Daily Morning Insights on the Market

• US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in Q1 2001 was revised downward to a growth of only 1.3%, 0.1% lower than what economists expected. Lower inventory investment and weaker consumption were the reasons behind the fall.
• US Existing Home Sales dropped 4.2% in April to 5.20 million units, as inventories continue to rise, at 3.8 months in April. The west had the largest drop.
• US New Orders for Durable Goods plunged 5.0% in April, more than twice what economists were expecting. Durable Orders excluding transportation dropped 3.3%. Non defense Capital Goods orders dropped 5.2%, while Shipments dropped a strong 3.6%. 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.
• TiVo gained another 31.88% today after Thomas Weisel and DB Alex Brown upgraded it to a "buy" and "market perform" recommendations respectively. TiVo announced yesterday that it won the patent for pausing and recording live television events.
• Peoplesoft gained 4.10% after announcing that it will release a new web-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software on June 4th.
• Finova Group gained 19.69% on the GE Financial Services and Goldman Sachs offer of $7 billion.
• UK Auctioneer QXL Ricardo Plc. gained 84.75% after reporting full year results that showed losses more than doubled. On the upside, the company announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft, and made known that it has cash on hand to operate until 2003, when it expects to break even. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Biospecifics Technologies gained 60.22% after getting listed on the NASDAQ SmallCap Market.
• Lucent Technologies lost 1.36% despite reports that the company and Alcatel will announced its $32 billion takeover as early as Tuesday.
• Magnetek Lighting Products gained 12.11% after changing its name to Universal Lighting Technologies.
• Boeing lost 2.87% despite announcing that it is eliminating 600 jobs at its Long Beach, California commercial airplane operations as part of its cost cutting plans.
• Discount wholesaler BJ Wholesale gained 1.49% after its board approved a $50 million stock repurchase plan.
• Microsoft and AOL Time Warner both closed lower as they renegotiate their browser agreement. Internet Explorer, a product of Microsoft and the exclusive browser for AOL for the past 5 years, controls over 80% of the browser market. Netscape, acquired by AOL in 1999, continues to lose market share. Oh dear!
• PLEASE BE CAREFUL THIS LONG WEEKEND. WE EXPECT TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL NEXT TUESDAY.
• 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 this market still has a lot of steam left in May.
• 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 8,000 in week ending May 12th to 380,000. The 4-week moving average dropped 3,000 to 401,000 - still above the significant 400,000 mark.
• US New Home Sales dropped to 894,000 units sold in April, while the March levels were revised downward to 988,000. The Midwest and the South saw the most decline. The new home sales decline was attributed to interest rates increases, which moved from 6.95% in March to 7.08% in April. 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.
• Senator James Jeffords of Vermont today announced that he is leaving the Republican party to the Democratic party. The move now gives the Democrats a one vote majority in the Senate and most expect a much harder sell for the President's Energy and conservation initiatives, besides other issues.
• Star Scientifics gained 23.92% after announcing that it has sued tobacco giant RJ Reynolds.
• Finova Group gained 2.66% after GE Financial Services and Goldman Sachs made a $7 billion offer to the struggling financial company.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Biotechnology and Internet infrastructure companies were some of the biggest gainers today.
• eMachines gained 31.03% on takeover speculation.
• Contract Electronics Manufacturer (CEM) Solectron lost 2.23% after announcing that it is acquiring its Singapore rival, privately held Shinei Sangyo Pte. Ltd.
• Intel gained 1.42% after co-founder Gordon Moore announced that he is stepping down and assuming the non-voting roles of Chairman Emeritus and director Emeritus.
• TiVo gained 72.06% on news that it has won the patent for the technology that allows the pausing and recording of live television broadcasts.
• Former President Clinton's Press Secretary, Joe Lockhart, is leaving his job as Oracle spokesperson due to difficulties commuting between Washington DC and Silicon Valley. Oracle gained 2.79%.
• AFTER CLOSE: ADC Telecommunications is still losing in after hours after reporting net losses that were 2 cents a share bigger than First Call estimated.
• AFTER CLOSE: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan spoke to the Economic Club of New York. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more.
• 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 the after hours comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in after hours might lift the markets 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.

• For week ending May 18th, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that, US crude oil inventories increased 3.4 million barrels and 2.0 million barrels respectively, and that Distillates decreased 0.8 million barrels and 1.4 million barrels respectively.
• US Semiconductor Book-to-Bill ratio dropped to 0.42 in April. The drop was due to an almost 50% drop in bookings to $711.8 million, while Shipments dropped to $1.684 billion. 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.
• The markets were influenced today about the uncertainty as to which party the Republican Senator James Jeffords of Vermont will join. Currently, the US Senate is tied 50/50 and any defection will have tremendous impact on many policies involving the economy. Senator Jeffords is set to announce his new party tomorrow.
• Dell gained 3.35% after announcing that it will pass the low computer components prices to customers by price reductions so as to also increase its market share. The World's number one computer maker also announced that it intends to make acquisitions too.
• Chip related stocks were hammered for the second day in a row.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• US #4 cable operator Charter Communications lost 5.77% after raising $1.1 billion in stock and $550 million in 5-year senior notes convertible to stocks.
• Genome Therapeutics gained 42.11% after Landenburg Thalmann initiated coverage of it with a "strong buy" recommendation and having very positive comments about it in research notes.
• Tut Systems gained 60.10% after announcing that Alltel will make and market its broadband products fro multi-tenant housing and offices.
• Electronic Data Systems (EDS) lost 0.09% after announcing today that it will pay $1.12 billion to acquire Structured Dynamics Research Corp (SDRC) and pay another $170 million to acquire the 14% of Unigraphics it doesn't own. EDS intends to merge the 2 CAD software developers and take them private. SDRC lost 2.66%, while Unigraphics gained 0.28%.
• Ford Motor Co. lost 0.73% after announcing that it will speed up its cost cutting efforts after the current tire recalls.
• 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.

• Don't count this market out yet, it might resurge 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.

• 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.
• Microsoft gained 2.21% after announcing that handheld devices powered by its Pocket PC™ plat form have surpassed 1 million worldwide and still posting strong growth.
• Yahoo! gained 2.93% after former Terra Lycos CEO Bob Davis named it as one of the premier online media that needs to consolidate with tradition media partner as the media landscape continues to change.
• Chip related stocks gave back their gains from yesterday.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Cisco Systems gained 2.67% after announcing plans to join forces with Intel to develop and sell products in the high speed networking Gigabit Ethernet market. Intel lost 1.24%.
• Ask Jeeves gained 48.22% after acquiring assets of online tour guide ETour. Ask Jeeves also announced that it is still on track to post a profit in Q4.
• AOL Time Warner gained 1.13% after announcing that its online unit, America Online, will increase its subscription fees by $1.95.
• McAfee.Com gained 54.32% after announcing a strategic alliance with Microsoft on its .NET project.
• IPO Today: Peabody Energy closed 31.43% above its offering price.
• AFTER CLOSE: Computer Associates is extending its gains in after hours trading after reporting better than expected fiscal Q4 earnings.
• AFTER CLOSE: Personal finance software developer Intuit is gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q3 earnings that rose 53%.
• AFTER CLOSE: RazorFish is extending its gains in after hours trading after announcing that a US District Judge threw out a Securities class action lawsuit filed against its executives and directors.
• 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 markets will most likely continue their rally tomorrow, based on after hours trading activity.
• 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.

• 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.
• Palm Computing gained 17.62% despite downgrades today for issuing a sales warning Friday. On the upside, UBS Warburg upgraded the stock to "strong buy" from a "hold" recommendation.
• Chip stocks rose despite Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha's warning that Intel and other stocks in the sector will recover around next year.
• Sun Microsystems gained 14.97% after announcing a new 5-year $200 million agreement with Eastman Kodak.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Procter & Gamble (P&G) lost 3.30% after announcing that it is paying $4.95 billion in cash for Clairol.
• MP3.Com gained 61.13% to close at $4.85/share after Vivendi Universal agreed to acquire it for $372 million, or $5/share.
• FreeMarkets gained 28.47% after announcing that it is expanding its relationship with Raytheon.
• Click2Learn gained 39.60% after announcing that it is providing Microsoft with an online training platform for its Microsoft Office™ products.
• Mercury Interactive gained after announcing that it is acquiring privately held software vendor, Freshwater Software, for $147 million.
• Ford Motor Company lost 1.77% after recalling millions of tires, and ending its almost 100 years relationship with Firestone.
• Internet stocks continued their recovery today.
• 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 markets will most likely continue their rally tomorrow, based on after hours trading activity.
• 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 Trade Deficit expanded in March to $31.2 billion, after contracting to $26.9 billion in February. US Exports dropped by $900 million in March, an almost exact reversal of February gains. The goods sector rose sharply in March, with Mexico accounting to a lion's share. 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.
• Palm Computing lost 28.37% after warning yesterday that its sales will be about half the estimate.
• Luxury hotel chain Wyndham International gained 14.47% after the Financial Times reported that Bass Plc. of the UK is about to make a $4 billion offer for the company. Sources close to the deal think another party might also be interested in Wyndham. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Energy technology companies dealing in fuel cells and microturbines gained again on President George W. Bush's energy proposal.
• Dell lost 4.21% after reporting fiscal Q1 that met estimates, but warned about fiscal Q2 yesterday.
• Orchid Biosciences gained 23.30% after Dow Jones News identified the company as a takeover target.
• Martek Biosciences gained 22.45% after the FDA approved its infant nutrients to be included in baby formulas.
• IPOs Today: Instinet Group, an ECN, closed 21.72% above its offering price. Global Power Equipment closed 57.25% above its offering price.
• Lucent Technologies gained 1.43% on rumors that it is in talks to be acquired by France's Alcatel.
• ExxonMobil gained 1.66% after it was selected as one of eight companies to participate in Saudi Arabia's multi-billion dollar gas development project. Other US companies included are Enron and Conoco, which also closed higher.
• Gold stocks gained as gold prices rose above the $270 mark.
• 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 markets will most likely be hot next week.
• 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 Index of Leading Indicators rose 0.1% in April to 108.7, the first increase since January. The Coincident Index held steady at 116.5, while the Lagging Index dropped 0.3% to 106.7.
• US Jobless Claims for week ending May 12th. dropped 8,000 to 380,000. The 4-week moving average dropped 3,000 to 401,000.
• The Philadelphia Fed (Manufacturing) Index revised course in May by worsening to -8.8, while the April figure was revised to -7.2. On the upside, the Prices Paid Index dropped from 7.0 to 1.5, inventories improved from -16.6 to -10.5, while the 6 month outlook moved from 25.7 to 33.1. 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.
• Veritas Software gained 1.75% after announcing plans to spend $4 billion on R&D in the next 5 years.
• Ciena lost 3.65% on its share overpricing concerns despite reporting fiscal Q2 losses of 17 cents a share, as net income improved from $18.4 million to $50.7 million. Ciena's losses came from a $75.7 million charge for acquiring Cyras Systems. Ciena reported that revenue more than doubled to $425.4 million.
• Integrated Measurements, a chip related company, gained 64.32% after Credence Systems agreed to acquire it for $170 million in stock.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Energy technology companies dealing in fuel cells and microturbines gained as President George W. Bush's energy proposal seem to favor them.
• Data Research Associates gained 73.43% to close at $10.25 a share after Sirsi Holdings agreed to acquire it for $11.0 a share, or $51.5 million.
• Citigroup lost 2.12% after announcing that it is paying $12.5 billion for Mexico's second largest banking group, Banamex-Accival.
• Unibanco, Brazil's 4th. largest private bank, gained 11.68% on speculation that Citigroup will make an offer for it as the giant US Banking and insurance behemoth extends its reach in Latin America.
• IPO Today: Tellium, an optical switch maker, closed 39.53% above its offering price.
• AFTER CLOSE: Dell is losing in after hours after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of 17 cents a share, in line with First Call estimates. Revenue rose 10% to $8 billion, but shy of the $8.37 billion First Call estimated. Besides announcing that it is cutting 3,000 to 4,000 jobs, Dell also announced that it has overtaken Compaq as the leading PC seller.
• AFTER CLOSE: Agilent Technologies is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of 11 cents a share, 16 cents a share shy of First Call estimates. Sales rose to $2.7 billion.
• AFTER CLOSE: Palm is extending its losses in after hours trading after warning that its fiscal Q4 revenue will be half the estimates. Palm also announced that its merger with Extended Systems is off due to market conditions.
• AFTER CLOSE: Wind River Systems reported fiscal Q1 earnings of 6 cents a share, 2 cents a share better than First Call estimates, but 5 cents a share short of last year. Revenue rose from $91.6 million to $110.2 million.
• 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 market will very likely do some profit taking for the last day of the week.
• 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 Price Index (CPI), a good measure of consumer inflation, rose a lower than expected 0.3% in April. The Core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and food sectors, rose 0.2%, in line with economists forecast. The CPI would have been lower if fuel prices didn't rise 1.8% for the period.
• US Housing Starts rose a stronger than expected 1.5% in April to 1.609 million units, due to lower mortgage rates. Single Family homes led the surge. All regions of the country saw construction boosts except the Midwest, which had a decline.
• US Internet Sales dropped 19.3% since Q4 2000 to $6.99 billion in Q1 2001, but still $1.8 billion higher than the Q1 2000 levels. E-commerce as percentage of total sales declined to 0.91%. It is worth noting that non e-commerce sales also declined.
• For week ending May 11th, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that, US crude oil inventories increased 2.4 million barrels and 0.8 million barrels respectively, while Distillates declined 0.2 million barrels and 2.0 million barrels respectively. 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.
• Triquint Semiconductor lost 3.69% after announcing yesterday that it is paying $1.3 billion for Sawtek.
• Intel gained 4.26% after announcing that it will show its next generation Wireless chips in Europe tomorrow. The Financial Times of London also reported on Thursday that, the chip giant is forming an alliance with British Telecom to develop and market a wireless applications. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read more from our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
• Microsoft gained 1.30% after announcing that its Xbox™ game console will be launched November of this year.
• Charter Communications lost 5.95% on rumors that it is planning to float a $1.75 billion debt. Charter Communications denies the rumor.
• Check Point Software lost 1.31% after Lehman Bros. downgraded it to a "buy" recommendations.
• Packaging Corporation of America gained 11.10% after being added to the venerable S&P MidCap 400 Index.
• AFTER CLOSE: Hewlett Packard, which gained 5.28% in regular trading, is still gaining after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of 18 cents a share, which