Yesterday’s Power Outage Is Good For These Stocks Today

August 15, 2003
Vincent Mao

Stocks are
flat this midday.Â The major indices have
been flipping back and forth between red and green as the blackout in the New
York area is taking its toll on trading. Both the NYSE and Nasdaq opened at
their regular times but the AMEX delayed its opening. Trading volume is
significantly impacted due to the biggest blackout in the nation’s history.
Volume is only at about half its usual rate due to the shutdown of New York’s
transportation system. Stocks are currently in the red and near session lows.
Positive economic reports are providing some support to the market. Both
industrial production and capacity utilization came in better than expected.
Alternative fuel source companies are catching a bid today: Ballard Power
Systems
(
BLDP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 5%, FuelCell Energy
(
FCEL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 12.05, and Plug Power
(
PLUG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 19.85%. Bonds are higher today despite some positive economic
data. The bond market will close early at 2:00 p.m. today.

In economic news, Consume
Price Index in July rose by 0.2%, as expected. The Core CPI, which
strips out food and energy, rose by 0.2% vs. an expected 0.1% rise. Capacity
Utilization in July rose by 0.3% to 74.5% or higher than expectations of
74.4%. Industrial Production in July rose by 0.5%, the biggest rise since
January. Economists had expected a rise of 0.2%. The Empire State
Manufacturing Survey
came in much worse than expected at a reading of 10.0 vs. expectations of
19.7. Lastly, the release of the University of Michigan Sentiment Survey
will be delayed.

The 10-year U.S. Note
is +130 at 110 23.

The dollar is -0.04 at
96.78.

Gold is -2.80 at 364.70.

Crude Oil -0.09 at 31.

Volume is 342,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 427,000,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is mixed,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by 1.15, and down over up
volume by 1.33. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining issues is at 1.07, and
down volume over up volume is at 1.55.

Top Dow stocks are:

Stocks in the news:

Semiconductor maker Analog
Devices
(
ADI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is fractionally lower today after reporting third-quarter
results in line with estimates. The company earned 21 cents a share compared to
8 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues jumped 14.2% to $520.40
million, but this was shy of analysts’ estimates of $523.6 million. Looking
ahead, Analog Devices sees third-quarter results coming in at 22 or 23 cents a
share, a penny shy of current consensus estimates. Smith Barney also cut its
rating on the stock from “Outperform” to “In-Line”.

Data storage equipment maker
Advanced Digital Information
(
ADIC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher by 18% after the company
reported its latest quarterly results. For its third quarter, the company earned
4 cents a share compared to a loss of 3 cents a share during the year-ago
quarter. Revenues surged 42% to a record $108 million.Â

Infrastructure software
publisher BEA Systems
(
BEAS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is fractionally higher after reporting
second-quarter results in line with estimates. Excluding charges, the company
earned 7 cents a share compared to 6 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. BEA
CFO Bill Klein commented, “It’s still a very challenging business environment.”

The world’s largest computer
maker Dell
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is higher by 2.7% after early session weakness.
Late yesterday, the company reported second-quarter earnings of 24 cents a share
compared to 19 cents in the year-ago quarter. Revenues jumped 15.6% to $9.78
billion, which beat analysts’ estimates of $9.75 billion. Looking ahead, the
company is expecting a 15% jump in third-quarter revenues and earnings in line
with consensus estimates of 26 cents a share.Â Â

Trucking company Navistar
International
(
NAV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is lower by 1% despite returning toÂ profitability.
Navistar, which hasn’t posted a quarterly profit since Oct. 31, 2001, posted
better-than-expected results in its latest quarter. The company earned 25 cents
a share compared to a loss of 27 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding items, Navistar earned 26 cents a share or a penny better than
estimates. However the company’s fourth-quarter guidance of between 65 to 75
cents a share is below First Call estimates of $1 a share.

If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.

Vincent Mao

vincentm@tradingmarkets.com

Yesterday’s Power Outage Is Good For These Stocks Today

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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