The Running Of The Bulls…
The bulls were running all right, right
out the door as stocks retreated Friday with earnings warnings weighing heavily on
the markets. Traders were anxious for the weekend to start, so they could rest,
relax and regroup to be prepared for next week’s trading sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrials got hammered
in trading as the index lost 2.1%. The Nasdaq Composite did not fare any
better, it closed down 3.6%.
On a bright note we did have some
stocks in the green. Interstate Bakeries
(
IBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 18.9% after the
company reported Q4 earnings of 30 cents with net income rising 94%. Analysts’ expectations for the company were for 15 cents according to Thomson
Financial/First Call.
Calpine
(
CPN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was also a star for
the session as its stocks rose 14.0%. The company gained ground in the session
after announcing that bankrupt Pacific Gas & Electric would repay 100% of
all past due amounts owed to the Calpine.
Edison International
(
EIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained
7.2%.
On the Nasdaq, WebMethods
(
WEBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 17.8%, even after the company warned that it would not meet Q1 estimates
of a loss of 2 cents per share. The company announced it expects a Q1 loss of 9
to 10 cents and plans to cut its staff by 15%.
Also gaining on the Nasdaq was Waste
Connections
(
WCNX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) which rose 3.0%.
Only one sector in the green today and
that was the Oil Services Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) which closed 0.5% higher for the
session.
Stocks which lost ground today were
Advanced Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) which lost 27.3x% and EMC
(
EMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) whose shares
were hammered 26.8% after EMC warned Q2 earnings could fall as much as 76% below
analyst expectations. The two stocks led the data storage sector in the red.
Gaming stock Harrahs Entertainment
(
HET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
shares were pummeled after the casino company reported Q2 earning would be
between 46 to 50 cents a share, however below analyst consensus of 55 cents
according to a survey taken by Thomson Financial/First Call. Harrah’s lost 17.1%.
Sectors leading the charge down were
the Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) which slid 8.5%.
The Interactive Week InternetÂ
Index
(
$IIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 4.5%, and close behind was the
GSTI Internet Index
(
$GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.9%.