Stocks Look To Open Lower
As the weight of
negative corporate earnings, anthrax news, and less than optimistic news on
the Afghanistan war front increase, the market at open is looking to buckle.
Anthrax worries took a step higher as the postmaster general warned that there was no guarantee that mail in the U.S. was safe. A joint chiefs official warned that Afghan fighters might be moving their military infrastructure into urban areas of Afghanistan, complicating the U.S. war effort.
European markets sank overnight and S&P futures are negative in the final
hour before U.S. stocks are set to open.
The European
Central Bank decided to not lower interest rates, a move which hit Nasdaq 100
futures negatively. Analysts had expected a rate cut due to the worldwide
business slowdown.
Durable goods
were off 8.5% for the month of September. This was significantly below the 1
percent that economists had expected. New weekly jobless claims jumped 8,000. The
total, now standing at 504,000, exceed consensus estimates of
500,000.
Oracle
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fell 56 cents to $14.10 on a downgrade from Salomon Smith Barney. Brocade
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Dow Chemical
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reported lower earnings for the third quarter, but these were in line with
estimates.