Here’s What’s Strong On The Eve Of War

March 17, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
markets are strong midday as the world braces for what now appears to
be an inevitable war with Iraq. A proposed UN resolution has been withdrawn on
the threat of veto by France, and it is believed President Bush will express in
his 8:00 pm ET speech tonight a 72-hour notice for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq
or face military attack. Leading today’s stock market charge are technology
issues, as volume and breadth come in positive and strong.

There are no losing sectors
today.

There are no economic releases for the day.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is -230 at 114 175.

The dollar is +0.94 at
101.45.

Gold is -0.10 at 336.50.

Crude OilÂ -0.88 at
34.50.

Volume is at 816,958,000
on the NYSE, and at 995,720,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.52, and up
volume over down volume by a 9.00 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues are at 1.70, and up volume over down volume is at a 9.74 ratio.

Leading the Dow are:

Stocks In The News:

Discount retailer Dollar
General
(
DG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +16.71% at 12.57, announced that its fourth-quarter
earnings by $0.01 with profits of $0.33 per share. Earnings were up 11% from a
year ago, and earnings for the year are expected to be up 11-15%.

Also in the discount retail
biz, Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.25% at 51.46, announced that it expects
same-store sales for April to rise in the low single digit percentage rate.

Discount broker Charles
Schwab
(
SCH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.93% at 7.32, is up after announcing it plans to buy
back $250 million in company stock.

Computer services company
CACI International
(
CAI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.28% at 30.85, sold off after reaffirming
its outlook for 2003 claiming its fundamentals are strong.

Biotechnology company
Cardinal Health
(
CAH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.97% at 52.81, has been upgraded by Bear
Stearns to “outperform” from “peer perform.”

Textile company Mohawk
(
MHK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-4.46% at 45.03, has lowered its first-quarter earnings guidance to $0.60-0.63
per share vs. a consensus of $0.82.

Computer services company
PEC Solutions
(
PECS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has lowered its earnings guidance for the
first-quarter and full year due to expected delays in government contracts. The
stock has also been downgraded by JP Morgan to “underweight” from “neutral.”

Defense contractor Lockheed
Martin
(
LMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.70% at 46.86, has won a $4.1 billion military contract
from the Pentagon to build 60 C-130J aircraft.

Restaurant company Wendy’s
(
WEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.92% at 25.80, has been downgraded by Salomon Smith Barney to
“in-line” from “outperform.”

Also in the restaurant
business, Brinker International
(
EAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +5.08% at 30.81, has been
upgraded by Salomon Smith Barney to “outperform” from “in-line.”

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Here’s What’s Strong On The Eve Of War

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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