Lower Opening Ahead
A lower opening is in the
cards for the market as S&P Futures are down 5.93 and the the
Nasdaq 100 futures down 13.37. This sell-off has been triggered by a new
accounting anomaly — this time reported by Merck
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PowerRating). The company said
that it reported more than revenues of $14 billion that it never really
collected. The market closed substantially higher on light volume Friday.
The negative impact is reflected in the pre-market activity of the Nasdaq
Big Caps: Dell Computer (DELL)
down 1.24 at 24.75, Cisco Systems (CSCO)
down 0.07 at 13.98, Intel (INTC)
down 0.088 at 19.452, Microsoft (MSFT)
down 0.13 at 54.72, Oracle (ORCL)
down 0.16 at 9.82, Sun Micro (SUNW)
down 0.088 at 5.302, Yahoo (YHOO)
down 0.37 13.25, and Qualcomm (QCOM)
down 0.278 at 28.262.
Manpower
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MAN |
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PowerRating) has been upgraded by Lehman Brothers to “buy” from
“market perform” based on improving fundamentals and attractive valuation.
Credit Suisse First Boston reinstated coverage on Nokia
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NOK |
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PowerRating) with a
“buy” rating. It based the favorable outlook on the Finnish cell phone maker’s
track record of having met earnings during the difficult business environment.
Ebay
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PowerRating) reported that it will buy electronic funds transfer
business PayPal
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PowerRating). Also, Ebay reported that its second quarter
earnings would be higher than earlier expectations.
Prudential Securities came in with an upgrade of JM Smucker
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PowerRating) from
“hold” to “buy.”