What’s Gotten Inside Intel?
Has the largest chip maker on the planet decided to
get into the market prognostication business? Are they in cahoots with
Merrill? What ever the case may be, Intel’s
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the personal computing business will soon stage a recovery. And this sent
stocks sharply higher on the opening, with the blue-chip Dow Jones
Industrial Average adding as many as 100 points before backing off.
The Dow is up 45 at 10555, the Nasdaq is up 4.52 at
2072.90, and the S&P 500 is up 2.50 at 1218.42.
It’s suspicious that the chip giant would, in
essence, fill a hole in Merrill Lynch’s upgrade analysis of the
semiconductor sector yesterday, an action that sent the Nasdaq up to a
20-day high before slipping to a still-respectable gain of 2%. Merrill
upgraded major sub-sectors within the semiconductor industry yesterday —
sending the chip index
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failed to promote the chip-PC area.
In what appears to be an exceptionally self-serving
move, Intel filled this void today with President Barrett’s prediction that
demand will turnaround in the second half of 2001. Intel is the best
percentage gainer on the Dow, up 3.6%. Hewlett Packard
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flashing beefy gains in the 3.5% area.
But also similar to yesterday, Intel’s prediction has
a ring of “I’ve re-invented the wheel” to it. As pointed out in
Wednesday’s Market Flash, the semiconductor index had shown
volatility-compressing, yet rising prices right below its 50-day moving
average. Key semiconductor stocks upgraded by Merrill had already confirmed
upside potential in sub-sectors touted by trading above and then
successfully testing their 50-day lines.
Intel’s “upgrade” of PCs came following a
similar and key technical indication: the computer technology index
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expansion, bar in three weeks yesterday. Is this Intel re-inventing the wheel
or an example that Intel, too, is a technical market analyst?
Chemicals
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semis
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is +1.44%, and utilities
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include
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-1.05%.