This Should Give The Bulls A Boost
The
mood was green today, as buyers took the indexes up to impressive
gains on the session. Price action held a steady uptrend from open to close, as
traders took positions ahead of an an economic stimulus package scheduled to be
announced by President Bush tomorrow. Volume marked accumulation on the
exchanges, as the major indexes moved towards their December highs, still short
of the 200-day moving averages.
Fears over Iraq continue to
weigh in on the international scene, as Gold
(
GCG3 |
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PowerRating) reached a new
6-year high earlier in the session, though ended the day in negative territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
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PowerRating) closed +1.99% at 8,773.57. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
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PowerRating) closed +2.24% at 929.03. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
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PowerRating)
closed +2.46% at 1,421.26.
The biggest gainers on the day
were telecoms
(
$XTC.X |
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PowerRating), +5.59%, semiconductors
(
$SOX.X |
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PowerRating), +5.58%, and networking
(
$GIP.X |
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PowerRating), +5.33%.
The biggest laggards on the day
were oil service
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), -2.17%, gold and silver
(
$XAU.X |
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PowerRating), -1.71%, and Internet
(
$GIN.X |
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PowerRating), -1.30%.
In economic news, ISM
Services came in at 54.7 vs. expectations of 55.8.
The Ten Year Note
(
TYH3 |
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PowerRating) was -065 at 113 075.
The U.S. Dollar
(
DXH3 |
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PowerRating) was -0.47 at 102.39.
Volume was average,
though well above the last two week’s levels, with the NYSE coming in at
1,382,706,000 and the Nasdaq at 1,552,441,000.
Market breadth was mixed,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.94, and down
volume over up volume by a 4.26 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came in at 1.93, and up volume beat down volume by a 5.35 ratio.
The
VIX was -0.57 at 27.41. The
TRIN was -0.60 at 0.69.
Leading the Dow higher:
SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating), +7.99% at 31.19, JP
Morgan
(
JPM |
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PowerRating), +7.86% at 27.98, Hewlett Packard
(
HPQ |
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PowerRating), +5.81%
at 19.65, Walt Disney
(
DIS |
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PowerRating), +5.12% at 18.25, Allied Capital
(
ALD |
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PowerRating), +4.05% at 23.85, and Intel Corp.
(
INTC |
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PowerRating), +3.86% at 17.18.
Stocks in the news:
Telecom issues were lifted
after the Wall Street Journal announced that the FCC was to stop forcing local
phone companies rent their networks at cheap rates. SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
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PowerRating), +7.99% at 31.19, and Verizon
(
VZ |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), +8.94% at 44.07,
Qwest Communications
(
Q |
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PowerRating), +10.22% at 5.93, and Bell South
(
BLS |
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PowerRating), +7.85% at 29.25.
Online services company
Hotels.com
(
ROOM |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), -25.44% at 44.02, has issued a revenue
warning for the fourth-quarter as the company now expects to earn $270-$271
million vs. previous guidance of $283-$289 million. Lower in sympathy are
Expedia
(
EXPE |
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PowerRating), -9.84% at 63.92, and USA Interactive
(
USAI |
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PowerRating), -7.92% at 22.30, the parent company of ROOM.
Deutsche Securities has turned
positive on select semiconductor stocks as it upgrades to “buy” from “hold”
Novellus
(
NVLS |
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PowerRating), +7.59% at 33.57, Lam Research
(
LRCX |
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PowerRating),
+9.20% at 12.57, and Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
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PowerRating), +6.19% at 15.43.
Salomon Smith Barney has taken
a swing at select biotech stocks as it downgrades to “underperform” from
“in-line” Medarex
(
MEDX |
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PowerRating), -6.92% at 3.90, Biogen
(
BGEN |
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PowerRating),
+1.08% at 41.85, and MedImmune
(
MEDI |
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Chart |
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PowerRating), -0.31% at 28.11.
Personal services company
Pre-Paid Legal
(
PPD |
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PowerRating), -25.24% at 19.57, has announced its membership
rate for the fourth-quarter fell 6% from a year ago, and that its president,
Wilburn Smith, has resigned.
Shipping company Federal
Express
(
FDX |
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PowerRating), +4.82% at 58.18, has been upgraded by CSFB to
“outperform” from “neutral”.
Business services company
Automatic Data Processing
(
ADP |
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PowerRating), +0.27% at 40.50, announced it will
acquire ProBusiness Services
(
PRBZ |
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PowerRating), +60.52% at 16.47, for about
$500 million in cash.
Communications giant AT&T
Corp.
(
T |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.65% at 27.48, said it expects to take a $440 million charge
for the fourth-quarter to cover job cuts and the reduced value of its DSL
business.
Tobacco Company Philip
Morris
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -0.72% at 39.51, sold off after Salomon Smith Barney analyst
Bonnie Herzog said she feels there is a good chance the company will announce a
drastic change in its pricing and marketing strategy.