Here’s What You Can Do To Prepare For Next Week

April 11, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major averages finished the day with losses, as price action gapped
higher on the open, then sold off for the rest of the morning before drifting
sideways into the close. Better-than-expected data from the PPI, retail sales,
and Michigan sentiment initially attracted buyers, though the momentum couldn’t
be sustained as sellers ruled the day. In earnings action, Juniper Networks beat
its expectations and led its sector as one of the biggest gainers, contrary to
most technology issues which were the day’s biggest losers. The market leading
semiconductors finished the week at the bottom of its range, and is now just
above its 50-day moving average.

Next week will be a big one,
with 1/3 of the Dow stocks reporting earnings.Â To prepare, it’s a good idea to
have a list of these important announcements. Monday we have Citigroup, and
Tuesday we have General Motors, Intel, andÂ Johnson & Johnson.

In economic news, PPI
came in at 1.5% vs. expectations of 0.3%, core PPI was at 0.7% vs.
expectations of no change, retail sales were up 2.1% vs. expectations of a 0.6%
gain, retail sales ex-auto were up 1.1% vs. expectations of a 0.4% rise,
and Michigan Sentiment came in at 83.2 vs. expectations of 79.0.

The Ten Year NoteÂ was
-075 at 114 040.

The US dollar was +0.36
at 100.56.

Volume was light,
with the NYSE coming in at 1,107,573,000 and the Nasdaq at 1,216,850,000.

Market breadth was mostly
negative, with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of
1.003, and down volume over up volume by a 1.01 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues
over advancing issues came in at 1.13, and down volume beat up volume by a 1.26
ratio.

The

VIX was -0.69 at 28.27. The

TRIN was +0.07 at 1.00.

Big Dow losers were:

Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.93% at 52.98, Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.28% at 26.47, AT&T Corp.
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.88% at 14.05, Honeywell {HON|HON],
-1.77% at 21.61, Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.73% at 15.30, and SBC
Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.61% at 20.71.

Stocks in the news:

Internet equipment company Juniper Networks
(
JNPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+8.08% at 9.09, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with
profits of $0.02 per share. The company also guided higher for the
second-quarter as revenue rose 29% from a year ago.

Dow heavyweight General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.07% at
27.36, met its first-quarter earnings expectations, and has reaffirmed guidance
for the rest of the year.

Discount retail giant Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.93% at
52.98, was downgraded by Prudential to “hold” from “buy”.

Aerospace and defense companyÂ Boeing Co.
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.28% at 26.47, said that it will take a $1.2 billion pre tax charge to
compensate for the falling value of its assets.

Entertainment giant America Online
(
AOL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.76%
at 12.30, announced that an initial public offering for Time Warner Cable will
not likely occur until this fall. The company remains in debt, and is also
considering the sale of Warner Music.

Drug retailer Rite Aid
(
RAD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +10.00% at 2.86,
was upgraded by Merrill Lynch to “buy” from “neutral” based on improved
performance.

Oil services company Baker Hughes International
(
BHI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-1.94% at 29.80, lowered its first-quarter earnings expectations, and now
expects to see $0.13-0.14 per share vs. a consensus of $0.19.

Communications services company PanAmSat
(
SPOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.58% at 15.62, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by $0.07 with
profits of $0.21 per share. The company has also guided higher for the
second-quarter.

Broadcasting and cable TV company EchoStar
Communications
(
DISH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.26% at 27.63, was the subject of a negative
New York Times article which says the company will have difficulties
outperforming Hughes Electronics the way it has for the past 18 months.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Here’s What You Can Do To Prepare For Next Week

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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