Is This Sector Anticipating A Shorter War?

March 27, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major averages are in negative territory midday as price action
creeps higher from sharply lower opens. Volume is light, as war news is once
again the main main attraction of the day. President Bush has announced that
Americans should expect many more weeks of war. Though markets often react
poorly in times of uncertainty, recent action in terms of price and volume has
been encouraging for the bulls. In economic news, no major surprises were at
hand. Strongest today are oil service stocks, which could be in the process of
pricing in expected post-war business, or reacting to higher oil prices.

In economic news, initial jobless claims
came in at 402K vs. expectations of 420K, GDP final was at an expected
1.4%, and the chain deflator final was at 1.8% vs. expectations of 1.6%.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is +040 at 113 275.

The dollar is -0.01 at
101.06.

Gold is -0.30 at 329.80.

Crude OilÂ +1.07 at
29.70.

Volume is at 552,550,000
on the NYSE, and at 721,722,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.19, and down
volume over up volume by a 1.79 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues are at 1.51, and down volume is over up volume by a 1.47 ratio.

Biggest Dow losers are:

Stocks in the news:

Insurance company Prudential
(
PRU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.94% at 29.80, announced that it has agreed to buy 80% of South
Korean Hyundai Group’s money management business for %400 million.

Investment services company AG Edwards
(
AGE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.81% at 27.25, missed its fourth-quarter consensus by $0.06 with
profits of $0.26 per share.

healthcare facilities company AdvancePCS
(
ADVP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.31% at 28.63, sold off after the company announced its president
will step down due to personal reasons.

Chip maker Broadcom
(
BRCM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-14.35% at 13.19, has been downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “equal-weight” from
“overweight”.

Electric utilities company Xcel Energy
(
XEL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.62% at 13.00, has been upgraded by JP Morgan to “neutral” from
“underweight”, by Morgan Stanley to “overweight” from “equal-weight”, and by
Banc of America to “buy” from “neutral”.Â

Also in the electric utilities business,
Entergy
(
ETR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.625 at 48.37, has been downgraded to “neutral” from
“buy” by UBS Warburg.

Software company Internet Security
Systems
(
ISSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -5.84% at 9.99, has had its full year estimates cut by
UBS Warburg to $0.61 per share vs. a consensus of $0.65 per share.

Education company Corinthian Colleges
(
COCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.77% at 39.87, has been downgraded by JP Morgan to “neutral” from
“overweight”.

Biotech firm Gilead Sciences
(
GILD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +4.10% at 42.18, has been upgraded by Lehman Brothers to
“overweight” from “equal-weight”.

Also in the biotech world, Allergan
(
AGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.94% at 69.62, has been downgraded by UBS Warburg to “neutral” from
“buy”.

Regional bank National City
(
NCC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.32% at 28.18, has been upgraded by Lehman Brothers to “overweight”
from “equal-weight”.

Also in the regional bank sector, Synovus
(
SNV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.67% at 17.98, has been downgraded by Lehman Brothers to
“underweight” from “equal-weight”.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Is This Sector Anticipating A Shorter War?

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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