Earnings To Boost Market?

• October 9, 2001
• Brice Wightman

Concern that consumers will rein in spending, combined with news on Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), sent the markets lower today in
narrow-range
directionless trading. The U. S. Supreme Court rejected Microsoft’s appeal in its antitrust
case, sending the stock lower. MSFT closed at 54.56, down 3.48.

Investors were on the sidelines, anxiously awaiting Motorola’s
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings,
which are due
after the close. Analysts are expecting a loss of .07/share, with revenues
of $7.54 billion. Q3 earnings reporting begins today in what could be a tough
season.

Here are the numbers:

Game maker Electronic Arts
(
ERTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose, as Nintendo’s Game Cube and
Microsoft’s XBox are expected to be popular this Christmas. ERTS rose 3.70 to
close at 5.01.

Cepheid
(
CPHD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 3.79 to 8.19 after a
second person in Florida was exposed to anthrax. The company makes systems that
detect disease-causing agents, giving results in about 30 minutes.

Drug maker Myriad Genetics
(
MYGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied 4.06 to 38.84 after the
company said it discovered treatments for several types of cancer.

Mentor Graphics
(
MENT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced Q3 was higher than expected. MENT
closed at 16.65, up 2.

Borders
(
BGP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell after a warning for the third quarter. BGP
closed down 1.75 at 18.30.

Procter and Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose as well after the household goods maker said
it expects to meet profit goals in the current slow consumer spending
environment. PG rose .29 at 72.54.

Rent-A-Center
(
RCII |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 4.87 to 20.13 after warning.

Welcome to earnings season.