Watch These Companies Reporting Next Week
Stocks fell
Friday in a
late day selloff, on the largest NYSE volume in 15 months. Payroll
numbers released for the month of December increased by a mere 1,000, much lower
than expected. Some economists predicted gains over 100,000. The dollar fell hard on the news, hitting fresh lows against the
euro at 1.2868. Dow component Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported disappointing
earnings of $340 million. $105 million came from insurance settlements and a
lowered tax rate. Higher steel prices accounted for $5.5 billion of AA’s
fourth-quarter sales. Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) expects higher earnings for 2004 due to
the launch of new vehicles and a market recovery. The US lowered its national
terror threat level to “elevated” from “high.” Lucent
(
LU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
downgraded by Morgan Stanley, closing at 3.70, -0.18.
Oil prices rose to post-Iraq war highs on fears cold weather in the United States will eat into crude stocks that are already at their lowest since 1975. Shares of Royal Dutch
(
RD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell more than 7% after the company cut its proven reserves of crude and natural gas by 20%. The Oil Service Index rose
3.74%.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq gained 4%.
Dow | -133.55 |
10458.89 |
S&P 500 | -10.06 |
1121.86 |
Nasdaq | -13.33 |
2086.92 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Oil Service Sector
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +3.74%, Amex Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.93%, Gold and Silver
(
XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.44%, and Energy [DXE.X|DXE.X]
+1.00%.
Weak today were Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.40%, and Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -2.26%.
Economic news releases included Hourly earnings that rose by 0.2%, Payrolls that rose by 1,000, an unemployment rate of 5.7% and an average workweek of 33.7 hours. Initial claims fell to 353,000 and wholesale inventories rose by 0.5%.
Gold was +3.36 at
425.80.
Crude Oil was +0.39 at
34.37.
Volume was
1,665,920,000 on
the NYSE, and 2,460,109,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
NYSE | Issues | |
Advancing | 1654 | Up Vol 555 |
Declining | 1650 | Down Vol 929 |
Breadth | 0.50 | |
Nasdaq | ||
Advancing | 1283 | Up Vol 1248 |
Declining | 1891 | Down Vol 1114 |
Breadth | 0.40 |
Stocks in the news:
Utstarcom
(
UTSI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) traded lower after
reporting it would sell 12.1 million shares to Bank of America Securities for
$475 million.
Merrill Lynch downgraded SBC Communications
(
SBC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) on valuation concerns as its stock has risen 46% over the year while
its competitors trade at a discount.
Maker of the well-known WD-40 lubricant
(
WDFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
lost 10% after reporting net income of $4.4 million for the quarter. President
Garry Ridge said the company expects to meet its previous earnings and sales
forecasts. Sales for the quarter rose by 2.3% to $52.5 million.
IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) signed an agreement with
RealNetworks
(
RNWK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to develop technology to facilitate cheaper digital
and audio Internet content.
Next week, look for earnings from Intel, General
Electric, Yahoo, Apple, Sun Microsystems, Juniper, and Rambus. Also look for the
JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco starting Monday.
bricew@tradingmarkets.com