MARKET REPORT
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A downdraft in semiconductor stocks laid waste to tech issues in Tuesday
trading, as small cap issues swirled downward as well.
Anxious investors, too, awaited third-quarter earnings from Internet
bellwether Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), which bested analysts' estimates by
a penny, at 13 cents a share for the third quarter, compared with 6 cents
for the year-earlier period. Before the results were announced, shares
closed lower at 82 11/16, off 3 1/16, or 3.6%.
Investors also awaited third-quarter results from Motorola Inc. (NYSE:
MOT), which still hadn't released them by 4:50 p.m. ET. The company ended
the day off 11/16, or 2.6%, to 26 5/16.
"We're not out of the woods by any means," said Peter Boockvar at Miller
Tabak & Co. Investors have two more weeks of earnings reports to get
through, he noted.
Market watchers can expect "more of the same" as investors continue to
react nervously to earnings shortfalls, Boockvar said.
Semiconductor issues fell in response to analyst downgrades on two
microchip companies. Nearly every issue within the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index was lower at the market close, with shares of Xilinx
Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) and Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) down 21% and 27%
respectively.
Lehman Brothers downgraded both stocks to 'neutral' from 'outperform'.
Lehman Brothers analyst Dan Niles lowered the stocks' ratings in
anticipation of slower growth in the next two quarters.
That was followed by a downgrade by Salomon Smith Barney, which lowered
both chip makers to 'outperform' from 'buy'. Shares of Xilinx at market
close edged up from earlier lows, but were still off 21.09% or 16 11/16, to
62 7/16, while Altera ended at 29 13/16, down 11 1/16, or 27.1%.
Small caps, which were mixed at midday, moved solidly into losing territory
trading-day end. The Russell 2000 fell 7.90 points, or 1.6%, to 481.63,
while the S&P 600 lost 2.54, or 1.2%, to 203.60. The Wilshire Small Cap
1750 slid the most in percentage terms, dropping 15.41 points, or 1.9%, to
778.48.
"It's pretty much the same ol', same ol'," said Joe Liro, equity strategist
for Stone & McCarthy. "Tech stocks can't get out of their own way."
The tech sector is seeing a broad-based decline, Liro noted, but he
suspects that the sell-off is near its end point. "We're pushing down to
support levels not seen since the May low. It's important to hold that
level," he said.
Small cap tech stocks were caught in the day's free-fall, with some
software makers taking on heavy losses. Loudeye Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:
LOUD) slipped 1 5/16, or 21%, to 4 15/16; Interliant Inc. (NASDAQ: INIT)
lost 1/2, or 8.3%, to 5 1/2; and eBenx Inc. (NASDAQ: EBNX) dropped 14.29%
or 2 points, to 12.
Winners within the sector include ePresence Inc. (NASDAQ: EPRE), up 11/16,
or 14.7%, to 5 3/8, and Digitas Inc. (NASDAQ: DTAS), up 1 3/4, or 15.4%, to
13 1/8. Shares of Digitas moved higher on news it agreed to form a
partnership with PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) to develop e-business strategies for
several of the soft-drink maker's business units.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ended lower, down 79.45 points, or
10.1%, to 706.51, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index hit choppy
waters, first slipping then rebounding, only to fall deeper. At 4 p.m. ET,
the Nasdaq was down 115.03, or 3.4%, to 3240.53.
Small cap semiconductor stocks ended mostly lower along with retail issues.
Biotech stocks finished mixed. Big small cap movers include National
Discount Brokers Group Inc. (NYSE: NDB), surging 89%, and PEC Solutions
Inc. (NASDAQ: PECS), an Internet solutions provider for governments,
picking up 7.3% to 5 1/2.
Fresh economic news from the government may provide some distraction later
in the week, when data on September's producer price index and the retail
sales report are released.
Blue chip stocks were lower 4:00 p.m. ET, with the Dow Jones Industrial
Average off 44.03, or 0.4%, to 10524.40, while the broader S&P 500 lost
16.09, or 1.2%, to 1385.94.
In Canadian trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange reversed earlier gains to
end the day off 37.70, or 0.4%, at 10,394.80, while the Canadian Venture
Exchange lost 58.70 points, or 1.7%, to 3413.56. In the currency markets,
the Canadian dollar picked up 0.3% to US$0.6668 from US$0.6651.
In commodities trading, November crude oil futures moved higher on news of
the unrest in the Middle East, as well as an early cold snap in the
Northeast. U.S. crude gained $1.29, or 4.1%, to $33.15 a barrel.
November natural gas futures, however, fell, losing 1 penny, or 0.2%, to
$5.14, while December gold picked up $2.30 cents, or 0.8%, to $275.20.
Today's Top Gainers:
Symbol Close Chg % Chg High Low Vol
SERA 3.719 +1.938 +108.8% 3.719 2.000 2,103K
ZCOM 3.375 +1.250 +58.8% 3.375 2.875 11K
GGENC 0.813 +0.281 +52.9% 0.813 0.531 61K
EMP 0.094 +0.031 +50.1% 0.094 0.063 23K
NTN+ 1.500 +0.500 +50.0% 1.500 1.500 100
Legend:
SERA SERANOVA INC
ZCOM IMPRESO
GGENC GALAGEN INC
EMP EMPIRE OF CAROLINA
NTN+ NTN COMMUNICATIONS INC WTS
Today's Top Losers:
Symbol Close Chg % Chg High Low Vol
MRBA 5.750 -5.375 -48.3% 6.188 5.438 264K
ALC 13.000 -6.688 -34.0% 13.000 11.063 150K
JOE 19.188 -8.813 -31.5% 19.313 18.500 114K
ALTR 29.813 -11.063 -27.1% 32.375 28.250 74,189K
QUIK 11.063 -4.063 -26.9% 15.250 11.000 523K
Legend:
MRBA MARIMBA INC
ALC ALLTRISTA CORP
JOE ST. JOE CO
ALTR ALTERA CORP
QUIK QUICKLOGIC CORP(IPO)
Today's Highest Trading Volumes:
Symbol Close Chg % Chg High Low Vol
ALTR 29.813 -11.063 -27.1% 32.375 28.250 74,189K
INTC 37.563 -1.500 -3.8% 40.188 37.438 68,653K
XLNX 62.438 -16.688 -21.1% 67.000 54.313 67,323K
CSCO 51.125 -2.563 -4.8% 54.375 50.688 61,088K
DELL 24.250 -1.375 -5.4% 26.000 24.125 40,579K
Legend:
ALTR ALTERA CORP
INTC INTEL CORP
XLNX XILINX INC
CSCO CISCO SYSTEMS
DELL DELL COMPUTER CORP
TODAY'S MOST ACTIVE STOCKS AT 6:21:08 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 Company Name
MPTV 47849200 0.05 0.01 MPTV Inc.
BICO 16014900 0.09 0.00 Biocontrol Technology Inc.
ARET 6164800 0.03 -0.00 AmeriResource Technologies Inc.
WBVN 5503300 1.88 0.31 Webvan Group Inc.
RDRT 3496200 9.94 -0.13 Read-Rite Corp.
AMEX
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Symbol Volume Close Change Company Name
HNV 2753700 0.31 -0.06 Hanover Direct Inc.
HEC 1062900 0.56 -0.06 Harken Energy Corporation
EEE 479100 2.60 0.24 Canadian 88 Energy Corp.
ECO 462400 0.69 0.06 Echo Bay Mines Ltd.
ALT 449900 5.88 1.31 Alteon Inc.
TODAY'S TOP PERCENT GAINERS AT 6:21:08 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
ARVT 9000 0.15 0.09 150.00 Aries Ventures Inc.
SERA 2103300 3.72 1.94 108.82 SERANOVA INC
HMSK 884000 1.09 0.47 74.88 Homeseekers.com Inc.
GAMM 2300 1.75 0.74 73.27 Global Entertainment
Holdings/equities Inc.
ZCOM 11400 3.38 1.25 58.82 Impreso.com Inc.
AMEX
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Symbol Volume Close Change %Gain Company Name
MWB 19200 1.56 0.44 38.84 MYWEB INC.COM
ALT 449900 5.88 1.31 28.78 Alteon Inc.
DDN 22100 1.88 0.38 25.00 Dynamex Inc.
PYR 154000 5.88 0.88 17.50 PYR ENERGY CP
CBJ 9400 0.44 0.06 16.80 Cambior Inc.
TODAY'S TOP PERCENT LOSERS AT 6:21:08 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 %Loss Company Name
AKRN 1863300 5.75 -4.31 -42.86 Akorn Inc.
SCIL 62800 4.78 -2.22 -31.70 Scientific Learning Corp.
CIRC 244500 1.38 -0.56 -29.05 CIRCLE.COM
IMCD 2200 0.69 -0.28 -29.03 N/A
VWLC 106000 2.19 -0.81 -27.10 Voice and Wireless Corp.
AMEX
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Symbol Volume Close Change %Loss Company Name
NKC 15400 3.94 -1.06 -21.24 N/A
VCR 92500 1.19 -0.31 -20.80 Sensory Science Corp.
UAX 46300 1.00 -0.25 -20.00 Usurf America Inc.
MRY 14300 1.63 -0.38 -18.75 N/A
EDG 26700 1.19 -0.25 -17.39 DESIGN AUTOMATION SYS INC
