News From The Fed, Plus, Take A Look At This IPO
Stocks were lower Tuesday.
The Dow briefly touched 10,000 for the first time
since May 2002, but sold off immediately. The Nasdaq closed below its 50-day
moving average. Texas Instruments
(
TXN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) raised fourth-quarter
expectations, with expected to exceed $2.64 billion, up from the previous
forecast of $2.5 billion, and earnings from 18-20 cents a share.
Semis fell 4%, with Intel down 11% month to date. Retailer
Kroger
(
KR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported a 57% drop in net income due to the month-long
strike in Southern California. Costco’s
(
COST |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) net income rose 10%,
as more shoppers flocked to its warehouses.
The Fed left rates unchanged, at a 45-year low of
1%, saying “The probability of an unwelcome fall in inflation has diminished in
recent months and now appears almost equal to that of a rise in inflation.”
“However, with inflation quite low and resource use slack, the committee
believes that policy accommodation can be maintained for a considerable period,”
it added. Former
Federal Reserve Governor Wayne Angell told CNBC that the Fed is at least six
months away from hiking interest rates.
Moody’s cut
California’s bond ratings one notch to Baa from A3, citing gridlock in the
state’s budget deficit.
New issue Ctrip
(CTRP), a Chinese travel site, made a stunning debut. Priced at $18, the stock
opened at $24.01, and traded as high as $37.35 before closing at 33.94.The
company, touted as the “Chinese Expedia,” is a leading consolidator of hotel
rooms and airline tickets. Another travel company, Orbitz, is planning an
IPO soon.
| Dow | -41.85 |
9923.42 |
| S&P 500 | -9.12 | 1060.18 |
| Nasdaq | -40.53 |
1908.32 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Oil
(
OIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.99%, and Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.69%.
Weak today were Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-4.11%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.75%, and Hardware
(
GHA.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -3.47%.
Economic news releases included
wholesale inventories that rose 0.5%, information from the FOMC meeting was not
available at the time this article was written.
10-year Notes were -225
at 111
The dollar
was -0.20 at 88.55.
Gold was +.46 at 408.41.
Crude Oil was -0.42 at
31.76.
Volume was
1,421,698,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,798,769,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1285 | Up Vol 410 |
| Declining | 1994 | Down Vol 999 |
| Ratio | 1.55 | 2.43 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 977 | Up Vol 391 |
| Declining | 2227 | Down Vol 1389 |
| Ratio | 2.27 | 3.55 |
Stocks in the news:
SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
announced plans to lay off 3000-4000 employees as part of cost-cutting
plans. The layoff will result in a one-time charge of $150 million.
General
Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received an upgrade from Goldman Sachs to Outperform. GS
believes GM’s pension problems are behind it. GM also upped its earnings
estimate to $6.25 a share
Washington Mutual
(
WM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
cautioned investors that it expects lower earnings from its mortgage department
due to lower volume and competitive pricing. The company raised 2003 earnings
estimates to $4.15-$4.25 a share.
Newell Rubbermaid
(
NWL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lowered 2003
and 2004 earnings forecasts due to a natural disaster. A tornado in November
caused $20 million worth of damages to its largest plant in Wooster, Ohio. The
company is expected to earn $1.46 to $1.49 a share for 2003. Shares of NWL fell
8.5%.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com