Here’s How Some Bellwether Stocks Are Acting After Announcing Earnings

April 16, 2003
Daniel Beighley

On the
heels of major earnings announcements, the market is mixed midday.
Better-than-expected profit reports from tech bellwethers Microsoft and Intel
have their respective sectors nicely higher, though the overall market is being
led down by healthcare and biotech issues. Financial stocks opened higher after
positive reports from JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, though have come under
selling pressure with the Broker/Dealer Index unchanged, and the Bank Index
slightly lower. The Dow is trading right at its 200-day simple moving average,
and the S&P 500 is just above this mark, with volume coming in strong.

In economic news, housing
starts came in at 1.78 million vs. expectations of 1.7 million, building
permits came in at 1.685 million vs. expectations of 1.75 million, CPI
came in at 0.3% vs. expectations of 0.4%, and core CPI came in at 0.0%
vs. expectations of 0.2%.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is +045 at 114 085.

The dollar is -0.18 at
100.37.

Gold is -0.45 at 99.60.

Crude OilÂ -0.54 at
28.75.

Volume is at 797,846,000
on the NYSE, and at 849,280,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is mostly
negative, with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of
1.01, and down volume over up volume by a 1.32 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues
over advancing issues are at 1.08, and up volume is over down volume by a 2.19
ratio.

Weakest on the Dow are:

Stocks in the news:

Also, software kingpin
Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.89% at 25.32, has beat its third-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.02 profits of $0.26 per share.

Investment banker JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.30% at 26.95, has beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.19 with profits of $0.69 per share.

Auto maker Ford Motor
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+11.54% at 9.47, announced earnings $0.24 ahead of expectations with profits of
$0.45 per share. The company also announced that it expects second-quarter
earnings to come in below current expectations.

Broker Merrill Lynch
(
MER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.13% at 40.30, has beaten its first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.11
with profits of $0.72 per share.

Tobacco company Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.79% at 31.87, has beaten its first-quarter expectations by $0.01 with profits
of $1.07 per share.

Aerospace and defense company
General Dynamics
(
GD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.30% at 57.95, has beaten its first-quarter
earnings by $0.09 with profits of $1.11 per share.

Motorcycle maker Harley
Davidson
(
HDI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.35% at 42.48, has beaten its first-quarter earnings
by $0.11 with profits of $0.61 per share.

Coffee retailer Starbucks
(
SBUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.86% at 26.97, has been downgraded by Lehman Brothers to
“underweight” from “equal weight”.

Bank Bank of New York
(
BK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.88% at 24.14, has missed its first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01
with profits of $0.41 per share.

Computer peripheral maker
Avocent Corp.
(
AVCT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +15.88% at 28.83, has beaten its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.02 with profits of $0.29.

Regional bank MBNA Corp.
(
KRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.51% at 17.53, has been downgraded by UBS Warburg to “reduce” from
“neutral”.

Appliance maker Maytag
(
MYG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-14.68% at 18.65, has missed its first-quarter earnings by $0.05with profits of
$0.52 per share.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Here’s How Some Bellwether Stocks Are Acting After Announcing Earnings

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

Quick Links

Company Info

Contact

Company Resources