Broad Market Closes Slightly Lower

August 18, 2005
Brice Wightman

The major averages closed mixed today as a
largely uneventful day came to an end.
The biggest news was Google’s decision to sell $4 Bln
worth of stock 1-year after the company’s flotation. Google
(
GOOG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.79%
filed with the SEC for a proposed public offering of 14,159,265 shares of its
Class A common stock.

Oil stocks closed modestly lower on the day, but
there are some winners within the energy segment. The natural gas and oil
service sectors are posting gains. The utility sector is also sitting above the
unchanged mark.

Disk drive and apparel retailer stocks were the
most notable losers on the session. The gaming sector dropped sharply in the
first few minutes of trading and moved in a range through the session. The
sector closed off its intraday lows, down moderately on the day.

Apparel retailers have taken a hit from
Limited Brands
(
LTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -5.02%, which gave disappointing guidance in its
quarterly earnings statement. The sector will receive more news after the
closing bell, with Gap
(
GPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.56% due to announce its results.
Analysts expect that Gap will earn $0.28 per share, up from $0.21 per share last
year.

The tobacco sector received a boost from Altria
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+3.72%, which hit a new 52-week high, there are very few significant gainers on
the session. The gold space ticked lower early in the day, adding to Wednesday’s
slide, but reversed course in the mid-morning and is now posting a modest
advance.

Synopsys
(
SNPS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +8.83% reported third quarter EPS
of $0.10 after the close on Wednesday, which beat the consensus estimate of
$0.08. Revenues declined to $251.5 million, from the $281.7 million reported
last year. The company expects to report fourth quarter EPS of $0.07 to $0.11
and full year 2005 EPS of $0.36 to $0.40. The consensus estimates are for EPS of
$0.10 and $0.36 respectively.

Network Appliance
(
NTAP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.36% reported first
quarter EPS of $0.16, which beat the consensus estimate of $0.15. Revenues
increased to $448.4 million, from the $358.4 million reported last year. The
company expects to report third quarter EPS of $0.18 to $0.19 and full year 2006
EPS of $0.76 to $0.79. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $0.18 and $0.73
respectively.

Biggest Risers And Fallers

S&P 500:

Nasdaq 100:

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors

Dow	+4.22	10,554.93
Nasdaq	-9.07	2136.08
S&P 500	-1.22	1219.02
	NYSE	Nasdaq
Volume	1,794,571,000	1,427,366,000
Up Volume	600 (33%)	441 (31%)
Down Volume	1118 (63%)	930 (66%)
Advances	1263	1146
Declines	1985	1862

Ashton Dorkins

ashtond@tradingmarkets.com

Broad Market Closes Slightly Lower

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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