Dow falls for a fourth straight day

  • October 6, 2005
  • Brice Wightman

Stocks fell Thursday,
with the Dow off for the fourth straight day, although a program-driven rally in
the final 15 minutes lessened the losses. Dallas Fed President
Richard Fisher again warned on inflation. This, combined with uncertainty about
the upcoming earnings season and concern about energy prices, sent stock prices
lower. The Semiconductor HOLDRs
(
SMH |
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PowerRating) have also fallen for four straight
days. Crude oil fell to a 2-month low.

Year to date, the Dow is off 4.6% and the Nasdaq
is down 4.2%.

Jobless claims for the week of 10/1 rose 21,000
to 390,000

After the close, Accenture
(
ACN |
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PowerRating) beat
by 0.02 and beat on revenues. American Eagle
(
AEOS |
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PowerRating) announced an
additional 2.5 million share stock buyback. Meritage
(
MTH |
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PowerRating) reiterated
last week’s guidance of $8.25 -$8.50 for 2005 and the dollar value of sales
orders has risen 51%.

Costco
(
COST |
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PowerRating)
beat by 0.02; Q4 net rose 19.5%. The
company announced a $1 billion stock buyback plan.

Wal Mart
(
WMT |
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PowerRating) same store sales rose
+3.8% and said that hurricanes Katrina and Rita will cut Q3 EPS by 0.01. The
company reiterated Q4 guidance of $0.55 – $0.59.

Marriot
(
MAR |
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PowerRating) reported 0.65–a penny
better than expected–and raised its 2005 view. (full
story)



Strong sectors were:  Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) +4.43%     Gold

(
XAU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.78%  



Weak sectors were:     Natural Gas
(
XNG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-3.24%     
Oil
(
OIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.43%        Biotech
(
BTK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.36%


Dow

-30.26
10,287.10


Nasdaq

 -18.94 2084.08


S&P 500

-4.90
1191.49

More stocks on the move::

Wet Seal
(
WTSLA |
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PowerRating) said same store sales rose 44.9%, much better than
expected.

Chico’s FAS
(
CHS |
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PowerRating) said
same store sales rose 16%.

ATI Technologies
(
ATYT |
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PowerRating) reported a
narrower-than-expected Q4 loss of 0.12, excluding items. The company sees Q1
revenue up 15%.

Starbucks‘
(
SBUX |
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News |
PowerRating)
same store sales rose more than expected.

Talbot’s
(
TLB |
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PowerRating) same store sales fell
5.1% vs. the consensus of a rise of 2.8%, The company lowered guidance for Q3.

Sharper Image
(
SHRP |
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PowerRating) said same store
sales fell 21%, much more than expected. The company also lowered Q3 guidance.

Merck
(
MRK |
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News |
PowerRating) said tests showed its new
HPV shot was 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer.

Federated
(
FD |
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PowerRating) guided lower.

Brice Wightman

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