A Sigh Of Relief
The markets opened mixed Tuesday,
rallied in the morning and came off in the afternoon.
Stocks attempted to resume their rally this
morning, but in the afternoon shed gains. Traders were relieved that volatility was low for the session, as
the markets did not make any extreme moves during the session and ended
relatively well.
According to economists, recession at
least for the short term, is inevitable based on the worse-then-expected Consumer
Confidence and the recent increase in the jobless rate. What the economy needs
is a stimulation vis-Ã -vis monetary and fiscal policy in the coming months, and
even for the short term after the markets recover.
Breadth for the day ended positive.
NYSE advancers led decliners 1850 to 1315, and Nasdaq decliners lagged advancers
1583 to 1598.
The broader markets ended the session
higher. The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial gained 0.5%. Volume
on the NYSE was the lightest it’s been since the markets resumed trading on the
16th.
Looking at the volatility indexes, the
CBOE Volatility Index
(
$VIX.X |
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PowerRating) closed down 5.9%, and the Nasdaq 100
Volatility Index
(
$QQV.X |
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Sectors gaining in the session — the
Insurance Index
(
$IUX.X |
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PowerRating), which gained 3.0% as it pulls back off its
lows.
The Biotechnology Index
(
$BTK.X |
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climbed 1.9%, pulling back from the lows in what appears to be an inverted cup.
And the Securities Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
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PowerRating) tacked on 1.9% after experiencing a freefall over the last
week.
Losing ground was the Oil Service
Index
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), falling 4.7% as it breaches the low of a four-day downside flag.
The Transportation Index
(
$TRX.X |
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slid 1.8% and looks poised to test its lows again.
And the Mexico Index
(
$MXY.X |
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PowerRating)
lost 1.8%.
Individual stocks gaining on a
percentage basis — Conseco
(
CNC |
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PowerRating), which climbed 19.5% after being upgraded by
Salomon Smith Barney from Neutral to Outperform.
Elcor Corp
(
ELK |
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PowerRating) tacked on 15.0%
on an upgrade by BB&T Capital Markets from Hold to Strong Buy.
MicroVision
(
MVIS |
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PowerRating) shares gained
5.6% as the company shipped its prototype laser scanning display to a European
automaker for a road test.
Losing ground was Norfolk Southern
(
NSC |
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PowerRating)
as the transportation stock slid 10.4%.
Fairchild Semiconductor
(
FCS |
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PowerRating)
shares lost 1.9%.
Time Warner Telecom
(
TWTC |
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sold off after the company said it expects Q3 revenues to come in between
$170-$175 million vs. estimates of $196 million. TWTC closed lower 42.2%
Tweeter Home Entertainment
(
TWTR |
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PowerRating)
closed off 18.8% as it lowered its Q4 earnings guidance due to a decline in
Northeast sales after the September 11 attack. The company said it will take a
$1.2 million charge.
And Yellow Corp.
(
YELL |
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PowerRating) was down
13.5% on the announcement that the company would not meet Wall Street estimates
for Q3. The company said it expects Q3 earnings to come in between 20-25 cents a
share. Analysts’ estimates were for the company to earn between 45 and 52 cents a
share, with a consensus of 48 cents according to Thomson Financial/First Call.