Here’s Why We’re Off On The Right Foot

December 20, 2002
Daniel Beighley

Stocks
pushed north today, as positive comments on the economy from Fed
Chairman Greenspan helped spur buyers on. Price action on the indexes gapped up
at the open, consolidated for the first hour and a half, shot up to the day’s
highs by 12:30 pm ET, then sold off briefly before buyers stepped in again for a
strong close. The major averages are now parked just below their 50-day moving
averages.

Showing nice upside action, the
market expressed relief after a settlement conclusion of recent research and
analyst scandals among Wall Street brokers.Â Investment banks were ordered to
pay $1.4 billion, and implement changes in its business practices, in an
agreement New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer said “will permanently change
the way Wall Street operates.”

In economic news, the GDP
final for the third quarter came in at an expected 4.0%, and the chain
deflator was also as expected with at 1.0%.

The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was +0.10 at 113 250.

The U.S. Dollar
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was +0.02 at 104.00.

Gold
(
GCG3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
down 5.50 at 341.0.

Crude Oil
(
CLF3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was -0.46 at 30.10.

Volume was above
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,739,872,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,753,263,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.97, and up
volume over down volume by a 3.10 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.31, and up volume beat down volume by a 1.79 ratio.

The

VIX was -3.08 at 31.47. The

TRIN was -1.38 at 0.64.

Leading the Dow higher:

Stocks in the news:

Also in the sector,
Prudential Financial
(
PRU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.34% at 31.91, announced that it will pay
1.15 billion and assume $115 million in debt for American Skandia, The U.S.
division of Skandia Insurance Co.

Business services company
Accenture
(
ACN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.22% at 17.15, raised its earnings guidance for the
first quarter to $0.27 per share vs. an analyst consensus of $0.24 per share.

Oil services company
Haliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.15% at 19.08, fell after it was announced that the
Securities and Exchange Commission is conduction a formal investigation into the
company’s accounting practices.

Healthcare facilities company
American Health
(
AMHC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -9.32% at 16.05, beat its first-quarter
earnings by $0.02 with profits of $0.23 per share. The company has also raised
its outlook for the second-quarter.Â Despite this, the company has been
downgraded by SG Cowen to “market perform” from “strong buy”.

Chip maker Photon Dynamics
(
PHTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -17.77% at 22.30, reduced its first-quarter guidance to a loss of
$0.15-$0.23 per share vs. an analyst consensus of $0.05. Lehman Brothers has
also recommended taking advantage of recent weakness in the stock.

Printing and publishing company
Scholastic Corporation
(
SCHL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -8.89% at 36.05, missed its
second-quarter earnings expectations by $0.06 with profits of $1.85 per share.
The stock is a member of TM’s Implosion List.

Software and programming
company Cognos Inc.
(
COGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.61% at 22.80, beat its third-quarter
earnings by $0.03 with profits of $0.22 per share.

Here’s Why We’re Off On The Right Foot

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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