Greenie Hits The Hill
Alan Greenspan
testifies before the Senate at 10:00 AM ET, and stocks are leaning slightly
higher ahead of the Chairman’s appearance. Fed watchers are looking for subtle
explanations as to why the Fed lowered rates on Jan. 3 and what it has in mind
for next week.
In economic news, the fourth quarter employment cost index came in with a
0.8% increase, which was lower than the 1.1% increase analysts had expected.
The Dow futures are up 10 points, and the Nasdaq futures are up 7 points.
The S&Ps look to open up 2.7 points while the yield on the 10-year is
holding at 5.31%.
Weekly jobless claims ticked up 12,000 to 316,000 and that continues to
reinforce the fact the economy remains in its cooling trend. Existing home sales
are expected to come in at 5.05 million, and that report will be released at
7:00 AM
Thursday Movers
Optical switch maker Corvis
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PowerRating) fell 2 7/8 to 23 1/4 Wednesday on
heavy volume of more than 22 million shares. Corvis’s lockup period had ended,
and obviously someone was selling, since average volume had been about 3.8
million. Corvis appears to be holding steady in Thursday trade with it currently
trading flat at 23 1/4.
Global Internet delivery enabler Akamai
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PowerRating), which posted a
narrower-than-expected loss Wednesday, is trading higher Thursday following an
upgrade from Merrill Lynch. Akamai closed Wednesday at 35 7/16 and is trading up
to 37 1/2 in pre-market activity. Despite its recent increase, Akamai remains
substantially off its Jan 2000 high of 345 1/2.
Net security leader Verisign
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PowerRating) posted fourth quarter earnings of 21
cents per share, topping analyst expectations by 10 cents, but the stock is
trading lower. Verisign closed at 81 1/2 but is trading down to 74 in pre-market
activity.
Optical networkers are under pressure following a Corning
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PowerRating) downgrade
by Merrill and Salomon Smith Barney, JDS Uniphase
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PowerRating) closed Wednesday
at 63 1/16 and is trading down to 57 9/16 in pre-market activity.