Why Today’s Action In The Nasdaq Is Significant

August 6, 2003
Brice Wightman

Stocks were
mixed Wednesday, with
the Nasdaq closing below its widely
watched 50-day moving average — it has not been below the key average since
mid-March. Cisco Systems
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was in the spotlight as the company
delivered in line fourth-quarter results. However, tech stocks came under
pressure as investors were looking for a more stellar report from the networking
giant. The stock fell below its 50-day moving average after falling more than 6%.

In economic news today,
tomorrow we will have weekly jobless claims, productivity, wholesale
inventories, and consumer credit.

The 10-year U.S. Note
was +115 at 112 065.

The dollar was +0.05 at
96.42.

Gold was -0.90 at 352.

Crude Oil was -0.48 at
31.70.

Volume was
1,455,627,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,872,736,0000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was mixed,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by 1.03, and up volume over
down volume by 1.27. Nasdaq declining issues over advancing issues at 1.63, and
down volume over up volume at 4.07.

Top Dow stocks were:

Stocks in the news:

Online billing service provider
CheckFree
(
CKFR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 20% after its latest
quarterly results. For its fourth quarter, the company reported a loss of 19
cents a share compared to a loss of 67 cents a share in the year-ago period.
Revenues rose 13% to $144.6 million. Excluding items, the company earned 22
cents a share or a penny below estimates. Looking ahead, the company sees
first-quarter results between 18 to 20 cents compared to consensus estimates of
22 cents a share.

Networking giant Cisco
Systems
(
CSCO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 6% despite reporting fourth-quarter
results excluding items in line with estimates. The company reported
fourth-quarter results of 14 cents a share on revenues of $4.7 billion compared
to 10 cents a share on revenues of $4.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding one-time charges, the company earned 15 cents a share, matching
analysts’ estimates. During the company’s conference call, CEO John Chambers did
suggest improving business conditions.

Drugmaker ICOS
(
ICOS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
slid 15% after the company reported a narrower-than-expected
second-quarter loss, but sees losses widening in 2004. In its latest quarter,
the company reported a loss of 19 cents a share compared to a loss of 66 cents a
share in the year-ago period. This was better than analysts’ expectations of a
loss of 41 cents a share. ICOS’s better-than-expected loss could be attributed
to a one-time gain from the termination of an agreement with Biogen
(
BGEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Looking ahead, the company is expecting to lose approximately $3 a share due to
the launch of a new anti-impotence drug. Wall Street had been expecting a loss
of $1.23 a share.

Fast food giant Jack in the
Box
(
JBX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained after the company reported its latest
quarterly results. For its fiscal third quarter, the company earned 54 cents a
share or a nickel better than analysts’ consensus estimates. However the results
were below last year’s levels of 60 cents a share.

Software giant Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was fractionally lower after being faced with a possible fine from
the European Union. The EU is seeking to fine Microsoft for abusing its dominant
position. Much of the charges could be attributed to the software giant’s
bundling of its Windows Media Player with its Windows operating system.

Online health information
provider WebMD
(
HLTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell after the company reported
that losses widened in its latest quarter. The company reported a second-quarter
loss of 9 cents a share compared to a loss of 7 cents a share in the year-ago
quarter. Excluding charges and items, the company would have earned 11 cents a
share or a penny above estimates.

If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to email me.

Vincent Mao

vincentm@tradingmarkets.com

Why Today’s Action In The Nasdaq Is Significant

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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