Cell Phone Boom Leaves These 2 Companies Behind
Stocks
are mixed with the Nasdaq lower after Cisco gave a cautious market outlook
yesterday. Oracle
(
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raised its bid from $19.50 to $26 in its takeover of PeopleSoft
(
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PowerRating),
a 19% premium over yesterday’s closing price — the company’s last and best
offer. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman
(
NOC |
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PowerRating) posted a profit of
$224 million on revenue of $7.1 million, a 148% jump. Higher pension costs
offset stronger sales of its space technology and electronic systems. Global
sales of cell phones for 2003 blew past previous estimates, with 2004 sales
expected to exceed 560 million units. Sales of cell phones with calendars,
emails, pictures and music capability are strong. Continued pricing pressures
caused Nokia
(
NOK |
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PowerRating) and Motorola
(
MOT |
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PowerRating) to lose market share
while South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, LG and the joint venture between Sony
(
SNE |
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(
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| Dow | +3.48 | 10508.76 |
| S&P 500 |
-3.65 | 1132.36 |
| Nasdaq | -27.50 |
2038.64 |
The day’s leading sectors are
Airlines
(
XAL.X |
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PowerRating) +1.35%, Retails
(
RLX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.97%,
Pharmaceuticals
(
DRG.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.84%,
Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.74%
Weak today are Networking
(
NWX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.41%, and Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.99%, .
Economic news releases included
a strong ISM services number, and a 1.1% jump in factory orders.
10-year Notes are -60
at 113 205
The dollar
is -0.03 at 86.95
Gold is +1.40 at 401.30
Crude Oil is -0.57 at
32.25
Volume is 750,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,090,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 974 | Up Vol 219 |
| Declining | 2106 | Down Vol 463 |
| Ratio | 2.16 | 2.11 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 803 | Up Vol 205 |
| Declining | 2211 | Dow Vol 811 |
| Ratio | 2.75 | 4.02 |
Top Dow stocks are:
Home Depot [HD|HD],
+1.82% at 35.68, Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +1.68% at 43.87, Johnson & Johnson
[JNJ|JNJ], +1.13% at
54.44, and McDonalds [MCD|MCD]
+1.16% at 23.61.
Stocks in the news:
Harrah’s Entertainment
(
HET |
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PowerRating)
posted lower earnings due to higher gaming taxes and construction of new
properties. The company’s earnings fell to $134.8 million on revenue of $1.04
billion.
Oxford Health Plans
(
OHP |
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News |
PowerRating)
reported earnings of $95.5 million on higher premium collections. Revenue topped
$1.38 billion, with membership rates falling to $1.43 million. For the year,
membership enrollment is expected to be flat, with revenue at $5.76 billion.
Ciena
(
CIEN |
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PowerRating) said that the
timing of one of its orders would cause its first-quarter revenue to be lower
than previous estimates. The company now expects revenue of $66.4 million with a
loss of 9 cents.
Retailer Linens ‘n Things
(
LIN |
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PowerRating)
rose on higher earnings with revenue up at $788.3 million. Earnings rose to
$46.1 million, a penny better than analysts’ consensus. Same-store sales rose
4.7% from the year-ago period.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com