14:00 ET Dow -66, Nasdaq -1, S&P -7.80: [BRIEFING.COM] Signs of life are beginning to show up in the semiconductor sector. The SOX
now trades at 654 which is roughly two points off the day's best levels. This represents a 0.9% intraday gain for the group. Today's move
comes despite this morning's cautious comments on communications chips from Goldman Sachs. Specifically, Goldman said business conditions
for the group remain challenging and the sector's anemic order pattern is still evident. As a result, Goldman believes already lowered
expectations for communications chips may still be too high. Additionally, the firm believes growth is unlikely to resume until the calendar year
fourth quarter at the earliest. Specific issues singled out by Goldman include Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC -4.3%), PMC Sierra (PMCS
-4.4%), TranSwitch (TXCC -0.7%) and Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS -5.7%). Today's activity also takes place ahead of Intel's (INTC
+2.5%) mid-quarter report tomorrow. Not surprisingly, analyst comments ahead of INTC's report are mixed. Salomon Smith Barney has been
out positive ahead of the call while CSFB has issued cautous remarks. DJTA -0.3%... DJUA -2.0%... SOX +0.5%... XOI -2.2%... BTK
-3.2%... Nasdaq 100 -0.5%... S&P Midcap 400 -1.0%... Russell 2000 -0.7%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1164/1781... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1489/2128.
13:30 ET Dow -88, Nasdaq -12, S&P -11.29: [BRIEFING.COM] If anyone was looking for another negative catalyst today Fed Governor
Meyer has stepped into the void. Meyer is probably the most influential Fed member outside of Greenspan which makes his comments worth
considering. In a speech earlier today, Meyer indicated he sees no signs that U.S. economic growth is reviving, and added that the need to
reduce inflation is not as great as before. These comments are quite dovish for Meyer and hint at additional Fed rate cuts. In a further comment,
Meyer sounded skeptical regarding optimistic expectations for a quick economic recovery -- here's the key line: "While a recovery along the lines
of the consensus forecast is reasonable, I see some downside risks to that outlook." While these comments are not likely to generate a massive
turn in today's market, they are worth noting nonetheless. DJTA -0.1%... DJUA -2.1%... SOX +0.4%... XOI -2.1%... BTK -3.1%... Nasdaq
100 -0.3%... S&P Midcap 400 -1.0%... Russell 2000 -0.6%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1199/1730... Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1474/2111. |
