Will Semis Key Halt To Tech Slide?

September 5, 2002
Daniel Beighley

The markets traded south off
the open and found the day’s lows by 10:30 a.m. ET, where a rally brought the
indexes to the day’s mid-range, and choppy trading ensued to the close.

Semis were taken down again, as
several issues made new 52-week lows. At 5:30 p.m. ET Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-6.20%, will give its mid-quarter report, a much anticipated event. Today’s
action shows fear ahead of the tech bellwether’s announcement, but tomorrow
we’ll get a read on the reaction, which is more important for speculators. At
this point, bad news may already be factored into current prices.

U.S. Treasury Bonds
closed up ’15 at 113 ’13.

In economic news, the ISM
non-manufacturing index came in at 50.9% in August vs. an expected 54%, as
it proved to be a big disappointment to the market. Factory orders came
in as expected at 4.7%. Productivity was at 1.5% vs. an expected 1.1%.
Also, initial jobless claims were at 403,000 compared to the 395,000 the
market was looking for.Â Â

Volume was below average at
1,285,778,000 on
the NYSE and 1,499,016,000
on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by a ratio of 1.94, and down
volume over up volume by a 2.84 ratio. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing
issues came in at 2.44, and down volume beat up volume by a 2.97 ratio. The
VIX
was up 2.29 at 42.23. The TRIN
was up 0.78 at 1.50.

Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-3.45%,
is reported by The Financial Times to be under investigation by a US
congressional committee pertaining to actions in conflict of interest.

PeopleSoft
(
PSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.99%,
has been upgraded by SG Cowen to “buy” from “neutral”,
and has raised its 2003 earnings estimates for the company to 70 cents from 68
cents a share.

Software and programming
company Take-Two Interactive
(
TTWO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-7.95%,
beat its third quarter
earnings consensus by 5 cents with profits of 12 cents a share. The company has
also raised its earnings guidance.

Insurance company Mid-Atlantic
Medical
(
MME |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
-0.02%,
was downgraded by Prudential to “hold” from “buy” based on
valuation industry weakness.

Personal product company
Proctor and Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+4.45%,
increased its earnings guidance for its September quarter due to strong volume
performance.

Construction services company Lennar Corp
(
LEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+3.28%, announced that its third quarter ending in August will surpass
First Call estimates by 20% or more.

Financial services company Concord
EFS
(
CEFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -24.25, lowered its earnings guidance for the full year
with a new target of 68-70 cents a share vs. a current analysts’ consensus of 75
cents a share.

From TM’s proprietary Implosion
List, railway company Canadian National Railway Co.
(
CNI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed down 6.01%.

Will Semis Key Halt To Tech Slide?

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