How News Hit The Techs
Warnings from Juniper and Jabil Circuit sent the tech sector down, as
investors worry that the recent gains have gotten ahead of profit outlooks.
As we enter pre-announcement season, even though the economy shows some
signs of improvement, more companies potentially could warn of reduced 2002
profits. The dead stimulus package and more worries from Argentina didn’t help
matters, either. The Nasdaq gapped down and spent the rest of the session going
lower, and closed at its lows, its trendline solidly broken. The Dow’s losses
were lessened by AT&T
(
T |
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PowerRating), which led the Dow after announcing it sold its
broadband unit for $72 million. T closed up 1.05 to 17.85.
The Dow closed at 9985..45, down 85.04, with the 200-day moving average
looking like some tough resistance. The Nasdaq closed down 64.21, to 1918.68;
the S&P 500 lost 9.60 to 1139.96; and the
(
SOX.X |
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PowerRating) fell 5.58%.
Reports of a “major flaw” that could allow hackers to wreak havoc
in the new Windows XP operating system sent Microsoft
(
MSFT |
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PowerRating) shares down
2.73 to close at 66.76.
Juniper
(
JNPR |
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PowerRating) announced that it would miss Q4 estimates by 50%; the
stock plunged 4.05 to 18.88.
Jabil Circuit
(
JBL |
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PowerRating) missed by a penny, and shares were slammed, down 3.50
to 21.25.
Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
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PowerRating) said profits were off by 20% as merger business dried
up. GS fell 2.10 to 92.31 Lehman Brothers
(
LEH |
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PowerRating) said Q4 earnings
declined by two-thirds, and took a $71 charge for costs associated with the
terrorist attacks. LEH dropped .36 to 66.17. Wall Street firms are cutting staff
because of reduced investment banking business.
An upgrade in the retail sector boosted AnnTaylor
(
ANN |
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PowerRating), up 1.45 to
33.21; Ross Stores
(
ROST |
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PowerRating) up .39 to 30.65; and Office Depot
(
ODP |
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PowerRating),
up .65 to 17.55.
Worries of exposure to Enron and Argentina sent shares of JP Morgan
(
JPM |
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PowerRating)
down 1.48 to 36.52.
Reminder: Friday is Triple Witching.