Semis Trying To Get It Going

February 24, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major indexes are trading in negative territory midday as investor
outlook dimmed after key retailers gave pessimistic same-store sales
projections.Â The Dow and S&P 500 remain below their 20-day simple moving
averages, while the Nasdaq is just above this mark. Broker/dealers are some of
the hardest-hit stocks today as its tracking index looks poised to resume its
five-week decline. Meanwhile, the semis are in slightly positive territory in an
attempt to get things going.

There were no economic releases this morning.
Today at 2:00 pm ET the Treasury Budget will be released.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is +095 at 115 200.

The dollar is -0.45 at
99.80.

Gold is +5.20 at 357.00.

Crude OilÂ +2.10 at
36.24.

Volume is at 573,763,000
on the NYSE, and at 603,209,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 2.10, and down
volume over up volume by a 4.34 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues are at 2.00, and down volume is over up volume by a 1.84 ratio.

Weighing the Dow down are:

Stocks In The News:

Retailer JC Penney
(
JCP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.88% at 19.55,
announced that it expects its same-store sales to fall 2-3% vs. previous
estimates of no change.Â

Department store retailer Federated Department Stores
(
FD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.64% at 25.16, said that it expects same-store sales to fall 7.5-8.5%
vs. previous estimates of a 4%-5% decline.

Discount retailer Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.80% at
48.02, said it expects same-store sales to come in at the low end of
expectations with growth at 2%-4%.

Home improvement retailer Lowe’s
(
LOW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+5.36% at 37.95, has beaten its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.07 with profits of $0.40 per share.

Food services retailer Ahold
(
AHO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -61.82% at
4.081, sold off announced that it has discovered accounting irregularities, and
its CEO and financial officers are quitting.

Broadcasting and cable TV company Comcast Corp.
(
CMCSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.45% at 25.16, has been upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “overweight” from
“equal-weight.”

Dow component General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.47% at
23.45, is the focus of positive comments in a Barron’s article that
claims the stock’s valuation may pose a great buying opportunity.

Also in the Dow, entertainment monster Walt Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-2.12% at 16.66, has had its estimates reduced by JP Morgan to $0.64 per share
from $0.66 per share.

Chip maker QLogic
(
QLGC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.66% at 34.73, is
the focus of negative comments in a New York Times story that
claims the company will face competition from new technology.

Mobile phone maker Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.14% at 13.78,
has been upgraded by SG Cowen to “outperform” from “market perform.”

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

Semis Trying To Get It Going

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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