Don’t Let These Losers Be Yours

December 20, 2002
Daniel Beighley

At
mid-day the major indexes are in the green on the heels of positive
comments on the economy from Fed Chairman Greenspan. Business news is on
theÂ thin side, with volume running at average. This triple witching Friday has
the broker/dealers showing some big winners, now that a settlement for recent
scandals has been established. Defensive issues such as gold and bonds are some
of the day’s losers. Next week is traditionally a slow one, and also an up one
as traders look for a potential “Santa Claus Rally.”

In economic news, the GDP
final for the third-quarter came in at an expected 4.0%, and the chain
deflator was also as expected with at 1.0%.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is -020 at 113 220.

The Dollar is +0.07 at
104.05.

Gold is -4.7 at 341.80.

Crude Oil is -0.19 at
30.00.

Volume is at 903,566,000
on the NYSE, and 851,287,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.89, and down
volume over up volume by a 3.51 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came are at 1.23, and down volume is over up volume by a 3.04 ratio.

Leading the Dow higher are:

Stocks in the news:

Also in the sector,
Prudential Financial
(
PRU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.52% at 30.89, announced that it will pay
1.15 billion and assume $115 million in debt for American Skandia, The U.S.
division of Skandia Insurance Co.

Business services company
Accenture
(
ACN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.78% at 16.70, has raised its earnings guidance for
the first quarter to $0.27 per share vs. an analyst consensus of $0.24 per
share.

Oil services company
Haliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.61% at 18.99, fell after it was announced that the
Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting a formal investigation into the
company’s accounting practices.

Healthcare facilities company
American Health
(
AMHC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -11.18% at 15.72, has beat its first-quarter
earnings by $0.02 with profits of $0.23 per share. The company has also raised
its outlook for the second-quarter.Â Despite this, the company has been
downgraded by SG Cowen to “market perform” from “strong buy”.

Chip maker Photon Dynamics
(
PHTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -17.44% at 22.39, has reduced its first-quarter guidance to a loss
of $0.15-$0.23 per share vs. an analyst consensus of $0.05. Lehman Brothers has
also recommended taking advantage of recent weakness in the stock.

Footwear company Nike
(
NKE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+7.84% at 44.79, has beaten its second-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of
$0.57 per share.

Printing and publishing company
Scholastic Corporation
(
SCHL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -9.00% at 36.00, has missed its
second-quarter earnings expectations by $0.06 with profits of $1.85 per share.
The stock is a member of TM’s Implosion List.

Don’t Let These Losers Be Yours

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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