This Can Be Taken As A Positive Sign

April 21, 2003
Daniel Beighley

The
major indexes closed the day in slight negative territory as a higher
open on positive earnings from Dow components Merck and 3M Co. gave way to a bad
reaction to leading indicators data. Despite meeting market expectations, The
Conference Board said its leading indicators showed a decline for March, though
was upbeat for April. The defensive gold and silver stocks closed at the top of
their ranges with nice gains, while the market-leading Semiconductors index
closed in the middle of its narrow range and just above its 200-day EMA. The
Volatility Index,

VIX, made yet another 10-month low. Volume on the session was light, and
will be taken as a positive sign by many as an indication of down days sponsored
by lighter volume. This week will be another big one with one third of all S&P
companies scheduled to report earnings.

In economic news, leading
indicators came in at an expected -0.2%.

The Ten Year NoteÂ was
-065 at 114 005.

The US dollar was +0.34
at 99.90.

Volume was below
average, with the NYSE coming in at 1,093,013,000 and the Nasdaq at
1,247,149,000.

Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.27, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.27 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.14, and up volume beat down volume by a 1.20 ratio.

The

VIX was -0.32 at 24.27. The

TRIN was +0.49 at 0.99.

Biggest Dow advancers were:

Stocks in the news:

Natural gas company Williams
Co.
(
WMB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.69% at 6.59, shot up after it agreed to sell its 54.6%
portion of Williams Energy Partners.

Conglomerate 3M Company
(
MMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.11% at 129.83, beat its first-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.02 with profits of $1.42 per share.

Drug maker Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.91% at 56.96, reported earnings expectations in line with expectations with
profits of $0.76 per share. The company has also guided in line for the year.

Also in the drug making
business, Bristol Myers
(
BMY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.19% at 22.80, was given a
positive mention in a Business Week article which said the current stock price
has attractive valuation in relation to revenue potential.

From the chip sector,
Xilinx
(
XLNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.61% at 26.23, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by $0.01 with
profits of $0.14 per share.

Software maker Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.33% at
11.84, is the subject of a negative Wall Street Journal article which questions
the company’s prospects as a growth stock.

Business services company
Automatic Data Processing
(
ADP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.37% at 32.00, was downgraded by CIBC
to “sector underperform” from “sector perform”.

Appliance and tool company
Whirlpool
(
WHR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.95% at 54.73, lowered its earnings outlook for the
year with new estimates of $5.90-6.10 per share vs. previous estimates of
$6.20-6.40 per share.

Security systems company
InVision
(
INVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -4.84% at 21.39, was downgraded by Needham to “hold”
from “buy”.

Insurance company First Health Group
(
FHCC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+0.42% at 23.40, was the focus of a positive Business Week article which cites
the stock as having attractive valuation.

Travel services company
Sabre Holdings
(
TSG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +9.94% at 19.90, has upgraded by CIBC to “sector
outperform” from “sector perform”.

Computer printer company
Lexmark
(
LXK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.44% at 69.50, beat its first-quarter earnings by $0.01
with profits of $0.73 per share.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

This Can Be Taken As A Positive Sign

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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