Why AMAT Will Be In Focus On Wednesday
Stocks
closed red after a seesaw session in which geopolitical issues are still the
focus.
Since March 8, the Dow has dropped 5% to levels investors are finding more in
line with valuations.Â
A major group of investors
including Calpers requested a meeting with Disney’s board to discuss the
company’s performance and strategy. Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported record
earnings of $1.29 billion, beating estimates by $0.86. Equity sales trading
revenue hit $1.6 billion with fixed income/currency revenue at $2.1 billion.
Biogen Idec
(
BIIB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Elan
(
ELN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said they would seek European approval for their MS
treatment. Elan has risen nearly 80% since the initial early announcement of its
Phase III trial results. Lehman Brothers downgraded supermarkets
Kroger
(
KR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Safeway
(
SWY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) citing concerns on their
ability to maintain revenue and earnings numbers.
After the close, Red Hat
(
RHAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported Q4 0.03 in-line, with revenues +43% year/year. Wednesday,
look for earnings from Micron
(
MU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating); consensus is (-0.07). Applied
Materials meets with analysts tomorrow beginning at 11 AM PT.
| Dow | -1.11 | 10063.64 |
| S&P 500 |
-1.49 | 1093.91 |
| Nasdaq | -8.10 | 1901.80 |
The day’s leading sectors were
Hardware
(
HWI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) + 4.08%, Gold Bugs
(
HUI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.36%,Â
Chemicals
(
CEX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.87% and Airlines
(
XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.71%,
Weak today were Oil Services
(
OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.37%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.02%, Biotech
(
BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â
-1.02%, and Energy
(
DXE.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -0.69%.
10-year Notes were +010
at 116 035
The dollar
was +0.03 at 87.84
Gold was +1.67 at 419.24
Crude oil was +0.38 at
37.43
Volume was 660,000,000 on
the NYSE, and 895,000,000 on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth is mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 2117 | Up Vol 809 |
| Declining | 1168 | Down Vol 429 |
| Ratio | 1.81 | 1.88 |
| Nasdaq | ||
| Advancing | 1746 | Up Vol 952 |
| Declining | 1390 | Down Vol 648 |
| Ratio | 1.25 | 1.47 |
Stocks in the news:
PalmOne
(
PLMO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted a smaller net-loss of $9.3 million on strong sales of its
Treo 600. Revenue rose 23% to $242.5 million and Bear Stearns upgraded the stock
on the news.
Family Dollar Stores
(
FDO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) posted
earnings of $81.4 million on revenue of $1.4 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.2%
with gross margins up at 33.8%.
Eastman Chemical
(
EMN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) upped its
quarterly numbers as it now expects earnings to exceed 30 cents due to better
cost cutting and more profitable businesses and products.