Oil Spike Stops Rally

Stocks were lower Wednesday,
with the Dow hitting an intraday 52-week high.
The day started with a gap down and a strong rally, only to be quashed mid-day
by higher oil prices. Oil closed over $53, at a 4-month high.

Lear
(
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PowerRating) warned for Q1 and received five downgrades, including
JP Morgan, Wachovia, Lehman and Prudential. The company sited production cuts by
its larger customers.

Motorola
(
MOT |
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PowerRating) is under pressure handset growth will slow in 2005,
at 7% this year, down from 30% in 2004

American Eagle
(
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PowerRating) beat estimates and raised guidance.
February same store sales rose 32%.

Yahoo turns 10! Click here to get
a coupon for free ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

Bill Gates will be knighted today by the Queen in Buckingham Palace.
The world’s wealthiest man will be made an honorary Knight
Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. As an American
citizen, he cannot use the title “Sir.” He will, however, be entitled to put the
letters KBE after his name.

Employee confidence hit a 12-month low in February, as more employees are
fearful of their finances. One in five are worried about losing their job.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that layoffs rose 17% in February, with 43% of
layoffs due to increased M&A activity.

Tomorrow, look for retail sales; the comps are expected to be tough.

Stocks in the News

Tibco
(
TIBX |
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PowerRating) said Q1 will miss. Goldman said it was ‘comfortable’
with a $7 buy level.

Verity
(
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PowerRating) also said quarterly earnings would fall short of
estimates.

Novellus
(
NVLS |
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PowerRating) raised its Q1 forecast, but lower margins will be
in focus.

Electronic Data Systems
(
EDS |
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PowerRating) won a $4 billion contract

Costco
(
COST |
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PowerRating) missed by a penny; sales rose 10%.

Overstock.com
(
OSTK |
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PowerRating) is the subject of a negative article in
The Wall Street Journal; the article mentioned that the company has never
shown a profit and that it had a much wider 2004 loss.

Pall Corp.
(
PLL |
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News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.02.