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 FRIDAY DECEMBER 1ST. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10373.54 = -40.95

NASDAQ: 2645.29 = +47.36

S & P 500: 1315.23 = +0.28

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed mixed today as bargain hunters moved funds from blue chip stocks to technology stocks. NASDAQ trading volume was very heavy at over 2.2 billion on a Friday. Gainers included: ADC Telecomm, Advanced Micro Devices, AOL, Applied Micro Circuit, Applied Theory, Aviation Sales, Bea Systems, Broadcom, Centaur Mining, Chase Manhattan, Ciena Corp, Ciphergen Biosciences, Cisco, CMGI, Commerce One, Compaq, Corning, CSK Auto Corp, DaimlerChrysler, Disney, Disney Internet Group, Eircom Plc, EMC Corp, Ensco International, Ericsson, Ford Motor Co., Gateway, GE, Global Crossing, GM, Go2Pharmacy, Ibeam Broadcasting, Jabil Circuits, JDS Uniphase, Juniper Networks, Keithley Instruments, Lucent Technologies, Lycos, Metals USA, Metricom, Microstrategy, Navisite, Network Appliances, Nokia, Oplink Communications, Owens-Illinois, Palm, Quaker Oats, Qualcomm, Robert Half International, Schlumberger, SCI Systems, Scientific Atlanta, Siebel Systems, Solectron, Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments, TNPC, Transocean Sedco, US Wireless, VDI Multimedia, Veritas Software, WD Internet Group, Webb Interactive, Worldcom, and Xilinx.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

The National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM) reported that its NAPM Index, a good measure of manufacturing activity in the nation, dropped to 47.7% in November - any figure above 50% means an expansion. Imports and Prices Paid indices rose above 50%, and New Export Orders, Backlog of Orders, Production, and New Orders indices also rose but below the 50% mark. Supplier Deliveries, Inventories and Employment indices all dropped and were below the 50% mark.
US Construction Spending rose 0.8% in October to $825 billion. Industrial Construction led the increase with 5%, followed by Retail and Warehousing, Multifamily Housing, and Educational construction. All these data continue to point to an economy slowing nicely. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on this topic. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to family medical problems, we have put our business operations up for sale on Yahoo! Auction (AUCTION NUMBER: 45799189). We are a family run operation that owns this web portal. The UK and Ireland portal will be in beta testing hopefully before the end of November. We also own over 70 other domain names of influential financial services companies we acquired to set up a financial complaint site (it is legal to use these names to set up a complaint site, but not to resell to these companies in hopes of making a profit). To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting Contact Information page.
US Light Truck sales in November were the weakest in 18 months, thus prompting giants like DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor to scale back production and lay off workers in their North American operations. GM reported a sales drop of 8.1%, Ford reported a drop of 7.2%, while DaimlerChrysler saw a drop of 5.5%.
US Oil futures dropped $1.77/barrel to close at #32.05/barrel despite Iraq carrying out its threat to stop production. Iraq stopped production yesterday due to pricing disputes with the United Nations. OPEC nations immediately pledged to cover the drop so as to keep prices from rising.
Palm gained 12.44% after Goldman Sachs analyst Vik Mehta stated that the company is on track to achieve its financial goals for the quarter.
Navisite, a web hosting company, gained 35% after internet incubator CMGI said it will speed up its promised $80 million investment in the company. CMGI owns majority shares in Navisite. CMGI gained a fraction.
Webb Interactive, an ecommerce applications developer, gained 50% after announcing that some of its executives will purchase stocks in the company as a show of confidence in the company.
Applied Theory, a web solutions company for major corporations, gained 123.53% after announcing the acquisition of Tabor Interactive, a Denver, Colorado based web developer. Applied Theory also announced that America's Job Bank, the world's largest online employment database, awarded it a $82 million contract to expand its hosting and other services.
Oplink Communications gained 53.17% after Robertson Stephens initiated coverage of the company with a "buy" recommendation. Oplink is also to present at the JP Morgan Optical components and communications IC conference.
Robert Half International, a recruitment and staffing services company, gained a fraction after it was announced that it will replace Associates First Capital on the Standard and Poor 500 Index. Associates is being acquired by Citigroup. Associates was unchanged, while Citigroup lost a fraction.
Pepsico lost 6.61% after renewing acquisition talks with Quaker Oats. Quaker Oats gained 1.94%.
Compaq Computer gained 6.05% after announcing a $1 billion stock repurchase plan. The Wall Street Journal reported that Compaq had a good thanksgiving sales. This lifted other computer makers' stocks.
Jabil Circuits gained 14.80% after CS First Boston upgraded the stock. Other Contract Equipment Manufacturers (CEMs) also gained on good comments from analysts.
NOTE: Our Q4 Quarterly forecast is out.
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

The market's rally will likely be broader on Monday. The uncertainty of the presidential elections still have the potential to thwart the rebound.
Bargain hunting and the end of uncertainty in the presidential elections are the only things that can really turn this market around. Once again we feel the market might be over-reacting about Internet advertising again. We agree with the caution on Amazon, but not necessarily the same on AOL, eBay, and Yahoo!. Visit our Quarterly forecasts for reasons why we are cautious on Amazon. As for AOL, eBay, and Yahoo!, we expect advertising revenues to decrease, but not as significant as everyone is chanting. Check out our recommendations below:
REITERATION: The battered Technology, Internet, and Biotechnology stocks ARE very attractive now. Non-PC chip makers, 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: Technology Biotechnology, and Internet Infrastructures stocks are a bargain.
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 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 30TH. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10414.49 = -214.62

NASDAQ: 2597.93 = -109.00

S & P 500: 1314.95 = -26.96

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets plunged due to earnings warning and economic data that got many investors worried that the economy might be slowing too fast. NASDAQ trading volume was very heavy as it closed at yet another new lows for the year. Gainers included: American Eagle Outfitters, Applied Imaging, AT&T, Archer Daniels Midland, Ariba, Array Pharmaceuticals, Blockbuster, Broadcom, Cable Design, Chell Group Corp, Ciena Corp, Citigroup, Community Health System, Crossroads Systems, Digital Impact, Disney, EMC Corp, Ericsson, Frontier Oil, Genesis Energy, Healthaxis, Healthsouth, Informix, Juniper Networks, Keystone Consolidated, Lanier Worldwide, McData, New Focus, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Novatel Wireless, NTT DoCoMo, Oracle, Palm, Quest Diagnostics, Rhodia, Shopko Stores, Support.Com, Talbots, Talk.Com, Variagenics, Veritas Software, Versata, Walmart, Webex, Wellpoint Health Networks, and Yahoo!

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Chain Store Sales grew a modest 3.4% in November, 0.4% less than the month before, and the slowest growth since March. Apparel stores were hardest hit, followed by drug stores. Department Stores sales rose 0.9%.
US Initial Jobless Claims for week ending November 25th. grew 19,000 to 358,000, while the previous week's figures were revised to 339,000. The 4-week moving average rose to 343,000.
Dismal.Com reported that its Online Help Wanted Index, a good measure of the white collar job market, dropped to 121.0 - a 2.5 points in week ending November 25th. The index has been in decline since June. The 4-week moving average also dropped.
US Personal Income dropped 0.2% in October, this is lower than expected and the lowest in 8 months. Spending however grew 0.2%, thus forcing the savings rate to a record low 0.8%. The Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) deflator dropped to 0.2% from last year's 0.4%.
The Conference Board reported that its Help Wanted Index for October gained one point to 79. This was still below the 80's range we have seen since 1994.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported that their Purchasing Managers Index, a good measure of manufacturing activity in the Chicago area, lost 7 points to 41.7 in November. Employment, New Orders, Production, Inventories, Supplier Deliveries all came in lower. All this means the economy is slowing to a soft landing, but not the crash landing the market over-reacted to today. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on this topic. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to family medical problems, we will be putting our business operations up for sale this Friday on Yahoo! Auction. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal. The UK and Ireland portal will be in beta testing hopefully before the end of November. We also own over 70 other domain names of influential financial services companies we acquired to set up a financial complaint site (it is legal to use these names to set up a complaint site, but not to resell to these companies in hopes of making a profit). To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting Contact Information page.
Retail Stores were hit hard after holiday seasons data shows that retail sales showed modest gains in the thanksgiving shopping season, despite deep discounts. Discount stores did better.
AT&T gained after it was announced that Japan's wireless behemoth NTT DoCoMo will buy a 16% stake in AT&T wireless for $10 billion.
Altera and Gateway computer lost 7.71% and 35.59% respectively after issuing earnings warnings yesterday. These 2 stocks were behind the spiral drop in technology stocks today.
Juniper Networks and Ericsson have entered into an alliance to provide voice and IP data over Mobile Internet networks. Juniper gained 7.67%, while Ericsson gained 1.11%.
Informix gained 35.63% after reassuring analysts that it is comfortable with analysts' forecasts, and it is bidding its time before starting to repurchase it undervalued stocks.
Wellpoint Health Networks gained 7.28% after wining the bidding battle for Cerulean Companies for $700 million over Trigon Healthcare. Trigon gained 6.20%.
Healthsouth gained 8.25% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock with a "market outperform" recommendation.
AFTER CLOSE: The Wall Street Journal reported after close of trading that Pepsico has revived its acquisition talks with Quaker Oats.
AFTER CLOSE: Crossroads Systems reported fiscal Q3 losses that were 3 cents a share less than First Call estimates.
NOTE: Our Q4 Quarterly forecast is out.
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

The markets will likely rebound tomorrow due to bargain hunting. We are also hoping the market will react better to the recent economic data because it is still on the mark for a soft landing.
Bargain hunting and the end of uncertainty in the presidential elections are the only things that can really turn this market around. Once again we feel the market might be over-reacting about Internet advertising again. We agree with the caution on Amazon, but not necessarily the same on AOL, eBay, and Yahoo!. Visit our Quarterly forecasts for reasons why we are cautious on Amazon. As for AOL, eBay, and Yahoo!, we expect advertising revenues to decrease, but not as significant as everyone is chanting. Check out our recommendations below:
REITERATION: The battered Technology, Internet, and Biotechnology stocks ARE very attractive now. Non-PC chip makers, 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: Technology Biotechnology, and Internet Infrastructures stocks are a bargain.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 29TH. 2000

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10629.11 = +121.53

NASDAQ: 2706.93 = -28.05

S & P 500: 1341.92 = +5.83

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed mixed as the Dow rallied while the NASDAQ closed lower. The market reacted mixed too as the GDP figures show a slowing economy. NASDAQ trading volume was heavy as it closed at another new lows for the year. Gainers included: ADC Telecom, Altera, AOL, Applied Materials, Applied Micro Circuits, Armstrong Worldwide, AT&T, Avaya, Aviation Sales, Avici Systems, BF Goodrich, Boeing Co, Broadcom, Chyron Corp, Cisco, Citigroup, Comcast, Corning, Corvis Corp, CSK Auto Corp, Dave & Busters, Donna Karen, eBenX inc, General Dynamics, Intel, Internet Commerce, Juniper Networks, Lexmark International, LifeCell, Manhattan Associates, MarchFirst, Merck, Micron Tech, National City Bank, Nokia, Northrop Grumman, Oracle, Outback Steakhouse, Pfizer, Philip Morris, PMC-Sierra, Polydex Pharmaceuticals, RF Micro Devices, Sears Roebuck, Snap On, Time Warner, Transwitch, VSE Corp, Walmart, Worldcom, and Yahoo!

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter was revised downward to a growth of only 2.4%., the lowest growth in 4 years. Spending on New Construction and Imports were revised upward. Consumer, Exports and Business IT demand was still strong.
For week ending November 24th., the Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported that US crude oil inventories decreased by 100,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an increase of 1.8 million barrels. Reuters' survey of analysts expected an increase of 3 million barrels. Both EIA and API reported increases in distillates at 1.7 million and 1.6 million barrels respectively. Reuters' survey expected an increase of only 100,000 barrels. The recent data is showing an economy slowing to the so-called soft landing the Federal Reserve have been shooting for. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more on this topic. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to family medical problems, we will be putting our business operations up for sale this Friday on Yahoo! Auction. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal. The UK and Ireland portal will be in beta testing hopefully before the end of November. We also own over 70 other domain names of influential financial services companies we acquired to set up a financial complaint site (it is legal to use these names to set up a complaint site, but not to resell to these companies in hopes of making a profit). To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting Contact Information page.
Comcast announced that it will offer Juno Online high speed access on their cable systems. Comcast gained 1.67%, while Juno lost a fraction.
Chip maker Applied Materials gained 4.57% after unveiling a single-wafer system.
Yahoo! gained 5.66% after introducing a much secure encryption technology for its e-mail delivery service.
Defense stocks rallied as money moved into them from technology stocks.
Sears Roebuck and AOL announced a pact where Sears customers can order and pay for AOL services at Sears stores, and with their sears card. The two companies will in turn jointly set up estores and do cross promotion. AOL gained 6.90%, while Sears gained a fraction.
BF Goodrich gained 8.66% after announcing that it has sold its performance materials unit for $1.4 billion.
AFTER CLOSE: Chip maker Altera, and computer maker Gateway gave warnings that due to slowing sales in Q4, their fiscal Q4 earnings will be lower. Both stocks are losing aggressively in after hours trading.
NOTE: Our Q4 Quarterly forecast is out.
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