Joint Economic Committee. Overall,
Greenspan’s remarks were cautiously optimistic as he commented that “the
consensus expectation for a pick up in economic activity is not unreasonable,
though the timing and extent of that improvement continues to be uncertain.” The
dollar was again weaker, while bonds
continued to make way in their three-week rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) was up 25.07 at 8,516.43. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating) rose 3.69 to 923.42. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating) slid 1.22
at 1489.87.
The day’s leading sectors were
Oil Service
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), +4.42%, Natural Gas
(
$XNG.X |
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News |
PowerRating),
+2.72%, Oil
(
$XOI.X |
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PowerRating),
+1.86%, and Networking
(
$NWX.X |
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PowerRating), +1.75%,
Weak today were Airlines
(
XAL.X |
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PowerRating),
-1.29,
Computer Technology
(
$XCI.X |
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PowerRating), -0.41%,
Utilities
(
UTY.X |
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PowerRating), -0.32%, and Paper
(
$FPP.X |
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PowerRating), -0.06%.
The 10-year U.S. Note
was down 095 at 118 14.
The dollar rose 0.328 to
93.68.
Gold was +20 at 372.40.
Crude Oil lost 0.14 at
28.90.
Volume was
1,439,539,000
on the NYSE, and at 1,570,343,0000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.45, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.99 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues at 1.14, and down volume over up volume is at a 1.12 ratio.
Top Dow stocks were:
Altria Group
(
MO |
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PowerRating), +3.39 at
38.30, Hewlett-Packard
(
HPQ |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +0.89 at 17.94, Alcoa
(
AA |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.77 at 22.92, Mcdonald’s
(
MCD |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +0.35 at 17.30, and American
Express
(
AXP |
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PowerRating), +0.43 at 40.09.
Stocks in the news:
Deutsche Bank downgraded
networking giant Cisco Systems
(
CSCO |
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PowerRating) to “hold” from “buy” based on
valuation concerns. Deutsche Bank commented that Cisco’s growth is limited by a
lack of IT spending and the general economic environment.
General Electric Systems, a
unit of General Electric
(
GE |
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PowerRating), won a $50 million contract for a
Brazilian electric power transmission project. GE closed down .13 at 27.60.
Hewlett-Packard
(
HPQ |
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PowerRating) traded higher on heavy volume. Late yesterday, the company
reported second quarter results that beat estimates by 2 cents on a pro forma
basis. Revenues which came in at almost $18 billion also topped estimates of
$17.7 billion. However, the company also announced job cuts as CEO Carly Fiorina
said that she does not see an improvement in IT spending. HPQ closed up .89 at
17.94.
Polo Ralph Lauren
(
RL |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported fourth quarter results, excluding restricting charges, in line
with estimates. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 a share
and reaffirmed full-year results between $1.95 to $2.05 a share. RL lost .34 to
23.01.
Talbots
(
TLB |
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PowerRating)
reported first quarter results down 10.5% from year ago levels, but a penny
better than estimates. The company reported earnings of 51 cents a share in the
latest quarter as same stores sales fell 4.3%. TLB rose .07 to 26.78.