This Is What Led The Dow Down

March 4, 2003
Daniel Beighley

Selling
ruled the markets for the day as the major indexes held steady
downtrends from open to close. Volume was once again on the light side with
geopolitical issues dominating headlines. General Motors led the Dow down as
Deutsche Securities downgraded the stock to a “sell.” There were no
economic releases for the day, though tomorrow ISM Services and the Beige Book
data stand as potential market turners.Â

There were no economic releases
for the day.

The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was +070 at 117 040.

The US dollar
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was -0.02 at 99.16.

Volume was on the
light side, with the NYSE coming in at 1,177,969,000
and the Nasdaq at 1,208,005,000.

Market breadth was negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.79, and down
volume over up volume by a 6.59 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came in at 1.64, and down volume beat up volume by a 2.96 ratio.

The
VIX
was +2.49 at 36.58. The TRIN
was +1.86 at 3.67.

Biggest Dow losers were:

Stocks in the news:

In the airline sector, JetBlue
(
JBLU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-5.39% at 25.26, dropped as Merrill Lynch lowered its first-quarter earnings
estimates on the company due to higher fuel costs and potential war.

Medical equipment maker Henry Schein
(
HSIC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +3.16% at 41.99, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.04 per share with profits of $0.69 per share.

Media company Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia
(
MSO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.97% at 7.25, warned that it will lose $0.06-0.08 a
share for the first-quarter vs. estimated profits of $0.03 per share.

Broadcasting and cable TV company EchoStar
Communications
(
DISH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +6.55% at 27.65, reported that its
fourth-quarter earnings came in $0.62 ahead of expectations with earnings of
$1.07 per share. Revenue increased 15% from an expanded subscriber base.

Chip maker Xilinx Inc.
(
XLNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+2.65% at 22.39, announced that it expects fourth-quarter revenue to come in at
the high end of its estimated range of $285 million to $295 million.

Shoe maker Nike
(
NKE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -2.18% at
45.66, had its 12-month price target raised by Merrill Lynch to $53 from $51 as
it expects the sales to bottom this month.

Chip maker Fairchild
Semiconductor
(
FCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -10.17% at 10.50, announced it expects
first-quarter revenue to come in slightly ahead of expectations, though sees
gross margins coming in below expectations.

Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline
(
GSK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -3.17% at 34.15, lost a legal case where a federal judge has ruled
its US patent covering a form of Paxil is valid but not infringed by rival
Apotex Inc.

Retailer Pacific Sunwear
(
PSUN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +0.44% at 18.21, beat its fourth-quarter earnings expectations by
$0.02 per share with profits of $0.46 per share.

danielb@tradingmarkets.com

This Is What Led The Dow Down

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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