Will ADRs Outperform The US Market?

Stocks consolidated Friday’s
gains and were mixed for the day.

The lock-up period in Google ended
today–177 million shares (65% of the float) became available to sale. Some
Google employees own shares at 0.30.
CIBC
upgraded the stock with a $245 price target. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are
retaining over 85% of their shares. The stock nose-dived at the open but closed
up on the day. CIBC raised its target on GOOG to $245.

Companies are flush with cash. As a matter of
fact, cash/debt ratios are at a 35-year high, and cash represents about 20% of
the S&P 500. What are companies doing with this cash? M&A is up 15% in the last
year and corporate dividends are on the rise; 62 of the S&P 500 companies have
raised their dividends this year.

With over 60% of the S&P 500 companies reporting,
the average report was 4.7% better; the historical average is 3.1% better.

Carly Fiorina, ousted from Hewlett Packard
just last week, may get up to $42 million in severance, stock and pension.

Lehman Brothers is bullish in Europe, as is
Citigroup, which is looking for 15-20% growth in the region. Foreign companies
can be traded in the US via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

Steel makers were stronger on the news that a
major South Korean steel maker is raising prices.

Verizon will buy MCI for $6.7 billion. 

American Int’l Group
(
AIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
received new subpoenas from Eliot Spitzer
and the SEC; the company said it will cooperate.

Dow components reporting this week: KO and WMT on
Wednesday, and HPQ on Thursday. Tomorrow before the open, look for RIG and DE to
report.

Strong sectors were: Internet Commerce
(
$ECM.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

+1.09%  Computer Hardware
(
$HWI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+1.08%   Utilities
 
(
$UTY.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
+0.89%

Weak sectors were: Oil Services
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

-1.33%  Insurance
(
$IUX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

-0.89%  Biotech
(
$BTK.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
-0.83%.

Dow -4.95 10,791.06
Nasdaq +6.19 2082.91
S&P 500 +0.87 1206.17

The dollar was -0.62 at
83.95

Crude Oil was -0.10 at
48

Gold was +2.00 to 424.20

ce=”Arial” size=”2″ face=”Arial”>Volume was 1.2 billion on the NYSE and
1.68 billion on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was mixed.

NYSE Issues
Advancing 1754 Up Vol 608
Declining 1548 Down Vol 522
1.13 1.16
Nasdaq
Advancing 1506 Up Vol 952
Declining 1616 Down Vol 518
1.07 1.83

Stocks in the News

Taser
(
TASR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
received 4 orders worth $675,000.

Isis Pharmaceutical
(
ISIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
licensed its anti cancer drug to
Sarissa.

Leucadia
(
LUK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
received a negative mention in Barron’s.

Network Appliance
(
NATAP |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was upgraded at Friedman Billing
Ramsay.

Gateway
(
GTW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was upgraded at First Albany.

Goodrich
(
GR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
got a positive mention in Barron’s.

Brice Wightman