Reaction To Intel News After The Close
Stocks were higher
Thursday, with the Dow closing above 9900
for the first time since May 2002. After a midday swoon, the indices rallied
into the close, with Dow stocks leaders, and small caps lagging.
Jobless claims
rose to 365,000 last week, much higher than the expected 354,000. Intel
(
INTC |
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Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is slated to provide a mid-quarter update after the closing bell, with analysts expecting an upward revision to revenue forecasts.
Bush repealed steel tariffs 16 months ahead of schedule. The EU said it would
suspend retaliatory tariffs. Both Nucor and US Steel rose today.
Wal-Mart
(
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News |
PowerRating) reported same-store sales for November rose 3.9%; Target sales
(
TGT |
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News |
PowerRating) were up 6.2%, well ahead of the 5.1% predicted by analysts.
Department stores such as Kohls
(
N |
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PowerRating) and Sears
(
S |
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Chart |
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PowerRating) missed
November sales targets while higher-end stores like Nordstrom
(
JWN |
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PowerRating)
reported better results. High-end retailers are doing better than lower end
stores, with traders selling the good news. Companies are offering fewer
promotions and inventories are lower,
OPEC announced it would leave oil production unchanged,
but hinted it might be cut production the next time they meet on Feb. 10 2004.
Natural gas rose, as did energy stocks, with a supply drawdown and an Eastern
cold snap.
In the semis for 2003, NSM is up +173%, AMD +156%, BRCM +131%, INTC +113%, and
ALTR +97%.
| Dow | +57.40 | 9930.82 |
| S&P 500 | +4.99 | 1069.72 |
| Nasdaq | +8.55 | 1968.80 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.37%,
Natural Gas
(
$XNG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), +2.70% and Oil
(
$XOI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
+1.76%.
Weak today were Airlines
[XAL.X|XAL.X] -2.89%, Amex Gold Bugs [HUI.X|HUI.X]
3.48%, and Gold and Silver [XAU.X|XAU.X]
-2.53%.
The dollar
was +0.25 at 89.75.
Gold was -0.16 at
403.41.
Crude Oil was +.12 at
31.26.
Volume was 1,470,631,000 on
the NYSE, and 2,095,594,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1617 | Up Vol 738 |
| Declining | 1624 | Down Vol 719 |
| Ratio | 1.00 | 1.02 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1479 | Up Vol 1079 |
| Declining | 1695 | Down Vol 977 |
| Ratio | 1.14 | 1.10 |
Stocks in the news:
After the close, Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
raised its Q4 revenue guidance to $8.5-8.7B and is anticipating margins of 62%.
The company will report a goodwill charge of $600 million; the stock traded down
after hours. The stock traded down on the news.
GE
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced plans for major reorganization to boost growth in its media,
transportation, healthcare and advanced material divisions.
Southwest airlines
(
LUV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
shares fell 9% despite reporting higher traffic volume for the month of
November. The company flew 3.8 billion revenue passenger miles last month, up
0.4 billion when compared to the same period last year. Vice Chairman James
Parker also warned investors on higher energy costs for the fourth quarter.
Career Education
(
CECO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) continued
its slide, down another 7%. The media received a letter from former employees alleging management
told employees to commit forgery, fraud or perjury to pass audit inspections.
Qualcomm
(
QCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
upped its earnings and revenue growth outlook for the first quarter due to
stronger demand for wireless phones and digital cameras. It expects to earn 47
to 48 cents. Shares traded 10% higher on the news.
Del Monte
(
DLM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
posted second-quarter net income of $40.2 million on sales of $812 million. The
huge increase in revenue was due to the acquisition of StarKist and other Heinz
divisions.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com