Dow Flirts With 10,000; Plus, Just What Impact Did The Hurricanes Have?

Stocks are lower on
higher crude and bearish broker calls on technology. 

Morgan Stanley cut the semis to “in-line.” Prudential lowered the networkers to
“neutral.”  The Dow briefly dipped
below 10,000.  New home sales rose 9.4%
in August, more than expected.

Oil is in focus, trading above $49.

According to Standard & Poor’s, the Q3
earnings estimate for the S&P 500 was 16.42/share, up almost 14% from a year
ago. Hurricanes were involved in 38% of earnings warnings this quarter.
Insurance company analysts estimate the recent hurricane damage in Florida at
between $4-$8 billion.

Dow -30.83 10016.49
S&P 500 -3.43 1106.68
Nasdaq -12.07 1867.41

Strong sectors are:
Homebuilders

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+1.07%, Oil
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+0.43%, Gold
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+0.52%.

Weak are: Airlines
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-3.42%, Brokers
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-1.31% and Biotech
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-0.99%.

10-year Notes are +075 at 113 140

The dollar
is -0.18 at 88.22

Gold is +1.30 at 408.80

Crude Oil is +0.32 at 49.20

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 617 million on the NYSE and
663 million on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is negative.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1105 Up Vol 175
Declining 2016 Down Vol 397
Ratio 1.82 3.03
Nasdaq
Advancing 848 Up Vol 161
Declining 2060 Down Vol 470
Ratio 2.42 2.91

Stocks in the News

Lockheed Martin
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won a $2.1 billion Navy satellite contact.

Wal-Mart
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was upped to “Buy” at Bank of America.

Fannie Mae
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may be forced to keep billions of dollars in cash
on hand while it corrects accounting problems. 

Alliance Gaming
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will take a 0.09 charge against Q1 earnings.

Walgreen
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beat by a penny.

Allergan’s
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psoriasis treatment will not be approved by the
FDA on the basis of data received.

Nastech Pharmaceutical
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peptide YY 3-36 obesity drug is in
Phase I development, The company will receive $5 million from Merck and be
eligible to receive up to $131 million as part of a co-development pact with
Merck.

Westar Energy
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cut its 2004 forecast.

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Tommy Hilfiger
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paid inflated commissions to buying offices. If they did the effect would be to
reduce US income and tax liability.

Blue Nile
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was downgraded to neutral at JP Morgan.

Vascular Solutions
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got FDA approval to market its Langston
catheter.

Brice Wightman