Crappy hole!!!ON the AMEX!!!???
TODAY'S TOP PERCENT GAINERS AT 7:31:20 P.M. ET
(Market Capitalization Between $10,000,000 and $750,000,000)
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NASDAQ / OTC
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Symbol Volume Close Change %Gain Company Name
POSC 229,600 0.53 0.13 32.81% Positron Corporation
VTTX 148100 0.66 0.22 50.11 Vitrix Inc.
AMMBD 221800 2.44 0.78 47.22 N/A
ALCD 55300 21.00 6.00 40.00 Alcide Corporation
WLDA 168300 1.09 0.28 34.56 World Airways Inc.
AMEX
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Symbol Volume Close Change %Gain Company Name
DAR 32300 0.69 0.44 175.20 Darling International Inc.
DDN 43600 1.88 0.50 42.86% Dynamex Inc.
RIC 2200 1.31 0.19 16.71 Richmont Mines Inc.
ICL 29400 1.25 0.13 11.11 Intellicall Inc.
DRA 80300 10.25 0.94 10.06 Duraswitch Industries
MARKET REPORT
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Stocks Thursday continued to be influenced by nagging worries over energy prices, the sagging euro and third-quarter earnings. Among the major indexes, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day in positive territory.
Semiconductor stocks suffered another volatile bout, this time ending the day lower. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed down 42.46, or 4.1%, to 988.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index somewhat more insulated from semiconductor losses dropped 59.74, or 1.5%, to 3837.69.
Annette Geddes, managing director at MD Sass Investors Services, attributed much of the recent volatility in semiconductor issues to the analyst community, whose comments and warnings have triggered drastic swings in share prices.
Geddes also said investors are still grappling with persisting concerns about third-quarter earnings and how energy prices and the euro will affect corporate profits and the "lingering effect" those issues will have going into the fourth quarter.
Concerns over higher energy prices, lower third-quarter earnings and the weak euro, are keeping investors at bay until the shake-out is over, said Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Primark Decision Economics.
The purposeful slowdown in the U.S. economy, manufactured in some degree by Federal Reserve fiscal policy, is working. The moderating demand for goods and services, however, is restricting companies' abilities to make profits, Ellis said.
He views the current turmoil in the market as healthy and believes it will pave the way for a sustainable post-election bull market.
"The economy is slowing in a healthy way," noted Ellis.
Buoyed largely by shares of Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:MMM), which said it would meet earnings expectations for the second half of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 67.70, or 0.6%, to 10755.62. Strength could be spied in two other Dow components: drug makers Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK).
Earlier this morning the Labor Department released its latest initial weekly unemployment figures, showing a decline to 308,000 from last week's revised 326,000. Consensus estimates had called for a drop to 315,000.
Markets moved little on the news in the belief that interest rates will remain steady at least until the end of the year.
In the futures markets, November oil futures slid, losing $1.33, or 3.8%, to $33.91, on news that Vice President Al Gore has called on President Clinton to tap into the nation's strategic oil reserve, in an effort to stem rising heating oil and gas prices this winter.
Gore called rising energy prices a "national crisis."
Small cap oil stocks were largely lower on the day's trading. Shares of Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK) were down 1/2 point, or 4.5%, to 1 5/8, while St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. (NASDAQ: MARY) has fallen 1 7/8, or 7.8%, to 22 3/16. Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. (NYSE: MND) is down 3 5/16, or 6.8%, to 45 5/16, and Prima Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: PENG) has dropped 1 5/8, or 3.1%, to 51 1/8.
Within small cap indexes, the Russell 2000 Index ended lower at 515.76, off 5.67, or 1.1%, while the Wilshire 1750 lost 13.27 points, or 1.5%, to 854.60. The S&P 600 was lower, too, losing 1.82 points, or 0.8%, to 215.72.
In Canadian trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange closed down 212.20 points, or 2%, to 10,601, while the Canadian Venture Exchange declined 27.30 points, or 0.8%, to 3612.49.
In the currency markets, the Canadian dollar dropped 0.3% to US$0.6723 from US$0.6740.
In commodities trading, October natural-gas futures declined, losing 2 cents, or 0.4%, to $5.30. December gold rose, up $1.20, or 0.4%, to $273.70.
AI
