Erbitux Was Approved — Could This Drug Be Next?
Stocks
fell after disappointing economic numbers,
with rotation out of technology. This is the 4th lower week for the Nasdaq.
Consumer Sentiment was the topic of the day, falling hard to 93.1 from 103.8 a
month ago. The US trade deficit widened by 11% despite a weakened dollar, with
higher crude oil prices having a large impact. Imports peaked in December to
$132.8 billion.
ImClone
(
IMCL |
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PowerRating) received FDA approval for its Erbitux
drug for the treatment of colon cancer. IMCL’s stock was halted minutes before the news
yesterday,
sending the stock down 33%. It is up 31% at $45 today. The SEC and regulators at
the NASD will review trading in ImClone just before the halt. Bristol Meyers
(
BMY |
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News |
PowerRating),
Imclone’s marketing partner closed at 28.90, down 0.99; Friedman Billings Ramsay
lowered their opinion on the stock. Genetech
(
DNA |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) is coming out with
a similar colon cancer drug,
Avastin, that may be able to be used in earlier stages of cancer.
NTT DoCoMo
(
DCM |
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News |
PowerRating), which
already holds a 16% stake in AT&T Wireless
(
AWE |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped out of the
bidding contest to acquire AT&T Wireless, due to valuation issues. Cingular
(
SBC |
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News |
PowerRating), Nextel
(
NXTP |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Vodafone
(
VOD |
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News |
PowerRating) are the remaining
contenders.
Oil stocks were the big winner
this week, up 0.3%.
Next week, look for Applied
Materials
(
AMAT |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings on Wednesday, and the semiconductor book to
bill on Thursday. Remember, Monday is a holiday.
| Dow | -66.22 |
10627.85 |
| S&P 500 |
-6.30 | 1145.81 |
| Nasdaq | -20.05 |
2053.56 |
The day’s leading sector was
Healthcare
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.16%.
Weak today awee Disk Drives
(
DDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.26%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.24%, Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), -1.58%, and Airlines
(
XAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.03%.
Economic news releases included
a much wider trade deficit of $42.5 billion. Exports were up by 0.6%. Imports
rose by 0.7%.
10-year Notes were +115
at 114 265
The dollar
was +0.23 at 85.52
Gold was -2.60 at 419.64
Crude Oil was +0.75 at
34.10
Volume was
1,310,256,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,801,837,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1261 | Up Vol 418 |
| Declining | 2024 | Down Vol 870 |
| Ratio | 1.60 | 2.08 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1062 | Up Vol 481 |
| Declining | 2102 | Dow Vol 1306 |
| Ratio | 1.98 | 2.71 |
Stocks in the news:
Sirius Satellite Radio
(
SIRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
issued $250 million five year convertible notes and raised its ’04 forecast,
saying they expect 2 million subscribers this year.
Grocery chain Safeway
(
SWY |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported a loss of $1.57 a share or $695.9 million on revenue of $11 billion,
attributing $102.9 million of the loss to the labor strike.
Analog Devices
(
ADI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported
better-than-expected first quarter numbers with higher revenue $605.4 million,
earning 30 cents oer share. Merrill Lynch and Deutsche upgraded the stock on
the news.
McDonalds
(
MCD |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) decided not to renew
Kobe Bryant’s contract, turning instead to Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming who edged
out Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal in fan balloting. His contract starts in
Sunday’s NBA All-Star game.
Advanced Energy
(
AEIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted
fourth-quarter earnings of loss of $2.4 million on revenue of $74.7 million. It
now expects next-quarter revenue to rise 30%; JP Morgan raised 2004 and 2005
revenue forecasts but did not upgrade AEIS.