Daily market summary and stock picks

THE "DAILY BREAD" FOR THE MARKET

Daily Morning Insights on the Market

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY OCTOBER 19TH. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10142.98 = +167.96

NASDAQ: 3418.60 = +247.04

S & P 500: 1388.75 = +46.62

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets rallied on strong earnings reports and bargain hunting. Comments from an array of Federal Reserve heads ( visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page for more) also calmed interest rates fears. Gainers included: ADC Telecom, Altera, Amazon, AMD, Applied Materials, Ariba, Atmel Corp., AT&T, AT&T Liberty Media, Aware, Bristol Myers Squibb, BroadCom, Cendant Corp., Chase Manhattan, Cisco, Citigroup, CMG1, Compaq, Commerce One, Conexant System, Covad Communications Group, Dell, eBay, EMC Corp., Ericsson, Exodus Communication, Fannie Mae, FedEx, GE, Global crossing, GM, Healtheon/WebMD, Home Depot, Honeywell International, IBM, Intel, JDS Uniphase, Lockheed Martin, Lucent, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Oracle, PLX Technology, Sprint PCS Group, Sun Microsystems, Tekinsight.Com, Texas Instruments, Tyco International, UAL Corp., UPS, US Airways, WorldCom, Xerox, and Yahoo!

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Trade Deficit for August came in at $29.4 billion, over $2 billion less than economists expected, and less than the revised July levels of $31.7 billion. US exports surged $3.22 billion since July, as imports rose only $1 billion since July.
The Philadelphia Fed Index, a good measure of manufacturing activities in the Federal Reserve District, dropped 3.8% in October, well more that anticipated. The New Orders Index dropped 3.7%, while Manufacturing Inventory rose 8.4%. The 6 Months Outlook Index dropped to 14.0% from September's 24.7%. The Prices Paid Index dropped 20.6%.
US Jobless Claims dropped to 307,000 for the week ending of October 14th. The 4 Week Moving Average came in at 303,000 - a 1,000 drop, but still above the 300,000 mark. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
Lockheed Martin's Chief Operating Officer Louis Hughes is leaving effective October 31 due to personal reasons. Lockheed gained 27 cents.
Sun Microsystems gained 6.69% after reporting strong earnings today.
UAL, the parent of United Airline, reported fiscal Q3 earnings losses of $1.29 a share, well higher than the First Call estimated losses of 54 cents a share, and well off the $2.89 a share profits of fiscal Q3 1999. UAL blamed oil prices, delays and flight cancellations on its woes. UAL expect the same problems and contract costs to lead to more losses in fiscal Q4.
Drug stocks rallied after reporting strong earnings today.
UPS, the world's largest delivery company, reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 60 cents a share, 2 cents a share better than First Call estimates. UPS' global package delivery volume rose 6.2% since fiscal Q3 1999. UPS gained 13.07%.
AOL lost 3.13% as analysts react negatively to its dismal advertisements backlog, despite a strong fiscal Q1 earnings reported yesterday. Investors revisited Yahoo!'s earnings because it spiked up 12.91%. AOL's merger partner Time Warner closed lower in sympathy.
Crude Oil Prices dropped 57 cents to close at $32.91 a barrel.
AFTER CLOSE: Commerce One, a B2B enabler, reported fiscal Q3 losses of 9 cents a share, 3 cents a share less losses than First Call estimates. Commerce One gained 7.92% in regular session, and is gaining aggressively in after hours trading.
AFTER CLOSE: McDonalds, the leading restaurant company, reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 41 cents a share, in line with First Call estimates, but 2 cents higher than previous year. McDonalds blamed the weak Euro for not beating analyst's estimates.
AFTER CLOSE: Reuters reported that, Honeywell and United Technologies have confirmed that they are in talks in a merger deal that could create a formidable US Industrial Manufacturing Company. Honeywell gained a fraction in regular trading, while United Technologies lost a fraction.
AFTER CLOSE: Gillette reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 33 cents a share , in line with First Call estimates. The Gillette Board also removed its CEO and Chairman Michael Hawley, because it wants new leadership that will position the company as a global Brand Name that it should be. Gillette President Edward DeGraan will be the acting CEO, while Richard R. Pivirotto will be the acting nonexecutive Chairman.
AFTER CLOSE: eBay reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 7 cents a share, a whopping 3 cents a share better than First Call estimates, and 6 cents a share better than fiscal Q3 1999 earnings. eBay gained 7.14% in regular trading, and is gaining aggressively in after hours trading.
TRY THIS NEW SERVICES OUT: Checkout our HOT U.S. Cities and Counties Procurement Bids & Small Business Funding Resources page. If you are new, we now have a WEEKEND NEWS update to keep you properly informed for the next market day.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

We expect NASDAQ to rally tomorrow again on eBay and Commerce One earnings reports.
DID SOMEONE SAY BARGAINS!!! The battered Technology, Internet, and Biotechnology stocks ARE looking very attractive now. Non-PC chip makers, software and networking gear companies especially. We are still holding our picks though. Give us your views on this observation here.
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Biotechnology/Biopharmaceuticals, B2B, Technology (Non-PC related stocks), Contract Equipment Manufacturers (CEMs), and Online Brokerage stocks are still our premiere picks.
Expect the major Internet Portal sites to perform very well.
Internet holding and capacity (storage) companies will do very well (check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks).

NASDAQ:

Technology, Biotechnology, Telecommunications, and some Internets will gain. Companies like: 3 Dimensional, Accelerated Networks, Act Networks, Active Power, Advanced Electronic Support Products (AESP), Advanced Power Technology, Akamai Technology, Alamosa PCS, AlpNet, Altera, Alysis Technology, Amdahl, American Medical Systems, Amgen, Amtech Systems, Anaren Microwave, Andover.Net, Apple, Applied Materials, Applied Molecular, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Argonaut Technologies, Ariba, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Ariel Corporation, Arrowpoint, Art Technology Group, Ask Jeeves, Atherogenics, AudioCodes Ltd., Avanex Corp., Avici Systems, Axent Technology, Be Incorporated, Biospherics, Bruker Daltonic, Calypte Biomedical, Cavion Technology, Cellular Technical, Centillum Communications, Centra Software, Centura Software, Charter Communications, Chordiant Software, Cisco Systems, Clarus Corp., ClearNet Communications, CMGI, Cobalt Networks, Comdisco, Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Compugen, Concurrent Computer, Convergent Group, Copper Mountain Networks, Corio, Corvis, Covad Communications, Cyber-Care, Cygnus, Cytogen Pharmaceutical, Dallas Semiconductor, Decode Genetics, Dell, DeltaGen, Disc, Discovery Partners International, Dyax, ebay, Ecogen, Efficient Networks, Elan Corp. PLC, Emerge Interactive, Entravision Communications, Epicor Software, E-piphany, ePlus, Equinix, Ericsson, Esperion Therapeutics, EuroWeb, Excite@Home, EXE Technologies, Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering, Evolve Software, Evolving Systems, Finisar, Floware Wireless, Foundry Networks, FreeMarkets.Com, Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Molecular Oncology, GeoWorks, Giganet Wireless, Gilead Sciences, Glenayre Technologies, GRIC Communications, Hytek Microsystems, iBasis, II-VI inc., Ilex Oncology, Illumina, Immunex, Impath, Impsat Corp., Incyte Genomics, Informix, Infosys Technologies, Inktomi, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, inSilicon, Integrated Telecom Express, Intel, Intermedia Communications, Internet Capital Group, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, JDS Uniphase, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Juniper Networks, Kana Communications, Large Scale Biology, Lattice Semiconductor, Legato Systems, Liberate Technologies, LifeMinders, Linear Technology, Lion BioSciences AG, Looksmart, Luminex, McData, McLeodUSA, The Medicines, Metasolv Software, Methode Electronics, Metricom, Metrix One, Metron Technology N.V., Microsoft, National Security, Neoforma.Com, Net2Phone, NetSilicon, Netsolve, Network Commerce, Network Computing Devices, New Tel, Neurobiological, Nhancement Technology, Niku Corp, Novellus System, Numerical Technologies, Omnivision Technology, ONI Systems, Onvia.Com, OpNet Technologies, Optelecom, Opus360, Oracle, Pac-West Telecomm, Paging Network, Pain Therapeutics, Palm, Panja, Peco II, Pegasystem, Pemstar, PFS Web, Phone.Com, PMC-Sierra, Portal Software, Precis Software, Qualcomm, Qualstar, Quantum Effect Devices, Redback Networks, Red Hat, Regenerate Technologies, Repeater Technologies, Resonate, RiverDeep Group Plc., Robocom, Rosseta Inpharmatics, Saflink, Sage, Sanchez Computer Associates, SDL inc., Sequenom, Silicom Ltd., Siliconix, Smith Micro Software, Societe Europeene Communication S.A., SonicWall, Sonus Networks, Stanford MicroDevices, StorageNetworks, Stem Cells, Sun Microsystems, Sunrise Telecom, Support.Com, Sybase, Sycamore Networks, Synaptic Pharmaceuticals, Talarian, Target Genetics, TCSI, Tegal Corp., Telecommunications Systems, Telik, Telular Corp., Terra Networks SA, TransGenomic, Trega Biosciences, Tripath Technology, TriTel, Triton Network Systems, Turnstone System, Tyler Technologies, UTStarcom, Va Linux, Variagenics, Venture Catalyst, Versata, Versicor, Vertel Corp., ViaNet.Works, Virage, Vitesse Semiconductor, V One Corp., WebMethods, Webex, Witness System, WJ Communications, WorldCom, Xicor, Xilinx, Yahoo! and Zebra Technologies.

NYSE:

Telecommunications, Retailing, Utilities, Banking, and Technology stocks like: 3Com, Aetna, Agilent Technologies, Alcatel, AMD, AOL, American Express, Analog Devices, Applied Biosystems, AT&T, AT&T Wireless Group, Bank of America, Bank One, Bausch & Lomb, Bell Atlantic, Benchmark Electronics, BP Amoco, British Telecom (BT), Cable & Wireless, C&D Technology, Celestica, Celera Genomics, Charles Schwab, Chase, Check Point, Chevron, Cigna, Citigroup, Compaq, Computer Associates, Convergys, CTS Corp., Dominion Resources, Donaldson Lufkin, Dow Chemical, Dot Hill Systems, E.I. Dupont, El Paso Energy, EMC Corp., Exxon Mobil, Federated Dept. Stores, Fifth Third Bank, FirstStar Bank, GE, GTE, Halliburton, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, Home Depot, H Power Corp, IBM, Infineon, JC Penney, John Hancock, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan, Kmart, Kroger Co, Legg Mason, Lucent Technologies (LU), Manufacturer's Services Ltd., Medicis Pharmaceuticals, Merck & co., Merrill Lynch, Micron Technology, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Newbridge Network, Nortel Networks, PE Corp, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Price Communications, Provident Bank, Prudential, Safeguard Scientifics, SBC Communications, Schering-Plough, Schlumberger, Silverline Technology, Sprint, Sprint PCS, STMicroelectron, Sungard Data System, Texas Instruments, Transocean Sedco Forex, Tyco International, Unisys, Viasystems Group, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Vishay Intertechnology, Wal-Mart, Warner Lambert, Wells Fargo, Xerox, and ZDNet will do well.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 18TH. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 9975.02 = -114.69

NASDAQ: 3171.56 = -42.40

S & P 500: 1342.13 = -7.84

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed lower despite the NASDAQ's day long struggle to post a gain for the day with a very heavy trading volume (over 2.5 billion). Gainers included: Altera, Amazon, AOL, Ariba, Atmel, AT&T, AT&T Liberty Media, Cadence Design, Citigroup, Compaq, Dell, DoubleClick, Federated Department Stores, Genzyme Molecular, HealthSouth, Home Depot, Inet Technology, Integrated Measurement, Ixia, Media Arts, MP3.Com, Palm, Pegasus Solutions, PeopleSoft, Philip Morris, SCI Systems, Stryker Corp., Time Warner, Viacom, Whirlpool, and Yahoo!

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Consumer Price Index (CPI), a good measure of consumer inflation, rose 0.5% in September, slightly above expectation. Core CPI, which excludes volatile Energy and Food sectors, rose 0.3%, also slightly above expectation.
US Housing Starts for September rose 0.3% to 1.53 million units. The Northeast and West saw rises, while the South & Midwest experienced declines.
For the week ending of October 13th, the Energy Intelligence Agency (EIA), and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that US Crude Inventory dropped 4.5 million & 3.1 million barrels respectively. Reuters' survey of analysts expected a drop of 3.0 million barrels. EIA and API also reported that, Distillates inventory dropped 900,000 and 540,000 respectively - Reuters expected a rise of 750,000 barrels. What does today's data mean? while it looks like inflationary pressure might be building, a conclusion can't be made by just one data set. We need to see more. Besides, it is very unlikely the Federal Reserve will raise rates in a politically charged month like this November. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
IPO Today: Ixia, a computer networks performance analyzer, closed 57.69% above its offering price.
AFTER CLOSE: Extreme Networks, a networking equipment maker, reported fiscal Q1 earnings of 8 cents a share , 2 cents a share better than First Call estimates, but 3 cents less than whisper numbers reported online. Revenues rose 153%. Extreme is losing in after hours trading (probably due to the whisper numbers).
AFTER CLOSE: Microsoft reported fiscal Q1 earnings of 46 cents a share, 5 cents a share better than First Call estimates, and 18% higher than fiscal Q1 1999. Microsoft is gaining in after hours trading.
AFTER CLOSE: Ariba, a B2B enabler, reported a break even in its fiscal Q4 earnings, well better than the 3 cents a share loss last year. Losing in after hours.
AFTER CLOSE: Time Warner reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 7 cents a share, 3 cents a share better than First Call estimates, and the same amount as fiscal Q3 1999. Net income for the quarter came in at 6 cents a share, a whopping 21 cents a share less than a year ago.
AFTER CLOSE: AOL reported fiscal Q1 1999 earnings, and 1 cents a share better than First Call estimates. e-Commerce revenues rose 80% to $649 million, in line with analysts expectations.
AFTER CLOSE: Broadcom, a chip maker, reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 30 cents a share, 6 cents a share better than First Call estimates, and more than double fiscal Q3 1999 earnings. Broadcom credited the surging demand for broadband for the spectacular increases. Broadcom, which closed lower in regular trading even after the Wall Street Journal reported that it is paying $275.8 million to acquire privately held Allayer Communications, a chip maker for high speed networks, is rising in after hours trading.
TRY THIS NEW SERVICES OUT: Checkout our HOT U.S. Cities and Counties Procurement Bids & Small Business Funding Resources page. If you are new, we now have a WEEKEND NEWS update to keep you properly informed for the next market day.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

We expect the spectacular performance of Microsoft, AOL, Broadcom, etc. - key technology and Internet stocks, and bargain hunting, to help both the Dow and the NASDAQ to rebound tomorrow.
We don't think the losses for Technology and Internet stocks is over yet, but we expect a breather at least once this week. The Dow could rally at least 2 more times for the week. We do see some very good values though:
DID SOMEONE SAY BARGAINS!!! The battered Technology, Internet, and Biotechnology stocks ARE looking very attractive now. Non-PC chip makers, software and networking gear companies especially. We are still holding our picks though. Give us your views on this observation here.
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Biotechnology/Biopharmaceuticals, B2B, Technology (Non-PC related stocks), Contract Equipment Manufacturers (CEMs), and Online Brokerage stocks are still our premiere picks.
Expect the major Internet Portal sites to perform very well.
Internet holding and capacity (storage) companies will do very well (check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks).

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY OCTOBER 17TH. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10089.71 = -149.09

NASDAQ: 3217.96 = -76.32

S & P 500: 1349.97 = -24.65

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

Stocks closed lower as more earning concerns grip the market. Gainers included: Acrrue Software, Alcan Aluminum, Bacou USA, Biopure Corp., Breakaway Solutions, Broadvision, Cisco, Coca Cola, Computer Task Group, Getty Petroleum, HealthSouth, Immetch International, Intel, Microsoft, NetCentives, Ortec International, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Photoworks, Renaissance, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Rogers Corp., Sunrise Medical, Trex Company, Water Corp., and WorldPages.Com.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that its Housing Market Index rose 63 in October. Traffic of potential buyers rose to 46.
US Industrial Production for September rose to 0.2%, well higher than the forecasted losses. Auto Production rose a strong 3.9%, but non-auto manufacturing had the highest overall increases. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
Computer Task Group rose 26.53% after Janney Montogemery Scott upgraded it to an "accumulate" recommendation.
Alcan Aluminum rose 4.42% after Dresdner Kleinwort Benson upgraded it to a "add" recommendation.
Tobacco stocks posted spectacular fiscal Q3 earnings today.
AOL, Yahoo!, and other Internet Portals, online advertising and media companies sustained heavy losses as advertisement revenues worries resurface.
Yahoo! lost 11.43% after Lehman Brothers Internet analyst Holly Becker made known that she expects Internet companies to advertise less on Yahoo!
AFTER CLOSE: Intel reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 41 cents a share, 52% higher than last year. Intel is still rising in after hours trading.
AFTER CLOSE: IBM reported fiscal Q3 earnings of $1.08 a share, in line with First Call estimates, and an 18% increase from last year. Sales rose only 3% for the period. IBM is losing in after hours trading.
AFTER CLOSE: Citigroup reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 67 cents a share, 2 cents better than First Call estimates, and 27% higher than last year. Citigroup lost 1 7/16 in regular trading.
AFTER CLOSE: Avis Group reported fiscal Q3 earnings of $1.36 a share, 4 cents a share better than First call estimates, and 26 cents higher than last year.
TRY THIS NEW SERVICES OUT: Checkout our HOT U.S. Cities and Counties Procurement Bids & Small Business Funding Resources page. If you are new, we now have a WEEKEND NEWS update to keep you properly informed for the next market day.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

We don't think the losses for Technology and Internet stocks is over yet, but we expect a breather at least once this week. The Dow could rally at least 2 more times for the week. We do see some very good values though:
DID SOMEONE SAY BARGAINS!!! The battered Technology, Internet, and Biotechnology stocks ARE looking very attractive now. Non-PC chip makers, software and networking gear companies especially. We are still holding our picks though. Give us your views on this observation here.
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Biotechnology/Biopharmaceuticals, B2B, Technology (Non-PC related stocks), Contract Equipment Manufacturers (CEMs), and Online Brokerage stocks are still our premiere picks.
Expect the major Internet Portal sites to perform very well.
Internet holding and capacity (storage) companies will do very well (check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks).