ORCL Slips In After Market — Here’s Why

  • June 15, 2004
  • Brice Wightman

Stocks rallied
early, sold off later in the session but still managed to stay green.  Consumer prices rose
last month with CPI up 0.6% for the month of May; when excluding food and energy
costs, CPI was up 0.2%. These key figures paved the way for a minimum 25
basis-point hike when the Fed meets later this month. Energy costs rose 4.6% with
gasoline prices up a whopping 8.1%. The Michigan Sentiment ticked up to 95.2,
much higher than the forecasted 90.8.

In his confirmation hearing, Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee
that rate hikes will probably be measured, saying inflation was “not likely to
be a serious concern.” It is widely expected that the Fed will raise rates when
they next meet on June 30.


Lehman Bros.
(
LEH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat estimates, reporting Q2 at$ 2.01 vs. $1.90, with net up 39% and revenue
rose 28%. Fixed income revenue was better than expected.  Bear Stearns
reports tomorrow before the open, with a $2.23 estimate.


The CFO of Red Hat
(
RHGAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
stepped down; the stock fell 9%.


Three Dow stocks made fresh
52-week new highs today, these include Proctor & Gamble
(
PG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Boeing
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). Lucent
(
LU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was higher after nabbing three new deals to supply telecommunications equipment
in Asia.


After the bell,
Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by a penny and beat on revenues. Q4 revenues were
$3.1 billion vs. 3.07 billion, net income $990 million. New software licenses
rose 15%.















Dow size=2>+45.70size=2>10380.43
S&P 500
+6.71size=2>1132.00
Nasdaq size=2>+25.61size=2>1995.60

Strong today were Hardware
(
HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.33%,Oil Services

(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.07%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +2.03%,  Internet
(
ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.95%.


Economic news today: CPI up 0.6%, Core CPI up 0.2%, Business Inventories up 0.5%. NY Empire
state index missed expectations at 30.2 and Michigan sentiment rose to
95.2.


10-year Notes were +1 150 at
108 165


The dosize=2>llar was -0.84 at 89.10


Gold was +5.00 at
387.70


Crude Oil was -0.51 at 37.42


Volume was 1.34 billion on the
NYSE, and 1.53 billion on the Nasdaq.


Market breadth was
negative.



































NYSE Issues
Advancing 2591Up Vol 1043
Declining753Down Vol 286
Ratio 3.443.64
face=Arial>Nasdaq
Advancing 2131Up Vol 1204
Declining 1011Down Vol 308
Ratio 2.103.90

Stocks in the
news:


Charles Schwab
(
SCH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said they
would miss earnings forecasts and will cut jobs to reduce annual costs by
$150 million. Its daily average revenue trades fell 18% to 135,100 in
May. The company said it will cuts jobs to save $150 million per year.


Affymetrix
(
AFFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose after lifting 2004 earnings
guidance by 10 cents a share with EPS of 50 cents.


Corning
(
GLW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reaffirmed previous earnings forecasts
and said volume growth will exceed 50% for the year with continued high demand for
LCD screens.


The USPS agreed to lease General Motor’s
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) minivan
powered by fuel cell to deliver mail in the DC area for two
years.


Brice Wightman


bricew@tradingmarkets.com