FDA Approval After The Close…

Stocks got
a boost by lower oil prices Friday; oil fell almost $2/bbbl.

Alcoa

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said Q3 would lag estimates.
The company cited plant shutdowns and restructuring costs. Tech stocks are
higher after a judge rejected a DOJ suit to block Oracle’s
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proposed merger with Peoplesoft. 

Producer prices fell last month; August PPI
fell 0.1%, ex food and energy, down 0.1% 
The
trade deficit narrowed more than expected; imports fell for the first time in 10
months.

US Airways
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may file for
bankruptcy as early as Sunday, according to The New York Times. This
would be the 2nd bankruptcy filing in 2 years for the company.

Wall Street is commemorating the 3rd anniversary
of 9/11 today. Before the open, NYSE member Ben Willis sang “God Bless
America” and a 1-minute of silence was observed at 11 AM.

The FDA will review Astrazeneca’s Exanta

After the close, Spectrum Pharmaceutical
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won FDA approval for ciproflaxin, the generic version of Cipro. Approval was
given under the new Abbreviated New Drug Application, the first filed with the
FDA.

Dow +23.97 10313.07
S&P 500 +5.54 1123.92
Nasdaq +24.66 1894.31

Strong today were: Hardware
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+1.60%, Internet
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1.65%,
Brokers

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+0.44%.

Weak were: Airlines
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-0.25%, Insurance
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-0.27%.

10-year Notes were +05r5 at 112 090

The dollar
was -0.45 at 88.41

Gold was +1.60 at
401.60

Crude Oil was -1.76 at 42.85

Volume was 1.26 billion on
the NYSE and 1.59 billion on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was positive.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1985 Up Vol 755
Declining 1296 Down Vol 392
Ratio 1.53 1.92
Nasdaq
Advancing 1838 Up Vol 1202
Declining 1214 Down Vol 267
Ratio 1.51 4.50

Stocks in the News

Electronic Data Systems
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may cut
up to 20,000 jobs; the company wants to trim $3 billion.

Disney
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said Michael Eisner will
retire in 2 years. Eisner will step down in 2006 and will assist in finding his
replacement.

Brinker International
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cut
estimates, blaming the recent hurricanes; this is the second time in a month the
company has cut estimates.

Brice Wightman