DJ MARKET TALK: Qualcomm Fires Back At Nokia
Edited by John Shipman Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES (call: 201 938 5171; e-mail:john.shipman@dowjones.com) MARKET TALK can be found using N/DJMT
8:47 (Dow Jones) Qualcomm (QCOM) strikes back at Nokia (NOK), alleging in a lawsuit that the handset maker infringed on QCOM's patents. The suit comes after NOK and several other telecom equipment companies filed complaints with the European Union regarding QCOM's abusive use of its patents. QCOM's counterattack is similar to its move against Broadcomm (BRCM), and Prudential expects similar lawsuits against the other telecom players soon. (RC)
8:37 (Dow Jones) The dollar is steady vs the euro and a bit lower against the yen early in NY, as the USD holds on to all or most of the last week's gains. A recent darling of the forex world, USD's been rising as most investors agree that rising U.S. rates and stagnant euro zone and Japanese rates should be what's driving the market. The euro bottomed at $1.1782 overnight, its lowest since May 2004, and the yen had hit a new 26-month high overnight of Y118.38. EUR/USD is at $1.1815 from $1.1823, USD/JPY is at Y117.80 from Y118.27, USD/CHF is at CHF1.3062 from CHF1.3061, GBP/USD is at $1.7456 from $1.7505, and EUR/JPY is at Y139.18 from Y139.70. (SDV)
8:33 (Dow Jones) Pilgrim's Pride (PPC) beats F4Q estimates on back of strong demand for poultry, favorable feed costs and a lower tax rate. As usual, no guidance. JPMorgan says that might dampen investor sentiment before 11 a.m. ET conference call. Brokerage figures the tax rate added 10c to EPS, which totaled $1.12, at high end of company's announced range. (RLG)
8:20 (Dow Jones) Bear Stearns says its upgrade of Allstate (ALL) to outperform from peer perform is based a few things, including "conversations with insurance commissioners in key coastal states that have made us more constructive on the regulatory environment." The firm also says auto profitability should lead to multiple expansion, and "higher-end customer base and strong brand and profit vs growth strategy should lead to consistent results and continued robust ROEs." (JHS)
8:08 (Dow Jones) Treasurys enter NY trade slightly stronger, with 10-yr note up 4/32 to yield 4.64%; 2-yr unchanged to yield 4.45%. Data calendar thin, so focus will be on $44B refunding that begins tomorrow for clues about future direction of bond market. (SCJ)
8:03 (Dow Jones) Disney's (DIS) "Chicken Little" exceeds early box-office expectations for its opening weekend. The $40M take, compared with $30M-$35M estimates should lead to a final domestic box office gross of $130M-$160M, SG Cowen says, "which should drive attractive profits across the film's release window." CSFB calls the opening "a major upside surprise and should help drive Disney's stock higher." (JHS)
7:52 (Dow Jones) JPMorgan drops Yahoo (YHOO) from its Focus List, but keeps its overweight rating. Among the reasons for the move, the firm cites continued loss of global search market share; weaker presence in fast-growing European market; appears slow-to-market on launch of next-gen ad platform; Street views on monetization upside could be too optimistic; and YHOO's focus on content development "may hinder near-term margin expansion." Still, size and diversified revenue streams should lead to outperformance vs other Internet names, the firm adds. (JHS)
7:41 (Dow Jones) "With many short term momentum indicators now at or near moderate overbought levels, the market could pull back to retrace part of its recent gains in the next week or two," says Merrill chartist Richard McCabe. "Such a reaction or 'test' would likely be within the context of an evolving and incomplete year-end recovery trend which should produce further gains over the next month or two," he adds. McCabe still looks for the major averages to reach "new post-2002 bull market highs before their aging major uptrends are exhausted and the market potentially slips into a cyclical decline in 2006." (JHS)
7:30 (Dow Jones) After a good week for stocks, equity futures look decent with a small positive bias on this Monday morning. Fairly quiet on the news front and not much cooking on the economic calendar either. Consumer credit figures for September due out at 3:00pm. The flow of quarterly profit reports is tapering off, though we'll hear from tech bellwethers Cisco and Dell later in the week. Still waiting on word from J&J and Guidant on their troubled deal...S&P futures up 1.50. 10-yr's higher, yield at 4.65%. (JHS)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-07-05 0847ET
Copyright (c) 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.