Earnings After The Close, And Another NYSE Resignation

September 25, 2003
Brice Wightman

Stocks
fell Thursday. Eastman Kodak’s announcement that they cut their annual dividend by 80%
threw water on the open. Mixed data
on the economic front provided little clear guidance. The first batch of
economic releases this week revealed the first drop in durable orders since
April. This decline was also the largest drop since September of 2001. Weekly
jobless claims fell last week and came in under the 400K level. However the data
could have been affected by Hurricane Isabel. Meanwhile the housing sector
continues to remain strong as sales of new homes rose at the second-fastest pace
since June. Existing home sales jumped to a new record.

In economic news, August
Durable Orders fell 0.9% vs. expectations for a 0.6% rise. Initial
Jobless Claims came in at 381K vs. an expected 400K. Existing Home Sales
in August came in at 6.47 million vs. expectation of 6.05 million. New Home
Sales came in at 1150K vs. 1123K.

The 10-year U.S. Note
was +060 at 113 035.

The dollar was flat at
93.70

Gold was -4.60 at
384.70.

Crude Oil +0.04 at
28.29.

Volume was
1,521,760,000 on
the NYSE, and 2,014,409,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was negative,
with NYSE declining issues over advancing issues by 1.93 and down over up volume
by 2.73; Nasdaq declining issues over advancing issues at 2.78, and down volume
over up volume at 4.36.

Top Dow stocks were:

Stocks in the news:

After the close, Research In Motion
(
RIMM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
announced 2Q results that were in-line at .03/share. Also, NYSE board member H.
Carl McCall is resigning effective September 29.

Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose slightly after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly
results and raised its full-year outlook. For its second quarter the company
earned 32 cents a share compared to 25 cents a share in the year-ago quarter.
The results topped consensus estimates by a penny. Revenues rose 28.7% to $97.2
million. Looking ahead, the company now sees full-year results coming in at
$1.25 a share compared to its prior forecast of $1.23.

Business outsourcing company
Bisys Group
(
BSG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 22% after the company warned of an
earnings shortfall. Due to softness in its life insurance, education, and
retirement businesses, the company now sees earnings of 15 cents a share for its
fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30. This is 7 cents below current consensus
estimates.

Software maker Cognos
(
COGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 4% after the company reported a second-quarter profit that topped
estimates. Due to strong sales of its business intelligence software the company
earned 20 cents a share or 2 cents better than estimates. Revenues rose 22.6% to
$158.2 million. For its third quarter, the company sees revenues between $170 to
$172 million and earnings of 24 to 25 cents a share.

NCR Corp.
(
NCR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose
9% after Merrill Lynch upped its rating on the bar code scanner
maker. Merrill raised its rating from “neutral” to “buy”.

Film and imaging giant
Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slid 18% after the company slashed its annual
dividend from $1.80 to 50 cents a share. The company said that the dividend
reduction will give it more “financial flexibility” as it shifts away form film
products to digital products.

If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.

Brice Wightman

bricew@tradingmarkets.com

Earnings After The Close, And Another NYSE Resignation

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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