Is The Dollar Really Weak?
This piece was
written by Greg Che.
Markets opened lower Wednesday and are
continuing to trade that way.
Earnings reports from companies like
Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
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PowerRating), Nvidia
(
NVDA |
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PowerRating) and BEA Systems
(
BEAS |
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PowerRating),
all of which were good, could not ignite the tech-laden Nasdaq to climb higher
this session.
The U.S. dollar fell to its May lows
against the yen and eurodollar after the IMF said the dollar could face a steep
devaluation due to the large current-account deficit. The White House has
reaffirmed its Strong Dollar Policy as the markets continue to doubt this. CNBC
will be interviewing Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill on the current slide the
dollar has made.
Breadth thus far for the session is
negative.
The Nasdaq is down 34.64 at 1929.89, the
Dow is down 30.17 at 10382.00, and the S&P 500 is down 6.41 at 1180.32.
Abercrombie & Fitch
(
ANF |
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PowerRating) is
trading higher this afternoon after Bear Stearns upgraded it Attractive from
Neutral. ANF is at $32.15.
Teva Pharmaceuticals
(
TEVA |
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News |
PowerRating) is up
3.75 on news that the company won a case brought by Glaxo Smith Kline
(
GSK |
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PowerRating)
on a U.S. patent for the drug Ralafen.
Xcare Net
(
XCAR |
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PowerRating) shares are
moving higher and are trading at 1.18 after the company reporting record Q2
results.
Express Scripts
(
ESRX |
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PowerRating) is up 1.61
at 57.45.
Harman International Industries
(
HAR |
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PowerRating)
is scaling higher by 2.96 after announcing that the new contracts from Daimler
Chrysler AG’s Mercedes-Benz division would increase earnings growth by 25%.
Agriculture equipment maker Deere
& Co
(
DE |
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PowerRating) shares are moving up after Bear Stearns upgraded the company
from Neutral to Attractive. The stock is up 1.34.
On the downside, Watson Pharmaceuticals
(
WPI |
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News |
PowerRating)
continues its descent lower, losing 3.80.
Ebraer Empresa Brasileira De
Aeronautic
(
ERJ |
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News |
PowerRating) is sliding lower as the Argentine debt crisis continues to
loom on the country’s markets. It is currently losing 3.45.
Checkfree
(
CKFR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is trading down
4.18 after the company was downgraded by Merrill Lynch from Near Term
Accumulate/Long Term Buy to Near Term Neutral/Long Term Buy, ABN Amro from Buy
to Hold and Robertson Stephens to Buy from Strong Buy.
After being downgraded by Banc of
America to Market Perform from Buy, Checkpoint Software
(
CHKP |
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News |
PowerRating) is trading
at 2.82.
Skilsoft
(
SKIL |
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News |
PowerRating) shares are
getting pummeled, falling 6.35 after the company posted Q2 loss of 23 cents,
beating analysts’ consensus of 24 cents according to Thomson Financial/First
Call.
Sectors in the green on a percentage basis
are the Oil Services Index
(
$OSX.X |
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PowerRating), Oil Index
(
$XOI.X |
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PowerRating) and the
Insurance Index
(
$IUX.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating). Lagging in the session are the GSTI Internet Index
(
$GIN.X |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating), the Interactive Week Internet Index
(
$IIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and the
Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
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PowerRating).