09:20 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Cash market continues to be posied for a negative opening. S&P futures, at 1279, are trading 1 point below
fair value with the Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator -13. Goldman's negative comments on EMC and Sun are spreading to other tech areas.
The outlook for these tech giants are important for many companies because it shows that enterprise IT spending generally is weakening
further....Adding to the negative analyst comments last week, Thomas Weisel cutting numbers on Oracle (ORCL 16.51)....Salomon Smith
Barney is downgrading drugstore chains CVS (CVS 55.17) and Walgreens (WAG 40.49)....Disney (DIS 32.64) holders are pleased that
Pearl Harbor was slightly ahead of estimates over the weekend despite scathing reviews.
08:50 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] Futures have taken a turn for the worse. Presently, the S&P futures, at 1276, are trading 4 points below fair
value with the Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator -14...Goldman Sachs is lowering estimates for EMC (EMC 37.10) and Sun Micro (SUNW
20.47). Sun is down more than a dollar pre-market. Implications are widespread as Goldman spoke of continued pricing pressures. We
expect traders to be cautious heading into Sun's mid-qtr call after the bell today. Of note, Lehman cautioning investors that the quarters for
chipmakers Altera (ALTR 26.05) and Xilinx (XLNX 45.49) are tracking towards lower end of estimates...Morgan Stanley is positive on the
insurers and is upgrading Chubb (CB 73.22) and WR Berkley (BER 39.90)...An important number to watch today is May Consumer
Confidence due at 10 ET. Briefing.com expecting 111.0, which would represent a small rise over the 5-yr low hit in April. We expect an
uptick due to an aggressive Fed and impending Fiscal stimulus. This indicator is important because lower consumer attitudes result in lower
consumer spending....The euro fell against the dollar again on renewed inflation concerns.
08:00 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures -2, or 3 pts below fair value; Nasdaq 100 futures -17, or 14 pts below fair value. Techs weak
in the pre-market as Goldman Sachs is lowering estimates on tech giants EMC (EMC 37.10) and Sun Micro (SUNW 20.47).
07:30 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1280; closed 1 pt below fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair
value: 1965; closed 3 pts above fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are -1.7, or 2.7 pts below fair value. Nasdaq 100 is -22,
or 19 pts below fair value... Nasdaq futures stumble out of positive territory after Goldman Sachs cuts estimates on SUNW and EMC.
06:13 ET: [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures trading at 1281.80, 1.8 points over fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1977, 12.0 points
over fair value. The 30-year bond is up 2 ticks at 5.847%. The dollar is weaker against the yen, but stronger against the euro.
06:12 ET: FTSE -0.18%, DAX +0.15%: [BRIEFING.COM] European stocks mixed in uneventful trading. Alcatel up big on reports that
the company will not pay as much as initially expected for Lucent. WSJ reports the purchase will be worth $23.4 bln in stock given the fact
that the deal will not include Lucent’s 58% stake in Agere Systems. Other telecoms not faring as well with Vodafone hit by a sell the fact
mentality surrounding slightly better than expected earnings. Stock still hampered by large share placement earlier this month. Deutsche
Telekom also under pressure, while export-oriented shares have moved higher on the back of euro weakness.
06:11 ET Nikkei +0.26%, Hang Seng -0.80%: [BRIEFING.COM] Asian stocks mostly higher with the exception of Hong Kong, which
took a hit as a drop in mortgage loans last month led to better selling in bank and property stocks. Korea’s Kospi outperformed, pushing to a
new high for the year as GM announced that it would submit a bid for Daewoo Motor Corp during negotiations expected to start to
tomorrow. Japan closed a tad higher with some help from comments from FinMin Shiokawa, who said that he would favor a reduction in the
capital gains tax to encourage individual investment. Technology did underperform however, as slumping demand continued to weigh. |
