High Noon For Naz
Warnings concerns weighed heavily on technology and telecom Thursday as
stocks ended the day mixed, with the Nasdaq down 1.8%, the Dow up 0.1% and the
S&P 500 down 0.5%. About the only consolation for the Nasdaq was the fact it
managed to remain above 1800 and last week’s two year low.
The big challenge for the Nasdaq Friday is whether it can finish the quarter
above last week’s low. The risk for the average is the growing concern of how
mutual fund holders will ultimately react when first quarter statements arrive.
In economic news, fourth quarter GDP was revised down to 1.0% versus the
expected 1.1% rate of growth, and that raises the question of why the Fed
withheld cutting rates until January.
Volume was moderate and orderly, with 2.06 billion shares trading on the
Nasdaq and 1.23 billion shares trading on the NYSE.
“I read a recent Wall Street Journal article that mentioned a
company that tracks insider buying and selling, and the gist of what the company
said was that the typical move has been that when the market comes down, the
insiders start buying,” said Peter Eliades, President,
StockMarketCycles.com.
“In this last move down, however, the insiders have been selling at a
record pace which is really amazing to me. This is something that is completely
out of character with the way insiders usually act. It’s really quite
remarkable,” he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Nasdaq fell 33.59 to 1820.54, the Dow
gained 13.71 to 9799.06, and the S&P 500 slid 5.34 to 1147.95.
Top sectors were pharmaceuticals
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up 0.6%, and retailers
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On the weaker side were telecom
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down 6.3%, and computer technology
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Dell Computer
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positive all day and finished up 1/2 to 26 15/16 on heavier-than-average volume.
In the storage network arena JNI Corp.
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upcoming quarters, and that took the stock down 1 19/32 to 7 17/32.
Sun Micro
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to a 20-month low 14.70. Sun shows just how interconnected many of these tech
companies are. If one gets sick, they all can get sick.
Dow winners were McDonald’s
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up 3.0%, and Eastman Kodak
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Coca-Cola
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PowerRating), which fell 3.1%.
Looking ahead, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index and the Michigan
Consumer Sentiment numbers will both be released on Friday at 10:00 AM ET.