What The Market Is Shrugging Off
Stocks gapped lower this morning in reaction to
earnings warnings from No. 2 mobile phone maker Motorola, but have staged a
comeback. Mixed stories over a U.S. attack on an Iranian tanker sent oil shares
up, as the Semiconductor Index finds itself below its 200-day MA,
representing a weak tech group.
This morning the Commerce Dept. reported the
international trade deficit grew to $29.43 billion in October compared to
$19.02 billion from September.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Global Markets anticipated a
deficit of $26.9 billion.
Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 5.90%
at 15.63, announced
that sales would be off 10% for the next year, as it lays off 9,400 employees in
an attempt to cut costs and return to profitability.
The No. 2 memory chip
manufacturer Micron Technology
(
MU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
3.80% at 30.60,
said that sales were off 73%, for
a quarterly loss of $265.5 million, off last year’s profit of $352.2 million.
Metal mining company Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 6.85%
at 35.08, also warned that it will miss fourth quarter analysts’ expectations.
Leading sectors today are the Oil Service
Sector
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.93% at 83.91, and the Natural Gas
Index
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.72% at 177.51.
The biggest losing sectors today are the
Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.86% at 550.83, and the GSTI
Multimedia Networking Index
(
$GIP.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.56% at 125.26.
From our percent gainers
list:
Mirant Corp.
(
MIR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is up 16.47%
at 16.19 on twice average volume. This energy generator company has a 2:00 p.m. ET
conference call scheduled where it is expected to give the details of a capital
spending plan.
Dynegy Inc.
(
DYN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is up 11.67% at 23.34
on average volume. This energy marketing company reached an agreement to market
Texaco’s natural gas production.
Americredit Corp.
(
ACF |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is up
11.27% at 31.00 on half its average volume. This consumer financials company has
no news reported today.
From our percent losers
list:
Mutual Risk Management
(
MM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is down
29.82% at 6.45 on twice its average volume. This insurance company is
expected to report a loss at its 1:30 p.m. ET conference meeting.
Alamosa Holdings Inc
(
APS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is down 9.27% at 12.23 on below-average volume. This communications service company
has no news reported.
Friedman Billings Ramsey
(
FBR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is down 9.15% at 5.36 on above-average volume. This investment company
announced that it would release $100 million in debt securities, preferred
securities and common stock.