Stocks Lower, Plus, Viacom Busted!
Stocks are lower–with
the Dow down by triple digits–led by disappointing earnings from Morgan Stanley
and a Cisco downgrade.
Higher oil prices added to the downside pressure on stocks. A sharp fall in
crude inventories due to Hurricane Ivan sent oil near $47.
Morgan Stanley
(
MWD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed, reporting 0.76 vs. a 0.95 estimate.
Trading revenues fell 62%. Cisco
(
CSCO |
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PowerRating) was downgraded at Deutsche
Bank.
The FCC fined Viacom $550,000–$27,500 for
each affililiate–for airing the controversial Super Bowl halftime show
featuring Janet Jackson.
| Dow | -111.34 | 10133.66 |
| S&P 500 | -12.56 | 1116.71 |
| Nasdaq | -27.42 | 1893.76 |
Strong sectors are: Gold
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.01%.
Weak are: Semis
(
SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-2.48%, Brokers
(
XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.76%, Biotech
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.04%.
10-year Notes are -030 at 113 130
The dollar
is +0.40 at 88.53
Gold is -1.30 at 406.40
Crude Oil is +0.74 at 47.50
Volume is 620 million on
the NYSE and 775 million on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is negative.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 809 | Up Vol 637 |
| Declining | 2318 | Down Vol 2257 |
| Ratio | 2.86 | 3.54 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 79 | Up Vol 171 |
| Declining | 480 | Down Vol 554 |
| Ratio | 6.07 | 3.23 |
Stocks in the News
Bear Stearns
(
BSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat, reporting $2.09 vs. $1.98.
Federal Express’
(
FDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) profits more than doubled.
Autozone
(
AZO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed and was light on revenues.
Eastman Kodak
(
EK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) backed its forecast, saying sales of digital
products are growing faster than expected.
General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
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PowerRating) will cut 3,000 European jobs.
Jabil Circuits
(
JBL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by a penny.
Christopher & Banks
(
CBK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in-line, but sales fell short of
estimates.
Lucent
(
LU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is planning cuts in retiree health care benefits.
Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will report after the close. Estimates
are 0.38.
Interstate Bakeries
(
IBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) filed for bankruptcy.
Biomarin (BMRN)
guided lower for 2004.
Brice Wightman