Nearing Nasdaq 2000…
Another disappointing consumer confidence report
sent the markets lower at the open, but when Dow and Nasdaq component Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
mentioned in a technology conference that it is becoming more confident in its
financial forecast, the market went into rally mode. Still, all the major
indices were in the red at the close.
The Dow
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 112.16 to 9870.59. The
Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)lost 5.38 to 135.95, bouncing off the .618 retracement from the May high
to the Sept 21 low, and its 200-day moving average. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 7.93 to
1149.49.
Expectations for yet another rate cut were fueled
after Fed Governor Laurence Meyer’s comments indicating there is room to lower
rates. Treasuries were up today on the news, the first day in five.
Existing home sales rose to an annual rate of
5.17 million, but consumer confidence fell for the fifth straight month, and to
the lowest level in seven years.
In the smallest gain in five years, retail
same-store sales rose 2.2% last week, the first holiday week. Many chains
discounted as much as 70% to lure customers. K Mart
(
KM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a Q3 loss
of .45, its third straight quarterly loss. Shares of the retailer have fallen more
than 50% since summer, and closed at 6.38, down .47.
Russia indicated it might cut oil production
further in January; the news send crude prices higher. Halliburton
(
HAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose .90 to 21.86 and Schlumberger
(
SLB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained .92 to 47.22.
Dynegy
(
DYN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Enron
(
ENE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are still
talking, but the rumor now is the buyout price will be much lower than first
thought. DYN gained 1.64 to 40.89; ENE rose .13 to 4.14.
Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) cited slowing economies as they
cut their 2001 sales forecast for a fifth time. The company sees a rebound after
Q2 2002. NOK was off 1.52, at 23.72.
The troubled steel industry asked Bush to levy
steep tariffs on steel imports for four years. Nucor
(
NUE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 12.6 to
49.56; USX-US Steel
(
X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up .27 to 17.08, and AK Steel
(
AKS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
unchanged at 10.68.
Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) helped to drag the Dow down,
closing down 2.17 to 43.35. The company will speak with analysts later this
week.
Presenting at the CSFB Tech Conference today
were, among others,
(
JDSU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down .48 to 11.24,
(
PMCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up .07 to
23.31,
(
EBAY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down .39 to 64.77, and
(
TXN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up .13 to 32.58.