Internet Stocks Might Get A Boost Off Of This

January 23, 2003
Daniel Beighley

In whipsaw trading, the markets
ended the day in positive territory, with technology issues establishing
leadership. Price action for the major indexes opened higher, then sold off to
the day’s lows by 10:30 a.m. ET, where two hours of sideways action turned into
an afternoon rally. Earnings disappointments from Dow components AT&T and
McDonalds dragged down sentiment in early action, as headlines were once again
dominated by conflict with Iraq.

After the bell today, online
retailer Amazon.com beat its earnings expectations by $0.05, with profits of
$0.19 per share. This could potentially shake things up in the sector for
tomorrow’s action.

In economic news, initial
claims were for 381K vs. expectations of 363K, and leading indicators
gave a reading of 0.1% vs. expectations of 0.0%.

The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was -060 at 114 115.

The U.S. Dollar
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) wasÂ -0.36 at 100.17.

Volume was slightly
above average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,653,852,000
and the Nasdaq at 1,540,357,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.65, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.94 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.39, and up volume beat down volume by a 4.00 ratio.

The

VIX was -1.04 at 30.97. The

TRIN was -0.32 at 0.85.

Leading the Dow gainers list were:

Stocks in the news:

Restaurant company and Dow component McDonalds
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.34% at 15.00, fell after it announced its first quarterly loss
ever.

Communications company and Dow component
AT&T
(
T |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -19.07% at 20.49, announced a profit for the fourth-quarter
after selling its broadband unit, though revenue declined 8.6%. Also in the
business, Bell South
(
BLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -6.84% at 23.55, missed its
fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with profits of $0.50 per share.

Construction and agricultural machinery
company and Dow component Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.31% at 45.48, beat
its earnings expectations by $0.20 with profits of 0.88 per share.

Regional bank MBNA Corp.
(
KRB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.73% at 17.25, reported earnings of $0.41 per share as it missed
expectations by $0.46 per share.

Chemical manufacturing company Cabot
Microelectronics
(
CCMP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.76% at 46.15, missed its first-quarter
earnings expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.38 per share.

Data storage company SanDisk
(
SNDK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.91% at 17.59, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.07 with profits of $0.26 per share.

Electric utilities company Dominion
(
D |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.69% at 54.43, missed its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.03
with profits of $1.13 per share, as it posted a profit compared to a loss made a
year ago.

In the chip sector, Texas
Instruments
(
TXN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +13.12% at 16.12, beat its fourth-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.03 with profits of $0.06 per share. The company has also been
upgraded by several firms.

Mobile phone giant Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.28% at 14.30, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.04 with profits of $0.28 per share.

Communications equipment maker
Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.37% at 37.93, beat its first-quarter earnings
expectations by $0.04 with profits of $0.42.

Software maker PeopleSoft
(
PSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +11.90% at 19.55, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.04 with profits of $0.18. The stock has also been upgraded by UBS Warburg to
“neutral.”

Also in the software business,
Computer Associates
(
CA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +11.19% at 14.90, announced that it beat its
third-quarter expectations, though Federal investigators were continuing their
investigation into the company.

Drug maker Eli Lilly
(
LLY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.15% at 63.55, lowered its earnings guidance for the first-quarter
to $0.57-0.59 vs. a consensus of $0.60. The company has also lowered its
guidance for the full year 2003.

Air carrier Jetblue Airways
(
JBLU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.36% at 29.25, was upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “overweight”
from “equal-weight.”

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Internet Stocks Might Get A Boost Off Of This

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