Oracle Wins! Plus, Taser Sees Opportunities In 2 Markets

Stocks
were
mixed on Thursday as higher oil offset a rosy forecast from Nokia


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, which raised guidance for Q3.

NOK shares rose 7%.

The Semiconductor Index had the biggest one-day gain since October of
2003, up over 5%..

The Labor Department reported the steepest weekly decline in first
time unemployment claims since December 2001. Claims fell 44,000 to 319,000 for
the week of September 4. The 4-week moving average is now 339,250 and has been
in the 330,000 to 340,000 range for months.

Home Depot
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will open a store in
lower Manhattan and will be more high end than other locations, sporting a
doorman and concierge, but no parking lot.

New Yorkers pay the highest state and locals
taxes in the nation; Tennessee pays the least. This from a new study by the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Rounding out the top ten are: 2. Maine; 3.
Wyoming; 4. Hawaii, 5.Wisconsin; 6. Rhode Island; 7. Minnesota; 8. West
Virginia; 9. New Mexico, and 10. Louisiana.

After the close, Vishay
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guided
lower for Q3; Atmel
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guided Q3 revenues lower; Take Two
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missed by 0.02. At a Morgan Keegan conference, Taser
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said they were comfortable with their Q3 guidance and said that private security
an consumer represented two major untapped markets. Oracle
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said that it won a lawsuit in which the Department of Justice sought to block
the proposed Peoplesoft acquisition.

Dow -24.26 10289.10
S&P 500 +2.11 1118.36
Nasdaq +19.01 1869.65

Strong today were: Semis
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+5.37%,
Computer Technology
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+1.60%.

Weak were: REITs
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-1.73%, Internet
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-0.96%, Pharmaceuticals
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-0.78%.

10-year Notes were -055 at 113 080

The dollar
was +0.03 at 88.80

Gold was -1.00 at 398.70

Crude Oil was +1.33 at
44.10

Volume was 1.37 billion on
the NYSE and 1.67 billion on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is positive.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 2004 Up Vol 844
Declining 1296 Down Vol 510
Ratio 1.54 1.65
Nasdaq
Advancing 1994 Up Vol 1299
Declining 1089 Down Vol 313
Ratio 1.83 4.15

Stocks in the News


Texas Instruments
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guided revenue lower but will meet its
earnings estimates.

Apple Computer’s
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rating was cut at Bear Stearns.


Charlotte Russe
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cut its profit and sales forecasts.

Amgen
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was cut to Hold at UBS
Warburg.

Priceline
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reported a wider than
expected loss and will lay off 15% of its workforce.

Boeing
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received a contract to build 3
satellites for Direct TV.

Brice Wightman