MOT is a screaming buy under 20...
So is TSM...
VDOT back in buy me range...
Watch LMGR drop down again...and this time don't miss it...
DAILY WRAP-UP
************************************
Nasdaq and small cap stocks ended Monday's trading day lower as investors
digested a fresh batch of earnings warnings and awaited a U.S. Supreme
Court decision in the presidential election.
Small cap indexes ended lower, with the leading Russell 2000 Index dropping
9.46 points, or 1.94%, to 477.77, while the Wilshire 1750 sank 20.21, or
2.5%, to 778.29. The S&P Small Cap 600 Index slipped 2.86, or 1.32%, to 213.79.
"Everybody's waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to hand down the ruling, so
the market's on hold, until that happens," said Peter Coolidge, head trader
at Brean Murray & Co.
Investors basically saw the reversal of Monday, Coolidge said. "The Dow
showed some leadership, and the Nasdaq gave up most of yesterday's gains,
starting back where we were at the beginning of the week," he said.
A number of earnings warnings from high-profile companies such as Eastman
Kodak Co. (NYSE: KO), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) and
DoubleClick Inc. (NASDAQ: DCLK) sent jitters down investors' spines this
morning.
Shares of all three were up in midday trading, along with the Dow Jones
Industrial Average, which gained 42.47, or 0.40%, to 10,768.27. But the
broader S&P 500 sank 9.02, or 0.65%, to 1371.18.
Eastman Kodak and Advanced Micro followed the same path Intel Corp.
(NASDAQ: INTC) took last week, warning investors about lower earnings only
to see its stock price rise. Both companies warned fourth-quarter earnings
would be lower than expected due to slackening demand for their products.
"This is the discounting process," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst for
Prudential Securities Inc.
"When you start to get the bad earnings news, and the stocks start to go up
instead of down, what it is saying is 'we recognize we've taken you down 11
times, so by the time you tell me about these bad earnings statements, I'm
ready to take you up not down.' That's the most encouraging factor in the
market today."
Despite gains in blue chip stocks, technology stocks were generally lower,
with the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index off 83.33, or 2.76%, to 2931.77.
While earnings jitters and election concerns added to the tech fall down,
Wachtel said more of it had to do with the recent run-up in tech prices.
"The Nasdaq is lower because it went up 16% since the beginning of the
month," he said.
Within computer chip stocks, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped
to 640.21, down 42.56 or 6.23%.
Pegasus Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGS), a software maker for the hotel
industry, revised downward its fourth-quarter and 2001 earnings-per-share
and revenue estimates. It expects fourth quarter EPS of 7 to 9 cents a
share and 2001 EPS of 60 to 65 cents a share. Shares closed at 7 5/16, down
4 13/16, or 39.7%.
In economic news, there were no releases scheduled for today. Starting
tomorrow, however, the data flows thick and fast, with retail sales and
import prices due Wednesday, the Producer Price Index expected Thursday and
the Consumer Price Index scheduled on Friday with a few other reports
scattered along the way.
Analysts mostly agree that a post-election rally waits in the wings,
although at least one analyst hopes it isn't a "straight-shot rally," which
could re-ignite investor fears and the Federal Reserve's cautious language.
In New York Mercantile Exchange trading, natural gas futures closed down
$1.27at $8.15 after hitting an all-time high Monday of $8.63. January crude
oil futures ended 18 cents higher at $29.68, while February gold added 10
cents to $273.20.
In Canadian trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange TSE 300 Index erased all of
Monday's gains and then some, dropping 238.90 or 2.49% to 9343. The
Canadian Venture Exchange finished the session lower, too, dropping 13.1 or
0.45% to 2912.80.
In currency markets, the Canadian dollar fell 0.32% to $0.6547, while the
euro edged higher to US$0.87920.
