Earnings Reports From These Two Dow Components Will Likely Set Monday’s Tone

April 17, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major averages ended the week in positive territory as technology
maintained its leadership in this market. Earnings news was overall mixed,
though a good report from chip maker Broadcom helped propel the semiconductor index
to another round of impressive gains as at closed out at its 200-day ema.
Overall volume came in average, though Nasdaq volume came in above average as it
bettered yesterday’s performance. The Dow only made a slight advance as negative
news from Honeywell and United Tech kept buyers at bay. Next on the Dow’s
earnings schedule is 3M Co. and Merck, which are both scheduled to announce
Monday before the open. Of technical note, the Volatility Index,

VIX , hit a fresh 10-month low suggesting more complacency for current
prices.

The only losing sector was
gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.25%.

In economic news, initial
claims came in at 442K vs. expectations of 410K, and the Philly Fed
fell 8.8 vs. and expected 8.0 decline.

The Ten Year NoteÂ was
+035 at 114 070.

The U.S. Dollar was
+0.27 at 99.56.

Volume was average,
with the NYSE coming in at
1,353,493,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,602,086,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.81, and up
volume over down volume by a 5.57 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 2.14, and up volume beat down volume by a 4.20 ratio.

The

VIX was -1.50 at 24.59. The

TRIN was -1.22 at 0.50.

Biggest Dow advancers were:

Stocks in the news:

In the semiconductor sector,
Broadcom
(
BRCM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +18.14% at 16.60, posted first-quarter earnings $0.04
ahead of expectations with profits of $0.06 per share. The company also raised
guidance for the second-quarter.

Advanced Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.64% at 8.03, announced earnings $0.06 ahead of expectations with a loss of
$0.42 per share and guided in line.

Also in the chip biz,
Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.67% at 32.94, had its price target cut by UBS
Warburg to $31 from $40 due to new accounting regulations from the SEC and
modest earnings growth.

Biotech company Biogen
(
BGEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.94% at 35.84, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.02 with profits of $0.50
per share.

European mobile phone giant
Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.58% at 16.18, raised its earnings guidance to EUR 0.18
per share vs. previous expectations of EUR 0.15-0.17 per share.

Aerospace and defense company
Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.80% at 22.56, missed its first-quarter earnings
by $0.01 with profits of $0.32 per share.

Conglomerate United
Technologies
(
UTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.64% at 60.00, beat its first-quarter earnings by
$0.03 with profits of $1.00 per share. The company has also reaffirmed its full
year guidance.

Construction and agricultural
machinery maker Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.10% at 51.98, was downgraded by
UBS Warburg to “neutral” from “buy”.

NYSE specialist firm
LaBranche
(
LAB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -7.87% at 16.49, sold off after the Wall Street Journal
announced that it was being investigated by the SEC for “front running”
practices.

Catalog retailer Sears
(
S |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.03% at 26.63, posted earnings $0.03 ahead of expectations with profits of
$0.60 per share. The company also guided lower for the second-quarter.

Personal computer maker
Apple
(
AAPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.90% at 13.12, announced earnings $0.02 ahead of
expectations with profits of $0.04 per share.

In the airline sector, Delta
(
DAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +12.01% at 11.75, reported earnings in line with expectations with a
loss of $3.49 per share.

Drug retailer CVS Corp.
(
CVS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.90% at 23.19, was downgraded by JP Morgan to “underweight” from
“neutral”.

Home builder DR Horton
(
DHI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.34% at 22.59, beat its second-quarter earnings by $0.09 with profits of $0.86
per share.

Computer peripheral company
Avid Technology
(
AVID |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.56% at 24.98, beat its first-quarter
earnings by $0.03 with profits of $0.18.

Communications services company
UTSI Starcom
(
UTSI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.75% at 21.94, beat its first-quarter earnings
by $0.06 with profits of $0.33 per share.

Insurance company First
Health
(
FHCC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.66% at 23.30, was downgraded by Goldman Sachs to “underperform”
from “in-line”.

Software and programming
company Mercury Interactive
(
MERQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.31% at 34.90, was upgraded by
Merrill Lynch to “buy” from “neutral”.

Regional bank PNC Financial
(
PNC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.16% at 43.55, missed its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with
profits of $0.92 per share.

From TM’s

Momentum List, DVD retailer Netflix
(
NFLX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.75% at 21.96.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Earnings Reports From These Two Dow Components Will Likely Set Monday’s Tone

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