Here’s The Price Target On The AMD Upgrade

August 25, 2003
Vincent Mao

Stocks are
lower this midday.Â After the Dow hit a
14-month high and the Nasdaq a 16-month high last week, the major indices are
modestly lower to start off the week. Wal-Mart’s
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) higher same-store
sale forecast and record existing home sales failed to inspire buyers. The
world’s largest retailer lifted its August sales forecast to between 4% and 6%.
Thanks to still low interest rates, existing home sales in July rose by 5%. On
the heels of its higher third-quarter revenue forecast, Intel is somewhat
backpedaling as CEO Craig Barrett said this weekend that “It is still too early
to suggest it is a total turnaround”. Shares of Intel are fractionally lower
while the semiconductor index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is off by 0.80% after hitting a
14-month high last week. The Dow is breaking below support at 9350, the index
has been backing off after hitting resistance near the 9,500 level last week.
Its next level of support is at its 20-day average at 9256. Volume is light
today ahead of the Labor Day weekend next week. Bonds are selling off today
after the better-than-expected existing home sales numbers.Â

In today’s sole piece of
economic news, Existing Home sales in July jumped 5% to an annualized rate of
6.12 million vs. economist expectations of 5.9 million. This was the
third-biggest gain in four months.Â

The 10-year U.S. Note
is -210 at 110 175.

The dollar is +0.20 at
99.20.

Gold is -1.80 at 362.50.

Crude Oil +0.25 at
30.95.

Volume is 490,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 626,000,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by 1.73, and down over up
volume by 1.78. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing issues at 1.91, and down
volume over up volume at 2.47.

Top Dow stocks are:

Stocks in the news:

Semiconductor maker Advanced
Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher by 3% after Soundview upgraded the stock
from “neutral” to “outperform”. Soundview believes that shares of AMD represent
a good risk to reward. The firm is also optimistic about AMD’s launch of its 64
bit Athlon chips. Soundview also upped its target price from $13 to $17.Â

Aluminum producer Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is lower by 3.5% after Prudential Securities lowered the stock’s rating
from “buy” to “hold”. The firm based the downgrade on valuation but also sees
the possibility of a slowdown in manufacturing.Â

Internet services firm
Infospace
(
INSP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher by 8% after a court ordered its former
founder and CEO to pay the firm $247.1 million. Naveen Jain was ordered to pay
his former firm the sum of $247.1 million for engaging in illegal “short swing”
trading.Â

Drug maker Biovail
(
BVF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is lower by 2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services started a preliminary investigation into
the company’s clinical practices and marketing of its Cardizem LA drug to treat
high blood pressure. Biovail vice president of finance responded by saying “Biovail
is confident that its programs are in full compliance” and that the company will
“respond appropriately to this request for information”

Networking equipment and
software maker McData
(
MCDTA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is lower by 16% after the company
reported its latest quarterly results. The company reported second-quarter
earnings of 8 cents a share compared to a loss of 3 cents a share in the
year-ago quarter. Revenues grew 39% to $107 million but this was less than
analysts’ estimates of $108.8 million. For the third quarter, the company sees
earnings between 5 to 7 cents a share, in range of consensus estimates of 7
cents a share.Â

The world’s largest retailer
Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is fractionally higher today after the company raised its
August sales forecast from between 3% to 5% to 4% to 6%. Wal-Mart cited
stronger-than-expected back-to-school sales as well as the rollout of new Levi’s
apparel.Â

If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.

Vincent Mao

vincentm@tradingmarkets.com

Here’s The Price Target On The AMD Upgrade

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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