Again! Yet Another Drug Pulled…

Stocks are higher as the Dow tries for four in a
row. Retail is in focus as many companies reported same-store-sales
for March.

Jobless claims for the week of 4/2 fell 19,000 to 334,000, the biggest drop
in two month. The 4-week moving average fell to 336,500.

Alcoa (AA)
beat by a penny; revenues were up 12.5% from a year ago but missed estimates by
a very small margin. The stock is trading higher pre-open.

Dell
(
DELL |
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PowerRating) backed its Q1 outlook–0.37–and will raise its share
buyback program to $2 billion. The company is meeting with analysts today.

Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
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PowerRating) beat by 0.04.

American Eagle
(
AEOS |
Quote |
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PowerRating) March comps rose +29.2%.  Abercrombie
& Fitch
(
ANF |
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PowerRating) March comps rose 21%. Ann Taylor
(
ANN |
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PowerRating) March
comps fell -1.7%. Gap Inc.
(
GPS |
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PowerRating) March comps fell -4%. Gap’s Old Navy
line was -9%. Federated
(
FD |
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PowerRating) March same-store-sales rose +3.4%.
Target
(
TGT |
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PowerRating) comps rose 14.3%.

Pfizer
(
PFE |
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News |
PowerRating) will withdraw Bextra from the market as per an FDA
request. The FDA also asked company to include include a strong safety warning
on Celebrex. The agency said the overall risk vs benefit profile is unfavorable.

The Department of Energy said that it sees oil prices staying above $50 for
2005 and 2006.

The IRS says that the average tax return was up 6% from last year.

Strong sectors are: Homebuilders
(
$HGX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) +1.21%     
Semis
(
$SOX.X$ |
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PowerRating)
+1.08%   Biotech
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) +1.02%  

Weak sectors are: Airlines
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.29%  
Retail
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
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PowerRating) -0.22%     Brokers
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.15%   
 

Stocks in the News

Pier One Imports
(
PIR |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) reported a sharp drop in quarterly
earnings–missing by 0.05–and guided lower.

Smith Barney downgraded General Motors
(
GM |
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PowerRating) to ‘sell’ and Ford
(
F |
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PowerRating) to ‘hold.’ GM is up 1.27%.

Merck
(
MRK |
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News |
PowerRating) said that Phase II trials for cervical cancer drug
Gardasil was successful. The drug could hit the market as early as next year.

Wal Mart
(
WMT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said it expects to report earnings at the lower end
of estimates.

Starbucks
(
SBUX |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a smaller-than-expected monthly sales
increase.