Spitzer Widens Probe–These Stocks Are Affected

Stocks are mixed after mixed
economic data this morning.


The Consumer Price Index for September rose 0.2%, as
expected, but the Core CPI increased more than expected, up 0.3%, its fastest
pave in five months. Housing starts fell 0.6%, and building permits rose +1.8%.

Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported 0.28, beating by 0.14. Its strong finance arm offset
losses in autos.

Technology stocks are higher on a good report
from IBM and Texas Instruments yesterday.  IBM reported $1.17,
beating by 0.03; revenues were $23.4 billion, in-line.  Texas
Instruments

(
TXN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported 0.32 vs. a 0.27 estimate; revenue was $3.25
billion. The Semiconductor book-to-bill ratio fell to .0.96 in September.

Health insurers, however, are lower after the
Hartford Courant
reported Cigna
(
CI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Aetna
(
AET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

have received subpoenas from Eliot Spitzer’s office. The New York Post
reported that Spitzer’s office was widening the insurance probe. United
Health

(
UNH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is down 9%, Humana
(
HUM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is off 8%, and
Anthem

(
ATH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is 8% lower.

Gas and crude oil are down for the 3rd day in a
row.

After the close, Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is due
to report; the estimate is 0.19. Also reporting is Electronic Arts
(
ERTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
; the estimate
is 0.35.

Dow +15.19 9972.10
S&P 500 -2.25 1111.75
Nasdaq +6.68 1943.20

Strong sectors are: Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

+2.79%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.16%, Computer Tech
(
XCI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.53%.

Weak sectors are: Healthcare
Providers

(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, -9.35%, Insurance
(
IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.45% and
Airlines

(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.96%.

10-year notes are: -040
at 113 035

The dollar is -0.19 at
86.83

Gold is -2.70 at 419.30

Crude Oil is -0.64 at 52.20

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume is 774 million on the NYSE and
833 million on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth is positive.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1539 Up Vol 316
Declining 1542 Down Vol 376
Ratio 1.00 1.18
Nasdaq
Advancing 1444 Up Vol 504
Declining 1411 Down Vol 278
Ratio 1.02 1.81

Stocks in the News

Altria Group
(
MO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
posted a higher quarterly profit of 1.29/share.

McDonald’s
(
MCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported 0.61, in-line.

Boston Scientific
(
BSX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was in-line at 0.47; Q3 sales rose 69%.

Ameritrade
(
AMTD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat by 0.03 but was light on revenues.

Taser
(
TASR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat by 0.04, reporting 0.19, and raised 20004
revenue guidance.

Wells Fargo
(
WFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
missed by 0.14. Mortgage revenues fell 40%.

Stanley Works
(
SWK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat the street and guided higher.

Brice Wightman