Nasdaq Higher, With A Little Help From…
Tech stocks, with a little help from Altera
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and BMC Software
(
BMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
led the Nasdaq higher, but the Dow closed in the red, as Alcoa
(
A |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted its
first loss in seven years. The Dow lost 46.50, closing at 10150.55; the Nasdaq
gained 18.61 to 2055.71, and the S&P 500 fell 4.20 to 1160.88. Weak sectors
were banks, brokers, and telecom, with semiconductors the strongest sector.
Rising factory orders for the second straight month signaled a possible
manufacturing recovery, and gave support to Fed officials’ comments earlier that
the economy is showing early signs of recovery.
Factory inventories came in with their tenth straight decline, prompting
General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to boost production by 7% for the first
quarter. The company also plans to to trim 10% of its white-collar staff,
offering early retirement incentives. Meanwhile, Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is expected to
announce job cuts later this week, citing excess capacity.
Consumer debt rose almost $20 billion in November, the largest gain in 60
years, as consumers took car makers up on interest-free loans to buy more cars.
Analysts had been expecting close to a $5 billion.
Gateway
(
GTW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) plunged 25% after warning, but still forecasts a return to
profitability by the fourth quarter. GTW closed at 7.69, down 2.56.
Altera
(
ALTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said Q4 revenue will drop by 7%, and that weakness in the
chip sector may be over. ALTR rose 1.02 to 24.92.
Citing no clear sign of recovery in the telecom equipment market, Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell 1.05 to 15.70. Nortel
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost .29 to 8.30.
Western Wireless
(
WWCA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 5.88 to 199.75 after it said that it added
fewer subscribers than estimated and warning of a poor Q4.
Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was the first Dow component to report, .11, a penny better than
expected, but still way off the .45 from the prior year.
Airlines were strong, with American
(
AMR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Delta
(
DAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Continental
(
CAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
all making two-month highs. Salomon Smith Barney said that by the end of the
year it expects demand will have fully recovered from the 9/11 attacks
aftermath.