Daily Morning Insights on the Market

• The National Association of Purchasing Managers reported that its NAPM Index for February rose slightly to 41.9%, which was slightly higher than what analysts forecasted - any point below 50% is a contraction. Imports, Employment, and Prices Paid indices all dropped.
• US Jobless Claims for week ending February 24th. rose 39,000 to 372,000, while the week before figures were revised to 333,000. The 4 week moving average rose to 353,000.
• US Personal Income rose 0.6% in January, which was slightly above what economists forecasted. US personal Consumption grew a strong 0.7%, thus forcing personal Savings to drop 1.0%. The PCE Deflator rose 0.5%.
• US Construction Spending for January rose a strong 1.5%. All sectors of construction activity were strong. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
• UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. 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 our Contact page.
• IBM gained 6.16% after a Salomon Smith Barney analyst had positive comments about the company.
• Vesta Insurance gained 14.60% after reporting strong earnings for fiscal Q4 and year 2000.
• Intergraph gained 39.13% after a court ruled in favor of the company in its patent infringement lawsuit against Intel. Intergraph stands to reap huge royalties.
• Fiber optic giant Corning gained 11.87% after announcing that it is cutting 825 jobs due to the slowing fiber optics market and the US economy in general.
• British Energy Plc. gained after Merrill Lynch added it to its "Europe 1" list of preferred stocks Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Innodata gained 20% after setting a 2-for-1 stock split for shareholders recorded March 13. The payout is March 23rd.
• Applied Micro Circuits gained 10.51% despite warning that its Q4 revenues will be between $125 million and $135 million, well below First Call's projection of $175 million.
• AFTER CLOSE: Oracle, which gained 12.50% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after issuing an earnings warning.
• AFTER CLOSE: SBC Communications continued its losses in after hours trading after warning that its fiscal Q1 figures will fall short.
• AFTER CLOSE: Xircom, which lost 2.80% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours after Intel announced that German antitrust regulators have cleared the way for it to acquire the adaptor maker.
• FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page. 
• NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
• 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.

• Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
• We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
• Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
• BARGAINS ANYONE?
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q4 was revised downward to a 1.1% growth, the slowest growth since 1995. Consumer and Business expenditures, and Exports were weak.
• The Chicago PMI Index for February rose 3 points to 43.2% - any point below 50% is a contraction. All indices closed lower except employment, which held steady.
• For week ending February 23rd., the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that, US crude oil inventories rose 2.9 million barrels and 2.2 million barrels respectively. Reuters Survey of leading analysts expected an increase of 5.2 million barrels. For Distillates, the EIA and the API reported decreases of 1.1 million barrels and 992,000 barrels respectively. Reuters expected a decrease of 300,000. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
• UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. 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 our Contact page.
• Juniper Networks gained 2.74% on rumors that it might acquire struggling Redback Networks, which closed lower.
• AT&T gained 0.39% after informing AOL Time Warner today that it will sell its 25.5% stake in Time Warner cable operations. AOL Time Warner lost 1.50%.
• Wal-Mart lost 1.77% after its online unit, Walmart.Com, announced it is cutting 10% of its workforce, or 24 jobs, in attempts to conserve cash.
• Symbol Technology gained 15.13% on a Salomon Smith Barney upgrade.
• H&R Block gained 8.47% on a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgrade.
• Retailers Consolidated Stores and TJX gained after reporting earnings that beat estimates.
• Amazon lost 13.30% as analysts attending the New York Society of Security Analysts took lots as to when Amazon might stop existing as a company due to a credit crunch. Amazon denied the rumors that it is in a credit crunch. Visit our Quarterly forecasts page to read our take on the future of Amazon.
• Worldcom lost 3.62% despite announcing plans to cut 6,000 of its 90,000 worldwide workforce as the economic conditions continue to it the telecommunications giant.
• Persistence Software gained 18.75% after announcing a global e-business caching alliance with Intel.
• Epiq Systems gained 16.87% after reporting record earnings.
• AFTER CLOSE: Gateway Computer, which gained 2.87% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after announcing that it will break even in fiscal Q1 2001 due to a $150 million to $275 million. Gateway is also planning to revise its fiscal 200 results, and closing its Gateway Country stores and withdrawing from global markets due to poor performance.
• AFTER CLOSE: Lam research, which closed down 6.52% in regular trading, is still losing after reporting that it "is at risk" in meeting its current quarter revenue. Lam Research announced plans to slash executive salaries by 10%, instituting a mandatory 5 day shutdown each quarter, and reviewing its spending to cut cost due to a poor market condition.
• AFTER CLOSE: 3Com, which closed up 1.39% in regular trading, is losing in after hors after announcing that it will not meet its fiscal Q3 estimates due to the poor telecom and US economic conditions.
• AFTER CLOSE: Kana Communications is extending its losses in after hours trading after announcing plans to cut 220 jobs, or 20% of its workforce so as to save $30 million to $40 million.
• AFTER CLOSE: DSL.Net is gaining in after hours after reporting fiscal Q3 losses of 47 cents a share, 8 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated.
• FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page. 
• NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
• 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.

• Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
• We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
• Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
• BARGAINS ANYONE?
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• The Conference Board reported that US Consumer Confidence dropped to 106.8 in February, a bigger drop than analysts forecasted, and at the lowest levels in 4 years. On the upside, consumers' plans to buy homes or cars in the next 6 months rose.
• US New Home Sales dropped to 912,000 units sold in January, a slightly higher drop than economists were forecasting. All 4 regions of the country recorded a drop.
• US Durable Goods Orders dropped 6.0% in January, a well higher drop than forecasted. Transportation equipment order accounted for almost all of the drop at a stunning 22% drop. On the upside, non defense capital goods (excluding Aircraft) orders rose an impressive 6.5%. Computer related orders also had a strong gain. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
• UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. 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 our Contact page.
• Realco gained 20% after announcing that it is selling its real estate brokerage subsidiaries in New Mexico.
• Federated Department Stores gained despite reporting a fiscal Q4 earnings of $1.65 a share, well below the First Call estimates of $2.10 a share.
• AT&T gained 4.90% on news that cable operator Mediacom is paying $2.2 billion in cash and assuming debts to acquire its cable operation AT&T Broadband.
• JDS Uniphase lost 14.75% after announcing that it is cutting 10%, or 3,000 of its workforce due to a slowing demand for its fiber optics products in a sluggish economy. Other fiber optic players like Corning were also hurt by the news.
• Software stocks had heavy losses after 2 influential Wall Street analysts downgraded their earnings estimates due to the economic slowdown. Goldman Sachs analyst Tom Berquist cut his earnings estimates on Ariba, Commerce One, i2 Technologies, Microsoft, Oracle, and Peoplesoft. Goldman Sachs also cut its outlook on IBM and Hewlett Packard. Banc of America Montgomery analyst Bob Austrian cut his earnings estimates on Ariba, Commerce One, Oracle, SAP AG, and Siebel Systems.
• Sporting gear maker Nike lost 19.46% after reducing its profit outlook. Nike blamed the slowing economy, and problems with its supply management software developed by i2 Technologies. i2 technologies lost 22.36% on the news.
• Fourth Shift gained 35.72% after announcing that AremisSoft is offering $40.5 million to acquire it.
• Black Hawk Gaming gained 48.57% to close at 9 3/4 on news that its Chairman and CEO is offering $11 a share to acquire the company.
• Chip maker Xilinx lost 7.46% after Robertson Stephens analyst Eric Rothdeutsche lowered his 2001 and 2002 revenue and earnings targets on the company.
• AFTER CLOSE: Altera, which closed lower in regular trading, lowered its earnings target due to the slowing economy.
• AFTER CLOSE: Chartered Semiconductor, which closed lower in regular trading, revised its fiscal Q1 forecast numbers downward due to the slowing economy.
• AFTER CLOSE: Avanex, which closed lower in regular trading, revised its fiscal Q3 and fiscal full year figures downward. Avanex is losing aggressively in after hours trading.
• FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page. 
• NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
• 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.

• Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
• We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
• Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
• BARGAINS ANYONE?
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.