Daily Morning Insights on the Market

• The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that its MBA Mortgage Applications Index for week ending June 22^nd. Dropped 5.4% to 482.5. All the indices closed lower.
• The Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that for week ending June 22^nd, the EIA saw no increase in US crude oil inventories, while the API saw an increase of 565,000 barrels. For Distillates, the EIA saw an increase of 2.1 million barrels, while the API saw an increase of 2.2 million barrels. 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.
• Lucent Technologies lost 2.17% on news that it plans to cut another 10,000 jobs.
• Schering-Plough lost 4.32% as its COO resigned due to the mounting manufacturing deficiencies.
• Honeywell International gained 2.21% as GE and US officials work with European Union (EU) officials to salvage the merger deal. GE closed lower.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• IPO Today: Galyan's Trading closed 7.74% above its offering price.
• LoudCloud gained 27.23% after its Chairman Marc Andresseen bought 1 million shares.
• Microsoft gained 1.43% after its MSN unit won the web rights to the 2002 Winter Olympics. Microsoft also called the expanded patent infringement lawsuit from Intertrust Technologies as desperate. Intertrust closed lower.
• Ameritrade gained after announcing plans to consolidate its units.
• Palm gained after announcing that its m500 unit will see it back to profitability in 2 quarters.
• C-Bridge Internet gained 21.21% after lower its fiscal Q2 earnings outlook.
• JDS Uniphase gained on news that it is thinking of more job cuts on top of the 8,000 already announced.
• CVS Pharmacy lost 17.21% after lowering its earnings outlook.
• NOTE: Due to upgrades and expansions, we are having a rather rough week. Please bear with us.
• 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 is 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 rally at least one more time as investors adjust to the 25 basis points (0.25%) Federal Reserve FOMC interest rates cut.

• US New Home Sales rose 0.8% in May to 928,000 units. The Midwest and the West saw growth, the South held steady, while the Northeast lost. US Fixed Mortgage Rates edged up to 7.14.
• The Conference Board reported that US Consumer Confidence rose from 116.1 in May to 117.9 in June. The Present Situation index declined, but the expectations index rose.
• US Durable Goods Orders rose a stronger than expected 2.9% in May. All sectors expect finished IT products saw an increase. Semiconductor orders rose 35% for the period. 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
• IBM gained 0.69% after announcing that it is collaborating with Red-M to develop Bluetooth enabled business systems.
• Oracle gained 3.77% after its CEO and Co-founder Larry Ellison made known that the current quarter looks a lot stronger despite the weak US economy. Oracle also announced plans to target small businesses through its NetLedger software.
• Ford Motor Company lost 1.16% after announcing the sell of 7 corporate auto dealerships in Oklahoma, and its intention to exist the dealership market in the US.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Kroger Company lost 0.64% despite reporting fiscal Q1 earnings that were 16% higher and met Wall Street estimates.
• Merrill Lynch lost 11.35% and took investment banking shares down after warning that its earnings will miss estimates by as much as 37%.
• Applied Micro Circuits gained 3.73% despite warning after hours yesterday that it will report fiscal Q1 losses as opposed to the profit Wall Street was expecting.
• Blue Martini Software gained 30.76% after announcing that its eCRM software is being deployed by leading retail stores like Belks, etc.
• AFTER CLOSE: Palm is gaining after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 16 cents a share, 3 cents a share less than First Call estimated.
• AFTER CLOSE: 3Com is still losing after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 61 cents a share, 4 cents a share more losses than First Call estimated. 3Com's revenue dropped from $567 million last year to $468 million.
• AFTER CLOSE: Vitesse Semiconductor is still losing after cutting its fiscal Q3 financial targets.
• AFTER CLOSE: Xilinx is losing after reporting that its fiscal Q1 sales will be 32% lower than the year before.
• NOTE: Due to upgrades and expansions, we are having a rather rough week. Please bear with us.
• 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 is 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

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

• The Federal Reserve FOMC meeting outcome will decide how the markets close.
• We expect this week to be better than the past 2 weeks.

• US Existing Home Sales rose a stronger than expected 2.0% in May to 5.37 million units. 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
• Yahoo! Gained 14.21% after US Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy made known that Yahoo! Will announce new corporate portal businesses and other fee-based services before its July 11th.  fiscal Q2 earnings report. Yahoo! also announced plans to add video applications to its chat systems.
• Dime Bancorp gained 2.77% after Washington Mutual agreed to pay $2.3 billion for the New York area thrift holding company.
• Sun Microsystems gained 3.94% after ARM Holdings of the UK licensed its Java programming language so as to make chips for cell phones and mobile devices.
• Globespan gained 21.60% on a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgrade.
• Sunquest Information Systems gained 60.92% after Misys Plc. Of the UK agreed to acquire the healthcare IT company for $404 million. Misys closed ……Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• SMC Corporation gained 21.67% after agreeing to be acquired by Monaco Coach Corp. for $3.75/share. SMC Corp. closed at $3.65/share.
• International Paper lost 1.67% after announcing plans to cut 3,000 jobs as part of its restructuring.
• Compaq gained 2.96% after announcing plans to abandon its Alpha chip business and use Intel's chips instead. Compaq also wants to speed up its business services operations. Intel gained 3.89% on the news.
• Homestake Mining gained 21.05% after Canada's Barrick Gold agreed to acquire it for $2.3 billion in stocks. Barrick Gold lost 4.56% on the NYSE.
• Walgreens lost 9.17% after reporting that its fiscal Q3 earnings rose 10.2%, but were still below First Call estimates.
• GE and Honeywell International both closed lower after a European Union advisory board recommended the rejection of their $42 billion merger.
• AFTER CLOSE: Applied Micro Circuits is losing in after hours trading after announcing that it will report a fiscal Q1 loss as opposed to the profit Wall Street was expecting.
• NOTE: Due to upgrades and expansions, we are having a rather rough week. Please bear with us
• 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 is 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 expect the markets to rally tomorrow, the first day of the Federal Reserve FOMC meeting.
• We expect this week to be better than the past 2 weeks.

• US Semiconductor Book to Bill ratio rose to 0.46 as semiconductor shipments and bookings both dropped.
• The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the official declarers of a US recession, made known that the US economy have just recently stepped into the recession territory, but the data is too early to make it official. 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.
• Ciena gained 5.76% on speculation that it is going to acquire the fiber optic operations of Lucent Technologies. Lucent gained 6.58% on the news.
• Independent Financial Network gained 74.76% on news that the bank holdings company is being bought for $53.8 million by Umpqua Holdings.
• Centra Software gained 17.97% after announcing plans to team up with Hewlett Packard to provide eLearning services.
• McLeodUSA gained 27.91% as US Senate Democrats oppose easing of restrictions to allow regional Bells to carry Internet Traffic long distance even in their operating regions.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Micron Tech. Gained 1.78% after reporting a fiscal Q3 loss that was above Wall Street estimates yesterday.
• APW Ltd. Gained 17.35% after stating that its fiscal Q4 sales have stabilized.
• Pre-Paid Legal gained 14.30% after William Blair initiated coverage with a "strong buy" recommendation.
• Merck & Co. lost 8.96% after issuing an earnings warning today.
• Markets were under unusual pressure today as US Armed Forces in the Middle East were put on high alert due to terrorism fears.
• ConAgra lost 2.19% after warning that its earnings will be at least 33% lower than First Call estimates.
• Drug maker Schering-Plough lost 6.54% after the FDA found more manufacturing deficiencies at its manufacturing plants.
• NOTE: Due to upgrades and expansions, we are having a rather rough week. Please bear with us
•  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 is 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 expect the markets to rally at least once before the Federal Reserve make their monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.
• We expect next week to be better than the past 2 weeks.

• The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that for week ending June 15th., its MBA Mortgage Applications Index dropped 7.8% to 510.3. All the indices dropped.
• US Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose a strong 0.5% in May. The Coincidental Index was unchanged, while the Lagging Index dropped 0.2%.
• For Week ending June 15th., the Energy Information Agency (EIA) reported that US crude oil inventories decreased 700,000 barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute (API) saw an increase of 1.4 million barrels. For distillates, the EIA and API saw increases of 1.7 million barrels and 1.3 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.
• AOL Time Warner gained 5.64% after its CEO Gerald Levin told Reuters that its advertisement revenue slowdown have stopped. This news caused Yahoo! and CNet Networks also to gain.
• Oracle gained 5.37% after its executives made known that the Software giant has seen the bottom.
• Bear Stearns gained after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of $1.18 a share, 9 cents a share better than First Call estimates, but 21% below last year's earnings.
• German Chipmaker Infenion lost 14.24% and took chip shares down after warning that it faces up to $512.4 million losses in fiscal Q3.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Telecom equipment makers were down due to an earnings warning in the sector.
• GE gained 3.85% after the European Union recommended that member countries reject its merger with Honeywell International. GE also announced a $418 million navy jet engines contract. Honeywell International closed 3.97% lower.
• Qwest Communications lost 3.17% after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter downgraded it to a "neutral" recommendation.
• RealNetworks gained 17.48% after introducing a copyright protection technology that will be supported by IBM, Sun Microsystems, MGM, and others.
• Linux vendor Red Hat gained 6.74% after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings that broke even. Red Hat has reported a break even for 2 quarters in a roll. Revenues rose 18% to $25.6 million.
• NOTE: Due to upgrades and expansions, we are having a rather rough week. Please bear with us
•  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 is 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

• Bargain hunters will likely expand this rally tomorrow.
• We think this week will be rough, but not as rough as last week's.
• We are likely to hear some positive comments from Federal Reserve officials intended to give the markets some confidence before their meeting on June 26th. & 27th.

MARKET SUMMARY FOR MONDAY JUNE 18TH. 2001

• The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that its NAHB Hosing Market Index rose 2 points in June to 58. Single Family index improved 3 points to 64. The Next 6 Months outlook index improved by 1 point to 67, while Traffic of Potential Buyers index held steady. 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.
• Purina Mills gained 14.97% on news that Land'O'Lakes is acquiring it for $230 million.
• IPO Today: Statoil ASA closed unchanged at its offering price of $7.47 a share.
• Avert gained 22.97% after agreeing to be acquired by ADP for $22 a share.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Qualcomm gained 1.40% on Lehman Brothers positive comments.
• Icon Plc. gained 11.30% after announcing over $45 million in net new business awarded since May 31st.
• IBP gained 33.28% after a US Court ordered Tyson Foods to renew its acquisition talks with the large meat processor. Tyson Foods lost 17.66%.
• PurchasePro.Com lost 11.18% after the troubled B2B enabler announced plans to cut 50% of staff. PurchasePro.Com lost its Co-founder and CEO last month.
• Libbey gained 5.39% after announcing that it is acquiring glass company Anchor Hocking for $332 million in cash from Newell Rubermaid. Friedman Billings also upgraded Libbey to an "accumulate" recommendation.
• Lam Research gained and helped specialty chip makers to close higher after Salomon Smith Barney upgraded it to a "buy" recommendation.
• SAP AG gained after reporting earnings today that met.
• Krispy Kreme gained 9.83% after its CEO sold 80,000 shares.
• AFTER CLOSE: Oracle reported fiscal Q4 earnings of 15 cents a share, 1 cent a share better than First Call estimates. Oracle's net income dropped 83% for the quarter due to a $6.5 billion investment reported last year.
• AN APOLOGY: We are sorry for the mess up we had on Friday. We are always striving to provide the best for our audience, but since we are humans, mistakes are bound to happen sometimes. The Friday report is listed below.
• 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 has the opportunity to gain tomorrow due to the strong earnings reports from Oracle and SAP AG.
• We think this week will be rough, but not as rough as last week's.
• We are likely to hear some positive comments from Federal Reserve officials intended to give the markets some confidence before their meeting on June 26th. & 27th.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

MARKET SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY JUNE 15TH. 2001

• US Consumer Price Index (PPI), a good measure of consumer inflation, rose 0.4% in May. Core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and food, rose only 0.1%.
• US Industrial Production declined 0.8% in May, well below estimates, while Capacity Utilization dropped to 77.4%. 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.
• Interepublic Group lost 14.61% after warning yesterday.
• Krispy Kreme gained 8.79% on news that it is consideringa global expansion.
• Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Nortel Networks lost 6.98% and took the tech sector down after announcing that it will loss $19.2 billion in fiscal Q2 and cut 10,000 jobs.
• JDS Uniphase lost 9.92% after warning in after hours yesterday that it will post losses as opposed to profits.
• Procter & Gamble lost 3.48% despite stating that it will meet the current quarter and next year figures.
• Delta Air Lines gained 0.44% despite warning that it will post about $140 million to $160 million losses in fiscal Q2 due to the Comair strike.
• Immune Response gained 154.78% on news that its HIV drug is doing well in trials.
• Harvard Biosciences gained 19.02% after UBS Piper Jaffray initiated coverage of the stocks with a "strong 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.

• We expect next week to be rough too, but not as rough as this one we have been through.
• STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: All stocks are in play.
• Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

MARKET SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY JUNE 14TH. 2001

• US Producer Price Index (PPI), a good measure of producer inflation, rose a moderate 0.1% in May. Core PPI, which excludes volatile energy and food, rose 0.2%, in line with economists' estimates.
• US Jobless Claims for week ending June 9th. dropped 12,000 to 428,000. The 4-week moving average rose to 425,000.
• US Business Inventories were unchanged in April. Business Sales dropped 0.50%, thus forcing the Inventory-to-Sales ratio to edge up to 1.44.
• The Federal Reserve 12 Districts "Beige Book" summary report is now available at 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.
• Century Bancshares gained 63.75% on news that United Bancshares is acquiring it.
• IPO Today: FMC Technologies, a machining and chemicals company, closed 10% above its offering price.
• Charles Schwab lost 7.61% after reporting a significant drop in customer trading activity.
• Enodis Plc. of the UK gained after confirming that it has received many acquisition offers. Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary and analysis of the London Stock Exchange.
• Agilent Technologies lost 4.72% after restating its fiscal Q2 finances that will reflect a $600 million to $700 million increase due to the $1.7 billion sale of its Healthcare Solutions Group to Royal Philips Electronics.
• Metawave Communications gained 16.84% after announcing a deal with Verizon Communications for Metawave's Smart Antenna solutions.
• Aris gained 27.66% on news that CIBER is paying $31.4 million to acquire it.
• Xerox lost 1.31% after announcing that it is discontinuing its stagnant consumer inkjet printer and copier making units so as to save $100 million. About 700 jobs will be affected.
• Oracle lost 4.19% after releasing its new 9i™ database management software. Oracle is also eliminating its controversial software pricing system.
• GE gained 2.11% after the company made known that its $2.2 billion divestiture of Honeywell's aerospace business was the "final offer" to the European Union regulators, who wanted more. Honeywell International lost 12.21% as the $41 billion acquisition seem dead.
• AFTER CLOSE: JDS Uniphase is still losing after warning that it will show a fiscal Q4 loss as opposed to the profit Wall Street was expecting.
• AFTER CLOSE: Adobe Systems is gaining in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q2 that beat First Call estimates. Adobe Systems however, expects a flat fiscal Q3.
• AFTER CLOSE: International Rectifier warned that it expects its fiscal Q4 figures to be 30% to 35% less than fiscal Q3 figures.
• 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