New CEO At DELL, Plus, Intel Guides
Stocks
were mixed ahead of tomorrow’s job report,
with technology stocks outperforming the Dow. The ECB and Bank of
England left interest rates unchanged despite global pressure for a lower euro. Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported same-store sales for the month of February up 6.2% with
revenue up 14% to $20.16 billion. It expects a 5% rise in same-store sales for
March. WMT noted great demand for its health, beauty, food and clothing
items. Meanwhile, Target
(
TGT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also beat its forecast, reporting a
7.5% increase in same-store sales.
OPEC said it will consider
raising output if oil prices stay high for the next two weeks. The next
scheduled meeting is March 31.
Disney’s
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) board unanimously
voted to split its chairman and CEO position. Eisner will retain his position as
CEO, with former senator George Mitchell taking over as chairman. Comcast said
it would not raise its bid for Disney.
Intel narrowed its Q1
revenue expectations to $8 – 8.2 billion from the previous range of $7.9 – 8.5
billion. Gross margins are expected to be 60%, no change.
At Dell Computer
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Kevin Rollins will become CEO, succeeding
Michael Dell, who will remain as chairman. Analysts feel this is a logical chain
of succession. The company’s 20th anniversary is in May.
A group which includes
financier Carl Icahn said it owns 6.9% of Imclone
(
IMCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
believes the stock is undervalued. Imclone is the stock at the center of the
Martha Stewart trial.
Clear Channel will pay a $755K fine to the FCC for obscenities made
during the “Bubba” radio broadcast.
| Dow | -4.23 | 10589.09 |
| S&P 500 |
+1.67 | 1152.70 |
| Nasdaq | +10.76 |
2044.13 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Internet [GIN|GIN],
+2.25%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+2.02%, Hardware
(
HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.30%, Gold and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.72%, and Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.36%.
Weak today were Oil
(
OIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.47%
and Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.33% and Energy
(
DXE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.27%.
Economic news releases today
slightly lower initial claims down 7000 to 345K — near a three year low. The
four-week average fell to 352,250. Productivity rose 2.7% and factory orders
were down 0.5%
10-year Notes were +090
at 115 030
The dollar
was -0.04 at 88.14
Gold was +0.42 at 392.54
Crude Oil was +0.88 at
36.68
Volume was
1,233,881,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,757,084,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was positive.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1864 | Up Vol 656 |
| Declining | 1368 | Down Vol 412 |
| Ratio | 1.36 | 1.59 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1945 | Up Vol 1081 |
| Declining | 1165 | Dow Vol 487 |
| Ratio | 1.66 | 2.21 |
Stocks in the news:
Video game publisher
Take-Two Interactive
(
TTWO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported lower earnings of $31.8 million
with revenue dropping to $375.5 million. TTWO was down 1% for the day.
Ask Jeeves
(
ASKJ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
announced a deal to purchase Interactive Search Holdings for $343 million. The
deal is expected to double ASKJ’s market share and reach and should be
immediately accretive.
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) updated
its earnings forecast, expecting to earn 72 cents for the quarter with 2004
earnings to reach $3.14 a share, both in-line with Wall Street consensus.
Staples
(
SPLS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a 29%
increase in earnings with revenue rising 10% for the fourth quarter. The company
also will initiate a 20 cent annual dividend payable to holders of record on
April 26. Sales came in at $3.68 billion with earnings at $211.9 million. The
company also announced a $1 billion stock buyback program.