Here Are The Latest Indications Of Strength For This Market

April 23, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major averages posted another day of gains as the earnings parade
continued to impress. Price action was choppy off the open, though closed the
session out at its highs. Many traders take strong closes as an indication of
strength in the market. Volume was slightly above average, with telecoms leading
the action on the heels of earnings surprises from AT&T and Nextel. Internet
stocks also put in another good day with eBay’s earnings sustaining upside
momentum for the sector. The Nasdaq hit a four month high, while the Dow and S&P
500 hit three month highs. For the first time in 10 sessions the Volatility
Index,

VIX, did not make a lower low.

In economic news, the Fed’s
beige book showed no surprises with weakness in the job market.

The Ten Year NoteÂ was
-030 at 113 310.

The US dollar was +0.03
at 99.02.

Volume was above
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,591,245,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,783,521,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.61, and up
volume over down volume by a 2.11 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.61, and up volume beat down volume by a 2.09 ratio.

The

VIX was -0.02 at 23.49. The

TRIN was +0.26 at 0.76.

Strongest in the Dow were:

Stocks in the news:

Car maker Ford Motor
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.23% at 10.86, was spoken positively of by Goldman Sachs who believes the
company’s April sales will be stronger than other domestic car makers.

Biotech firm Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.69% at 63.80, was higher after the company posted first-quarter earnings
$0.03 ahead of expectations. The company also guided higher for the full year.

Beverage company Coca-Cola
Enterprises
(
CCE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.27% at 19.48, fell after meeting first-quarter
estimates with profits of $0.04 per share.

Drug maker Wyeth
(
WYE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+11.55% at 40.05, was up sharply after beating its first-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.02 with profits of $0.54 per share.

Media giant America Online
(
AOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.18% at 14.00, was up after reporting a first-quarter profit of
$0.09 per share. The company also said it expects to meet its earnings targets
for the year.

Steel giant United States
Steel
(
X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.62% at 13.73, was upgraded by Merrill Lynch to “buy” from
“neutral”.Â Â

Online auctioneer eBay
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.71% at 94.32, beat its first-quarter earnings estimates by $0.04 with profits
of $0.36 per share. The company has also guided higher for 2003.

Software company PeopleSoft
(
PSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.55% at 15.47, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.01 with profits of $0.12 per share. The company also guided slightly lower
for the second-quarter.

Aerospace and defense giant
Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.22% at 28.14, beat its first-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.18 with profits of $0.42. The company has also guided in line
for the rest of the year.

Communications company AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +23.17% at 17.01, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.15 with profits
of $0.67 per share.

Photography giant Eastman
Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.21% at 30.00, met its earnings expectations for the
first-quarter. The company has guided lower for the seocnd-quarter, though
believes it will meet its full year expectations.

Education company Career
Education Corp.
(
CECO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.96% at 57.96, beat its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.05 with profits of $0.40 per share.

Home builders Centex
(
CTX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.71% at 63.70, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.28 with
profits of $3.12, and has guided higher for 2004.

Also in the home builders
sector, Beazer Homes
(
BZH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.46% at 70.60, beat its second-quarter
earnings by $0.03 with profits of $2.83 per share.

Restaurant company
Californian Pizza Kitchen
(
CPKI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -17.05% at 19.80, was downgraded by
CIBC to “sector underperform” from “sector perform” and PF Chang’s
(
PFCB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.13% at 41.01, has beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of
$0.26 per share. The company has also guided higher for the rest of the year.

Beverage company PepsiCo
(
PEP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.65% at 43.00, was upgraded by Deutsche Bank to “buy” from “hold”.

Biotech and drug company
Pharmaceutical Resources
(
PRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.24%a t 46.49, beat its fourth-quarter
earnings by $0.07 with profits of $0.67 per share.

Credit rating company
Moody’s
(
MCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.23% at 47.64, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.05
with profits of $0.55 per share. The company has also guided higher for 2003.

Chip stock ATMI
(
ATMI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.96% at 22.48, missed its first-quarter earnings by $0.01 with profits of
$0.05 per share.

Also in the chip sector,
Vitesse Semiconductor
(
VTSS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.37% at 2.71, posted a loss of $0.05
per share, which was in line with estimates.

Paper and paper product maker
Georgia Pacific
(
GP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.65% at 14.65, was downgraded by
Prudential to “sell” from “hold”.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Here Are The Latest Indications Of Strength For This Market

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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