They’re Cautiously Confident…
Stocks opened stronger on Thursday and
experienced a roller coaster ride late in the afternoon.
With the help of some cautiously
optimistic statements from Nokia
(
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testimony to Congress yesterday, the markets moved higher with a so-so vengeance
only to fall off in the latter part of the day.
Technology took home the prize for the trading session as the Semiconductors
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led the
charge.
The markets ended fractionally higher
for the day with the Dow Jones Industrial eking higher 0.2% while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite
followed suit and closed up 1.5%.
Microsoft
(
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earnings this evening as is Ebay
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riding on the last of the big names to report earnings. Will Microsoft’s
announcement help pull the markets up after IBM
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Thursday’s session? Analysts are fairly confident that MSFT’s revenues for
the quarter will not be disappointing.
Nokia
(
NOK |
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session by gaining 14.7% after the company reported earnings of 15 cents a share
for Q2, ahead of the company’s guidance of 13 to 14 cents a share.
Payment authorization company Global
Payments
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PowerRating) rose 13.4% after the company posted a 31% increase in Q4
profits.
SAP Atiengesellschaft
(
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higher 11.7% after the software company beat expectations by reporting Q2
profits which jumped 78%.
RF Micro Devices
(
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20.8% after CIBC World Markets upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy.
Elantec Semiconductor
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caught the wave up as the stock rose 18.1% after being shellacked in yesterday’s
session.
Sectors rising for the day were
the Semiconductor Index
(
SOX.X |
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(
OSX.X |
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(
OIX.X |
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higher by 1.3%
Individual stocks losing ground in the
session were accompanied by ITT Educational Services
(
ESI |
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after Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded the stock.
Retailer Timberland
(
TBL |
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14.4% after the company reported a 17% increase in earnings at 26 cents a share,
but fell short of analysts’ expectations for 28 cents according to Thomson
Financial/First Call.
Travelocity.com
(
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were pummeled for the session. The stock fell 15.8%.
Verisign
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ahead of the company’s earnings announcement this evening
Digital watermark tech giant, Digimarc
(
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Sectors sliding in the red were the
Insurance Sector
(
IUX |
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(
GIN |
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fell 0.7% and the Banking Sector
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Have a great evening,