Catalyst For The Upgrade


Good earnings from Procter & Gamble
, an Intel upgrade, and in-line
economic reports all sent the Dow higher. Economic reports released this week
are showing that the economy continues on the road to recovery.

The Dow gained 153.61 to 9916.47; the Nasdaq gained 20.66 to 1934.10; the
S&P 500 rose 16.05 to 1129.28.

Strong sectors were oil services
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up 3.58%,
brokers
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up 2.24% and computer technology
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up 1.96%. Weak sectors
were networking
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down -.21% and biotech
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down -1.3%.

The
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tacked on 3.95 (0.72%) to 558.83.

Merrill Lynch upgraded Intel
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to a “strong buy”
from a “buy,” propelling the stock to a 1.18 (3.48%) gain.
Merrill cites the 0.13 micron Northwood chip as the catalyst for the upgrade.

Jobless claims were up last week, rising by 30,000, but personal income grew
at the quickest rate since last summer. Unemployment and manufacturing reports
are due out Friday.

Verizon
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posted a $2 billion Q4 loss, or -0.75/share. Analysts were
looking for -0.77.

Airlines continued their weak earnings, with Delta
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reporting a $734
billion Q4 loss. Since September 11, the
airline industry has tallied up $2.5 billion in losses, greater than the Q3 2001
figure. United
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reports Friday.

Oracle
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gained .64 to 17.26 after saying it sees improvement in
the business climate and that its Q3 and Q4 estimates are still valid.

Tyco
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continued its bounce, a day after the President and CFO bought
500,000 shares each. TYC rose .30 to 35.15.

The European Commission cleared Hewlett Packard’s
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proposed
acquisition of Compaq
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. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is still
reviewing the proposal, in what would be the largest merger in personal computer
history. The shareholder vote is scheduled for March.

Anadarko Petroleum
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beat estimates, leading the oil service sector
higher. APC gained 2.24 to 49.13.

Fed candidates are being interviewed in Washington for openings in the seven-member Federal Reserve board. Today is Lawrence Meyer’s last day on the job,
which leaves two open slots.

Expecting defense budget increases, traders bid up shares of Northrup Grumman
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, L-3 Communications
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, and General Dynamics
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The January barometer which says
“As goes January, so goes the
year,” suggests stocks may fall this year. The indicator is reputed to be
accurate over 80% of the time.

Celestica
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beat earnings by .02. Look
for earnings from
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and
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, and
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later today.