Daily Morning Insights on the Market

• US Producer Price Index (PPI), a good measure of producer inflation, rose 0.3% in April. The Core PPI, which excludes the volatile energy and food sectors, rose a strong 0.2%.
• US Retail Sales rose 0.8% in April, well above the 0.1% increase analysts were expecting. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose a strong 0.7%. This data suggests that any actions or lack of action on Tuesday will have have to take in account the potential for inflationary pressure in the near term. 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.
• Global Imaging Systems gained 24.37% after reporting fiscal Q4 profits that were above First Call estimates, and 19% higher than the year before.
• Ariba lost 15.34% after DB Alex Brown analyst James Moore reported he heard that Ariba plans to change its software pricing structure due to price pressure.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Applied Materials gained 1.37% after CE Unterberg Towbin initiated coverage of it with a "buy" recommendation.
• Genomics and biopharmaceutical company Rossetta Inpharmatics gained 74.97% after drug maker Merck & Co. agreed to acquire it for $620 million.
• Schering-Plough gained 3.23% on a Business Week report that, the company rejected a $91 billion, or $61 a share acquisition offer from rival Merck & Co. Word is that Schering-Plough may end up accepting the offer. Schering-Plough closed at $38.30 a share.
• Genomics and biopharamceutical companies like Gene Logic and Incyte Genomics gained on speculation that they are the next acquisition targets.
• 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.

• The Federal Reserve FOMC meeting on Tuesday will determine the markets next week. We do expect one more rally on Monday.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Jobless Claims dropped 41,000 for the week ending May 5th. to 384,000. The 4 week moving average dropped 3,000 points to 403,000.
• US Import Prices dropped 0.5% in April, while March figures were revised to a decline of 1.5%, thanks to the 0.5% drop in Petroleum Prices. US Export Prices held steady.
• US Chain Store Sales rose a strong 3.8% in April due to better weather conditions around the country. 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.
• Novartis AG gained 6.79% after the FDA approved its cancer drug Gleevac™.
• LSI Logic gained 0.76% after announcing that German authorities have approved its acquisition of C-Cube. C-Cube is gaining in after hours trading.
• British Energy Plc. gained 13.87% after the Canadian government approved it to build 2 power stations in the country. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange, and the Bank of England & the European Central Bank interest rate cuts.
• Digital Island gained 84.50% after announcing that it will be serving ads on Microsoft's MSN Network sites.
• Microsoft lost 0.57% after announcing a new software pricing regiment that will include subscription based options.
• Retail stocks gained after reporting stronger than expected April sales.
• AFTER CLOSE: Netzero is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses that were 3 cents a share less than First Call estimated. Netzero's revenues dropped from $16 million last year to $12.8 million.
• AFTER CLOSE: Pixar Animation Studios is extending its gains after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of 16 cents a share, 4 cents a share better than First Call estimated. Pixar also revised its fiscal 2001 financial outlook upwards.
• AFTER CLOSE: Video Games developer Electronics Arts, which lost 2.73% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 9 cents a share, 5 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated. Revenue rose 4% to an above estimate of $307 million.
• AFTER CLOSE: Omnisky, which gained 21.54% in regular trading, is still gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses that were below First Call estimates. Omnisky also announced today that it will provide wireless internet access to HP Pavillion™ Notebook PC users.
• AFTER CLOSE: Western Wireless is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses of 22 cents a share, well off the 2 cents a share profit First Call was estimating.
• 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.

• The after hours market look encouraging.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• In Loving memory of Angorave (Mku Achika) Kundu-Swem, without whose love and tender guidance, this enterprise will not be existing. We will miss you.
• 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.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• 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.

• We think that economic data and interest rates actions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will make the difference.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Productivity Growth dropped 0.1% in Q1 of 2001, the first productivity drop since 1995, and higher than economists expected. Hourly Compensation Cost rose 5.2%. Unit Labor Costs also rose 5.2%, the largest increase in 2 years. The Implicit Price Deflator rose to 2.5.
• US Wholesale Sales dropped 1.3% in March - analysts expected an increase of 0.1%. Inventory rose a modest 0.1%, and Inventory-to-Sales ratio rose to 1.32, while the February level was revised upward to 1.30.
• The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Survey declined in April as Shipments, New Orders, and Backlog of Orders all declined. On the positive side, the Six Month Shipment Outlook however, rose to 37. 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.
• MP3.Com gained 1% despite news that rockers Tom Waits, Randy Newman, and rock group Heart, filed a $40 million copyright infringement lawsuit against the company.
• Next Level Communications gained 18.66% after announcing that it has signed an agreement with Motorola where both companies will cross market and develop products. Motorola lost 0.55% despite the next and an upgrade from USB Piper Jaffray.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Ciena gained 11.43% after announcing that it has won the contract to supply switching and transport products to Tycom Ltd.
• Carter Wallace lost 11.39% after agreeing to split into 2 companies, and could be sold for $1.1 billion. Church & Dwight, which gained 4.26%, will buy most of the company.
• Worldcom lost 1.75% after announcing plans to raise $12.3 billion through high yield (Junk) bonds. Worldcom intends to use the proceeds to refinance a $3 billion loan due in November, and pay down on its $6 billion commercial paper.
• Rite Aid gained 13.29% after reporting lower than expected fiscal Q4 losses. Rite Aid also announced that it retired about $157.6 million in debts.
• AFTER CLOSE: Maxim Integrated Products is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q3 earnings of 33 cents a share, in line with First Call estimates. Revenue rose to $306.8 million, but short of the $320.1 million First Call expected.
• AFTER CLOSE: Aether Systems is gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses of $1.16 a share, 9 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated. Revenues rose from $5.4 million last year to a whopping $30.7 million. The company also stated that it is "extremely upbeat" about its market share and position.
• AFTER CLOSE: Cisco Systems, which gained 5.87% in regular trading, is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q3 earnings of 3 cents a share, 1 cent a share better than First Call lowered estimates, and about 77% lower than the year before. Cisco also announced that it is taking a $2.2 billion inventory charge for the quarter.
• AFTER CLOSE: WebMD is extending its gains in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses of 9 cents a share, 2 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated. WebMD also reported revenues that beat estimates, as they almost tripled to $184.5 million. In regular trading, the company announced a content agreement with AOL.
• AFTER CLOSE: National Semiconductor is still losing in after hours trading after announcing that it will cut 10% of its workforce, or 1,100 jobs, so as to save about $70 million to $80 million annually. The company expect sales to drop by 16% to 18% and post  losses of 4 cents a share in fiscal Q4, well short of the 4 cents a share First Call was expecting.
• AFTER CLOSE: Screaming Media is still gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 losses of 12 cents a share, 3 cents a share better than First Call estimated. Revenue more than doubled to $7.6 million. Screaming Media also announced that it is looking for a CEO, as the current CEO Kevin Clark, will be promoted to Chairman, while current Chairman Jay Chiat, becomes Chairman Emeritus.
• 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.

• The technology sector looks too shaky in after hours trading.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Consumer Credit grew a modest $6.1 billion in March, about $10 billion less than what economists expected. Revolving credit once again outgrew non-revolving credit. 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.
• Pepsico Bottling Group gained 2.40% on the announcement that it will replace Adaptec on the venerated S&P 500 Index on May 11th.
• Overnight Freight giant FedEx lost 2.42% after issuing a profit warning (again) for fiscal Q4.
• Proxicom gained 31.45% after South Africa based Dimension Data gave a counteroffer that is higher than Compaq's. 
• Barrett Resources gained 4.23% after Anglo Dutch oil Firm Shell decided not to top Williams Companies' $2.5 billion offer for Barrett. Williams Companies lost 5.74%, while Shell TNPT Plc. closed higher on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Screaming Media gained 52.33% after reaching a broadband internet access agreement with Boeing. Screaming Media's software will power in-flight internet access.
• Bea Systems lost 8.59% after Dain Rauscher Wessels downgraded the stock.
• Lucent Technologies lost 6.19% after replacing its CFO and on a downgrade from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
• Oil company Ultramar Diamond Shamrock gained 18.24% after Valero Energy agreed to acquire it for $4 billion. Valero Energy lost 6.09%.
• AFTER CLOSE: Dell, which gained 0.27% in regular trading, is extending its gains in after hours trading, after announcing plans to cut about 3,000 to 4,000 more jobs in the next 2 quarters. Dell also announced that it will meet its previous fiscal Q1 sales and earnings estimates.
• AFTER CLOSE: Priceline.Com, the Name-your-own-price™ reverse auction company which lost 12.87% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours trading after announcing that its Chairman, Richard Braddock, is to replace Daniel Schulman as CEO. Priceline.Com also reiterated that it will show a profit in fiscal Q2.
• 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.

• Buyers seem to be busy in after hours trading, and we think the momentum might continue tomorrow.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Unemployment Rate rose to 4.5% in April, the highest levels since 1998, as the economy lost 223,000 payroll jobs for the period.
• The Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) reported that, its Future Inflation Gauge (ECRI FIG) for April declined 2.0% to 107.4. 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.
• Cenit Bancorp gained 58.78% on news that SouthTrust is acquiring it for $117 million.
• Biotechnology and Linux vendors were some of the hottest groups today.
• Somnus Medical Technologies gained 73.94% on the news that, UK's Gyrus Group Plc. is set to acquire it. Gyrus also today acquired the ear, nose, and throat business of the UK's Smith & Nephew Plc. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Rambus lost 19.56% today after3 patent infringement lawsuits against Infineon Technologies were dismissed. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter downgraded the stock to a "hold" recommendation. Rambus is showing modest gains in after hours trading after announcing that it will appeal the decision.
• Veritas Software gained 3.63%after ABN AMRO initiated coverage of it with an "add" recommendation.
• AFTER CLOSE: Genentech is extending its gains in after hours trading after announcing that a Delaware Court ruled in its favor on a patent infringement lawsuit brought by GlaxoSmithKline Plc. The suit is centered around Genentech's cancer drugs Herceptin™ and Rituxan™.
• AFTER CLOSE: Corecom, which lost 4.76% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours trading after announcing that it will cut 210 jobs and streamline its operations to suit its 2 core businesses. Corecom also announced the appointment of Thomas Gravina as the new COO.
• AFTER CLOSE: Adaptive Broadband is extending its gains in after hours trading after announcing that it will cut 60% of its staff, or 150 jobs so as to reduce costs.
• 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.

• Next week will be hard to tell as the markets try to gauge what the Federal Reserve might do when they meet.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Jobless Claims for week ending April 28th. rose 9,000 to 421,000. The 4-week moving average also rose, breaking the 400,000 mark to 405,000.
• The National Association of Purchasing Managers (NAPM) reported that its Non-manufacturing NAPM Index dropped 3.2% in April to 47.1%, which is worse than the 50%+ economists were expecting - a point below 50% indicates contraction. New Orders and Employment indices dropped for the month. All this data shows that the Federal Reserve Bank still has some rate cutting work ahead of it. 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.
• Convergys gained 2.97% after Prudential Securities upgraded it to a "strong buy" recommendation.
• Rambus gained 10.67% after making known that its royalty returns from its SDRAM chips is higher than expected.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Echostar Communications gained 14.33% after reporting fiscal Q1 losses that were 8 cents a share less than First Call estimates. Echostar also reported that for the quarter, it added a whopping 460,000 new customers to its DISH Network satellite service, 80,000 higher than Wall Street estimated.
• Lucent Technologies lost 5.06% after the FBI arrested 2 of its senior scientists for stealing trade secrets and selling to Chinese government owned companies.
• Dell lost 6.73% after announcing the recall of 284,000 laptop batteries for its popular Inspiron™ 5000 series sold from January 2000 to March 2001.
• Advanced Semiconductor Engineering gained 8.37% after WIT Soundview initiated coverage of it with a "buy" recommendation.
• 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.

• All eyes are now on the employment data.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

• US Factory Orders rose 1.8% in March , which was better than the 0.1% drop seen in February. The March increase is the first increase since August 2000.
• The Federal Reserve 12 Districts "Beige Book" was released today with all regions showing slow economic growth in March and April. We will have the district-by-district summary tomorrow. 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.
• Resmed gained 20.70% on a Robertson Stephens upgrade.
• Peoplesoft lost 1.55% after announcing the acquisition of SkillsVillage, a services automation technology company founded by former Peoplesoft employees, for $32 million.
• AMD gained 3.42% after confirming that it has also cut the prices of its chips across the board, as the price and market share wars rage on between AMD and Intel.
• UK's Vodafone Group lost 3.74% after announcing today that it is paying £4.8 billion to acquire British Telecom's assets in Japan and Spain. Vodafone intends to issue new shares so as to finance the deal. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Networking stocks were some of the biggest gainers today after the influential Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Christopher Stix stated that the networking market is steadying.
• JDS Uniphase gained 7.92% after its CFO reaffirmed the company's financial and growth guidance, and announced that there may be a $40 billion goodwill write down.
• IPO Today: Simplex Solutions closed 76.67% above its offering price.
• VerticalNet gained 59.71% after signing a deal with Computer Sciences Corp so as to jointly offer B2B software to clients.
• FreeMarkets gained 33.88% after the B2B software developer won a contract to provide Texas Instruments with an online purchasing software.
• General Electric (GE) gained 0.32% after government regulators gave a tentative approval to its Honeywell acquisition.
• Contract Electronics Manufacturer (CEM) Jabil Circuits gained 11.06% after its VP of Investor Relations made known that the company is likely to soon add about 2 to 3 more customers to its current list of about 40.
• 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.

• The after hours market looks encouraging.
• We think May might just be the month the bear market goes back to hibernation.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.