Mixed Opening
Stocks appear set to open mixed
Tuesday as the two-day FOMC meeting will begin this morning.
AT&T Wireless
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Q4 loss of 14 cents a share on continuing operations, missing analysts’ estimates
by 8 cents, compared to the same quarter a year ago of a profit of 18 cents.
Honeywell International
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posted earnings of 14 cents a share vs. 32 cents for the same quarter a year
ago. Profits from ongoing operations before charges were 55 cents, in line with
analysts’ estimates according to a poll taken by Thomson Financial/First Call.
W.W. Grainger
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earnings of 65 cents a share for Q4, beating analysts’ consensus of 61 cents a
share based on a survey taken by Thomson Financial/First Call.
Postal equipment maker Pitney Bowes
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posted Q4 earnings of 57 cents a share on continuing operations, excluding
special items. Earnings were in line with analysts’ consensus as reported by Thomson
Financial/First Call.
Medical Action Industries
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said Q3 income increased by 45%. The company reported earnings of 16 cents on a
diluted basis compared to 12 cents for the same quarter a year ago.
Fleet Boston Financial
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posted a Q4 net loss, citing the Argentina fallout. Fleet had to take a $1.19
billion charge due to poor performing investments and bad loans.
Cognex Corp
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downgraded by Needham from Buy to Hold after the company reported earnings which
were in line with estimates.
Morgan Stanley downgraded payroll
processors Advance Data Processing
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to Underperform. The firm also lowered its price targets on the companies, ADP
from $60 to $50 and CEN from $19 to $16.
J.P. Morgan upgraded DDi Corp
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from Market Perform to Long Term Buy, citing improving fundamentals. The firm also
put a price target of $14 on the stock.
Raytheon
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Merrill Lynch from Neutral to Near Term Buy.
Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded
CSG Systems
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PowerRating) from Buy to Strong Buy, saying the Kenan acquisition will
boost revenue estimates and the company’s growth rate.