10:49 ET Bellwether Watch : -- Technical -- Both CSCO and INTC are holding near intermediate term trendlines off the highs from
Jan/May at 21.7 and 30.1, respectively. The ability to sustain a push through these levels bolsters the case for follow through gains (daily
indicators are supportive) with the May high the next significant target (24.13 for CSCO and 32.50 for INTC).
10:44 ET Amazon.com (AMZN) 16.14 -0.30 (-1.8%): In morning note Janney Montgomery Scott upgrades to ACCUMULATE from
Hold. Firm comes away from Analyst Day impressed with management's consistent level of enthusiasm. Raises 12-month price target to $22
(from $15).
10:24 ET GoTo.com (GOTO) 25.74 -0.90: -- Update -- Merrill Lynch just downgraded GOTO to a near-term NEUTRAL from
Accumulate based on valuation; says fundamentals are intact but it's prudent to wait for a better entry point after the recent run in the stock.
10:21 ET Bank of America (BAC) 58.80 -1.15: -- Correction -- Earlier comment noting estimate reductions by Salomon Smith Barney
was about JPM, not BAC -- Salomon has not made any change to BAC estimates.
10:15 ET dELiA*s Inc. (DLIA) 5.06 +0.48 (+10.5%): Issue advanced after speciality retailer posts a narrower-than-expected quarterly
loss and projects a return to profitability in Q4. In a separate announcement, DLIA filed to sell 5 mln shares of Class A common stock.
10:10 ET Sector Watch: Natural Gas : This sector and energy as a whole hurt by the higher than expected supply levels with the index
(XNG at 238) now back flirting with its 200 ma simple ma (237) which held in April. Stocks pacing the way on the downside include: WMB
(-5.4%), OEI (-5%), NBL (-4%), PPP (-3.9%) and APA (-3.7%). Bucking the trend thus far today is DYN (+1.8%).
09:54 ET Orchid Biosciences (ORCH) 6.57 +0.13 (+2%): Announces $33 mln, or 5.55 mln share, offering of common stock at $6 per
share.
09:53 ET FreeMarkets (FMKT) 14.50 +2.28: -- Update -- Prudential just upgraded FMKT to a BUY from a Hold and upped its price
target to $20 from $12.
09:49 ET Frontier Oil (FTO) 16.24 +2.28 (+16.3%): Gaps up after predicting that Q2 earnings would come in significantly above Wall
Street consensus. Company sees EPS of $2.80-3.35, vs consensus estimate of $1.15 (including effect of FIFO inventory accounting).
Company also sees full year EPS of $3.85-4.35 vs estimate of $1.96 on a comparable basis.
09:44 ET Steel Remains Strong : Group following up on yesterday's impressive percentage performance with a solid open. On the rise
today are BIR (+8.6%), NS (+9.5%) and WS (+1.9%).
09:38 ET Sector Watch : Friendly start the session proves short lived with the key semiconductor and biotech sectors pulling back
after impressive runs yesterday. Also on the defensive in early trade are oil/oil service, natural gas, retail, banks and drugs. Gaining sectors
include: chemical, software, computer-hardware and healthcare.
09:24 ET JP Morgan Chase (JPM) 48.50: -- Update -- Salomon Smith Barney reduces Q2 est. to $0.65 from $0.80 and FY01 est. to
$3.10 from $3.35; revisions reflect weak private equity business.
09:21 ET Intel (INTC) 29.73: Edges 1/4 pt lower amid WSJ article previewing company's Mid-Quarter update to be held tomorrow.
According to article, many analysts expecting company to indicate revenues on the low-end guidance, and several see revenues below
previous guidance.
09:08 ET Quantum DLT (DSS) 12.15: Salomon Smith Barney downgrades to NEUTRAL from Outperform and cuts price target to $12
from $14; cites continued economic downturn, LTO gaining traction (a competing tape drive technology), and ongoing search for a CFO.
09:07 ET JP Morgan Chase (JPM) 48.50: -- Update -- Files SEC document disclosing that current weak market environment continues
to adversely affect opportunities for JPMC's Investment Bank. In addition, expects trading-related revenues for each of the remaining qtrs of
2001 to likely be lower than trading-related revenues realized in the 2001 Q1 due to both seasonal patterns as well as market conditions.
09:05 ET INAMED Corp (IMDC) 24.93: -- Update -- USB Piper Jaffray upgrades to BUY from Neutral after FDA approves
LAPBAND, company's obesity treatment.
09:03 ET Global Crossing (GX) 12.94: Lehman says that positives outweigh negatives and stock offers good near-term upside; even if
numbers come in 20% below Lehman's estimates, firm still sees discounted cash flow analysis justifying a price in the $15-20 range.
09:02 ET Gapping Up/Down : ELAS +27% (carryover momentum from yesterday's rally)... PCLN +18% (Hong Kong firms increase
PCLN stake to 30%)... IMDC +14% (receives FDA Premarket Approval for obesity treatment)... MFNX +14% (inks 20-yr lease deal with
Deutsche Telekom)... SNWL +12.5% (signs Cisco as an OEM)... EXEL +10% (gene discovery news)... HLYW +9% (Goldman upgrade)...
SUNW +7.5% (Goldman said to be cautiously positive)... Gapping Down: ATSN -17% (earnings warning)... ATMI -12.5% (earnings
warning)... GOTO -7% (files for secondary offering).
08:57 ET Taiwan Semi (TSM) 20.98: Hearing that there was a spot secondary offering of 14 mln shares of TSM at $20.80 through Merrill
Lynch last night.
08:47 ET CIENA Corp (CIEN) 59.57: Goldman Sachs made positive comments on CIEN out of Supercomm; sees continued strong long
haul visibility. Goldman's checks indicate that Sprint (FON) plans to upgrade its OC-48 backbone to OC-192, which should benefit CIEN,
which is Sprint's primary DWDM supplier.
08:44 ET Xchange (EXAP) 1.26: Ask Jeeves UK (ASKJ) selects Xchange's eMessaging ASP service to drive its eMarketing campaigns.
08:43 ET JP Morgan Chase (JPM) 48.50: Traded off sharply late yesterday on talk of a cautious presentation at a Bernstein conference;
this morning Bernstein cuts numbers on JPM to $2.75 from $3.05 for FY01 and to $3.50 from $4.00 for FY02; says that trading revenue
will probably decline in Q2 from the Q1 seasonal peak, investment banking revenue has no forward momentum, and write-downs of
investments in others' venture capital funds will probably offset any realized gains in the current quarter.
08:40 ET McDATA (MCDT) 35.61: Thomas Weisel reiterates Buy rating, citing positive takeaways from an in-house meeting. MCDT
appears to be 6 months ahead of Brocade in terms of product development/availability. At 43x estimated 2002 EPS (1.0 PEG), valuation still
appears reasonable. Notes that the class B shares (MCDT) are priced at a premium to the class A shares (MCDTA). Over time, expects
the spread between the classes to shrink.
08:34 ET Exelixis (EXEL) 15.03: Reported that for the first time ever scientists have functionally identified the majority of essential genes
involved in the structure and function of the heart, bone, cartilage, blood vessels and nervous system of a vertebrate. Exelixis made the
announcement after its subsidiary completed the largest vertebrate genetic screening project ever conducted.
08:33 ET Micron Tech (MU) 42.00: Morgan Stanley is the latest to cut estimates on MU due to lower DRAM prices: May qtr to ($0.19)
from ($0.08); Aug qtr to $0.32 from $0.57, FY02 to $0.35 from $1.00.
08:31 ET Opening Indications : S&P futures at 1284 trade one point under fair value while the Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator is higher
by 8.4 points. Nothing on the economic calendar today which means analyst and corporate related events should drive market action.
08:29 ET Cheap Tickets (CTIX) 12.29: Legg Mason upgrades to STRONG BUY (and Select List) from Mkt Perform based on
company's attractive valuation and several potential catalysts that could improve both business and the share price in the coming months.
Firm has a price target of $18.
08:29 ET Lucent Tech (LU) 8.49: -- Update -- Dresdner upgrades to BUY from Add with a $12 price target; expects sale of fiber optic
division and announcement of several large contract wins with incumbent service providers to provide catalysts.
08:24 ET GoTo.com (GOTO) 26.64: Files registration statement with the SEC covering the sale of 7.5 mln common shares.
08:23 ET Sun Microsystems (SUNW) 17.02: Stock bid up to 17.70 pre-market, hearing from sources at Goldman Sachs that firm made
very cautiously positive comments, saying that the worst may be behind SUNW, but that it was still too early to call a bottom.
08:18 ET Hollywood Ent. (HLYW) 6: Goldman Sachs upgrades video rental chain to MKT OUTPERFORM from Mkt Perform; views
the renegotiation of HLYW's credit facility as a positive; considers stock undervalued at current levels; sets 18-month price target of $10.
08:13 ET Extensity (EXTN) 8.64: Enters marketing and technology integration agreement with Sprint (FON) enabling business customers
to wirelessly manage expenses, travel, tracking project time and e-procurement with Extensity Connect Mobile Edition via the Sprint PCS
network.
08:11 ET Circuit City (CC) 15.81: -- Update -- Reports a 13% decline in same-store sales; sees a Q1 loss for the Circuit City business of
approx. $0.05 a share. Company notes that it is seeing considerable strength in new technologies and in the new and expanded categories
added into the former appliance space.
08:11 ET McDonald's (MCD) 29.41: Lehman reiterates STRONG BUY; says that a favorable IRS tax ruling on REITs might spark
speculation that MCD can unlock value by spinning-off its multi-billion dollar real estate portfolio.
08:06 ET Goldman on Comm ICs : Goldman Sachs says that business conditions for this group remain challenging with a continued anemic
order pattern; believes already lowered expectations may still be too high and that growth is unlikely to resume until Q4 at earliest. Goldman
said that AMCC, PMCS, TXCC, and VTSS see no signs of an imminent recovery with each likely to post book-to-bills below 1; says it's
still unclear whether they will preannounce this quarter's results or wait until more data comes in.
08:04 ET SonicWALL (SNWL) 17.75: Internet security company inks OEM deal to supply Cisco Systems (CSCO) with its Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) acceleration appliances.
08:02 ET Audiocodes (AUDC) 7.35: Clarent (CLRN) selects AudioCodes to supply VoIP technology to Clarent's next generation
BHG8000 (Backbone High-Density Gateway).
07:59 ET Opening Indications : S&P futures at 1284 trade one point under fair value while Nasdaq 100 futures at 1943 trade 17 points
above fair value. Markets mixed this morning following yesterday's rally.
07:59 ET Texas Instruments (TXN) 35.99: AP reports that chip maker plans to idle two Dallas manufacturing plants July 2-23, affecting
about 1,800 workers. The brief shut down is an attempt to control costs during the sharp downturn in the semiconductor business.
07:53 ET Pepsi Bottling (PBG) 44.20: Goldman Sachs downgrades PBG to MARKET OUTPERFORM from Recommended List due to
price appreciation; says that at the margin Goldman is slightly more concerned about the implications of a potentially more competitive Coke
(KO) system and possibility of slower growth in cold drink channel.
07:49 ET Stilwell Financial (SV) 33.29: UBS Warburg upgrades to BUY from Hold and ups price target to $39 from $33; some
factors cited include: a higher earnings estimates due to greater than forecast assets under management growth, an increase of nearly 15% in
the value of SV's 1/3 stake in DST Systems, and a lower cost of capital due to issuance of zero coupon convertible.
07:49 ET AES Corp (AES) 42.54: Power company said that it and Williams Cos (WMB) are the subject of an investigation by the DOJ
into whether companies violated antitrust laws by agreeing to limit expansion of some AES plants.
07:42 ET Bank One (ONE) 39.05: Speaking at Sanford C. Bernstein, company CEO James Dimon warns that Q2 earnings will come in
equal or slightly above Q1 net of $0.58. Current mean est. for the qtr is $0.63. Cites credit deterioration and the company's decision to
reduce credit exposure through voluntary loan sales.
07:41 ET Boca Resorts (RST) 13.60: Bear Stearns upgrades RST to BUY from Attractive after company announces sale of the Florida
Panthers hockey team for $101 mln; sees upside in stock to $18-19 over next 12-18 months.
07:37 ET CarMax Group (KMX) 16.45: Parent company Circuit City Stores (CC) plans to sell approx. 7.5 mln shares of its KMX stake
through a public offering.
07:36 ET Tellabs (TLAB) 34.14: CSFB says that there is significant risk to its revenue forecasts of $780 mln for Q2 and $890 mln for Q3
due to lengthened time to work down Titan 5500 inventories, and as such there is downside risk for the stock near-term. Similar comments
heard from UBS Warburg yesterday.
07:35 ET Metromedia Fiber (MFNX) 4.65: Deutsche Telekom (DT), Europe's largest communications company, signs a 20-year lease
agreement to use Metromedia optical infrastructure.
07:34 ET Citrix Systems (CTXS) 23.71: Will host conference call today to discuss the modest acceleration in growth company has seen in
its core business. As a result of the uptick, CTXS expects the quarter to be stronger than previously anticipated.
07:29 ET ATMI (ATMI) 29.96: -- Update -- UBS Warburg cutting estimates to reflect management's reduced guidance; cuts FY01 to
$0.35 from $0.83 and FY02 to $1.08 from $1.22.
07:27 ET Check Point Sftwr (CHKP) 47.79: UBS Warburg trimming estimates on CHKP based on research indicating a more challenging
Q2 macro environment for IT spending than previously anticipated; FY01 to $1.34 from $1.36; FY02 to $1.84 from $1.87.
07:23 ET SunGard Data (SDS) 61.50: Robertson Stephens downgrades to MARKET PERFORM from Strong Buy as recent channel
checks indicate that that technology officers at major investment banks are increasingly pessimistic regarding a 2H01 spending turnaround.
Price target is 63 but firm sees near-term downside risk to 53.
07:20 ET Opening Indications : This morning's fair value figures -- S&P 500 fair value: 1285; closed even with fair value. Nasdaq 100 fair
value: 1926; closed 3 pts below fair value. Current indications: S&P 500 futures are +1, or 1 pt above fair value. Nasdaq 100 is +16, or 13
pts above fair value... Bank of England leaves benchmark interest rate unchanged after 3 rate cuts in 4 months; sees evidence that economy
is picking up. Crude oil off 2% after API reports that U.S. oil inventories rebounded to a 22-month high.
07:09 ET Procter & Gamble (PG) 64.08: Lehman Brothers upgrades to BUY from Neutral; sees a good trading opportunity ahead of
June 15 outlook meeting -- expects meeting to highlight: more aggressive actions to reduce asset base than previously telegraphed, FY02
recurring earnings growth to be confirmed at the consensus-implied 6-8% rates, and previously stated long-term growth targets to remain in
place.
07:09 ET Bristol-Myers (BMY) 57.91: WSJ reports that company moved closer to inking a deal to acquire DuPont's drug business for
$7.5-$8.0 bln, a much higher price than expected. Separately, BMY authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $2 bln of common
stock.
07:05 ET ATMI (ATMI) 29.96: Manufacturer of semiconductor materials warned that Q2 earnings will come in between $0.01-$0.05,
compared to $0.12 consensus estimate.
07:05 ET First Union on EMS : First Union Securities says that its channel checks reveal that orders are lower in the June qtr but that
order volatility is also lower; ie fewer cancellations. Believes key issue in H2 2001 will be new sources of revenue such as outsourcing
laggards stepping up to EMS cos and supplier consolidation.
06:55 ET Lucent Tech (LU) 8.49: The Financial Times reports that Lucent will cut an additional 5,000 jobs by offering early retirement
buyouts to mostly mid-level managers.
06:48 ET FreeMarkets (FMKT) 12.22: Company and Adexa Inc mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement citing the slowing
economy, market conditions and the delays in obtaining SEC approval. FMKT announced the acquisition of privately held Adexa in
February. Based on FMKT's $19.75 price at the time, the deal would have been valued at approx. $340 mln.
06:40 ET priceline.com (PCLN) 5.45: Hong Kong firms Cheung Kong Ltd and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd announce that they have entered
into an agreement to increase their stake in PCLN through a 25 mln share purchase from founder Jay Walker. Purchase raises the companies'
combined stake in PCLN to 30%. In Feb., CKH and Hutchison jointly purchased 23.8 mln shares of PCLN stock.
06:33 ET INAMED Corp (IMDC) 24.93: Company's BioEnterics Corp. subsidiary receives FDA Premarket Approval for its -BAND
Adjustable Gastric Banding System for the treatment of severe obesity.
06:15 ET U.S. Markets : S&P futures trading at 1283.50, 1.5 points below fair value, Nasdaq 100 futures trading at 1919, 7.0 points
below fair value. The 30-year bond is down 11 ticks at 5.677%. The dollar is stronger against both the yen and the euro.
06:14 ET European Markets : FTSE +0.20%, DAX -0.07% -- European stocks mixed, but not far from unchanged in either direction.
Oil stocks providing some downward pressure as the market shifted its focus away from OPEC and towards yesterday’s API data which
revealed another build in inventories. Semiconductors firmer on an ABN Amro note suggesting the sector had bottomed. Steelmakers under
pressure following yesterday’s decision by President Bush to have the International Trade Commission conduct a review of steel exports.
06:13 ET Asian Markets : Nikkei -0.05%, Hang Seng +0.92% -- Asian stocks mixed. Nasdaq-inspired gains largely erased in Japan on
talk of profit-taking. Taiwan up 3.1% on expectations for more government stimulus. Market also boosted by a rally in TSMC on the back of
news that Philips will place an order. Singapore up for the third consecutive session, while Hong Kong closed higher with China Mobile
outperforming. Recent Xilinx and Lucent news extremely favorable for tech-biased region. |
