The Latest Company To Enter China, Plus Guidance After The Close

Stocks were
mixed Tuesday, drifting in a narrow range.
The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 58.6, as traders pushed
stocks lower at the open as they were concerned of a slower pace of expansion.
U.S. factory orders also fell by 1.4% in November, meeting analysts
expectations.

Computer maker Gateway
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warned of lower revenues for the next quarter due to increased competition. The
daily chart of GTW looked pretty good until this morning. Revenue forecasts were
lowered to $880 million. Starbucks reported an 11% increase in same-store
sales and raised full year earnings targets to 84 cents a share as its stock hit
a 52-wk high. Giant retailer Wal-Mart
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said it would buy back up
to $7 billion of its own stock. This is a $2 billion increase from its original
planned $5 billion buyback. The USDA said there was a “high degree of certainty”
that the Washington State Mad Cow was from Canada. Seven Eleven
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SE |
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said it got Chinese approval to build 500 stores in Beijing, with the first
stores opening in the Spring. SE rose 15% to 18.55.

Dow
-5.41

10538.66
S&P 500 +1.45
1123.67
Nasdaq
+10.01

2057.37

The day’s leading sectors were
Airlines
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XAL.X |
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, +4.14, Networking
(
NWX.X |
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+2.29%, Disk Drive
(
DDX.X |
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+1.58%,
Hardware

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GHA.X |
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+0.68%, and Healthcare [HMO.X|HMO
.X]
+0.64%.

Weak today were Amex Gold
Bugs

(
HUI.X |
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-2.18%, and Chemicals
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CEX.X |
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-0.89%.

Economic news releases included
Factory orders that dropped 1.4%, and ISM numbers that came in at 58.6.

Volume was
1,494,599,000 on
the NYSE, and
2,255,889,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was positive.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1724 Up Vol
778
Declining 1580 Down Vol 689
Ratio 1.09 1.12
Nasdaq
Advancing 1808 Up Vol
1414
Declining 1409 Down Vol
812
Ratio 1.28 1.74

Stocks in the news:

After the close, Guitar Center
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GTRC |
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said it expects to beat Q4 consensus. JDA Software
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JDAS |
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guided
lower, to $0.00-0.01 vs. $0.10 consensus. Boeing said it delivered 281 airplanes
in 2003, and for the first time in the company’s history, fewer than its
competitor, Airbus, which is expected to announce 300+ planes delivered.

Tweeter Home Entertainment
(
TWTR |
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shed 11% after warning investors it may miss first-quarter earnings. It expects
to earn 18 cents, down from the 22-cent consensus. Same-store sales for the
holidays were lower but overall revenue is up 2%.

The US Army granted Halliburton
(
HAL |
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the right to continue supplying fuel for its divisions in Iraq, despite Pentagon
audits that found Halliburton responsible for overcharging for fuel. HAL rose
3%.

Sun Microsystems
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SUNW |
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won a
multiyear contract with Office Depot
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OD |
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to sell computer servers and
store equipment. SUNW rose 7% to close at 5.03.

In a move that was highly anticipated by Wall
Street analysts, Yahoo!
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YHOO |
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will stop using Google’s search
technology as it prepares for a larger battle once Google launches its IPO.

bricew@tradingmarkets.com