Can someone explain to me why COVD wants to be involved in this?
Thanks, Sup.
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Telecommunication stocks
could catch the ear of investors Wednesday after
leading long-distance provider AT&T Corp. asked a
federal appeals court to overturn a Federal
Communications Commission decision to grant rival
Bell Atlantic access to the lucrative New York state
long-distance market.
Airline stocks could also see additional activity in
the wake of Merrill Lynch?s decision to downgrade
the sector?s expected earnings for 2000.
Early indications suggest U.S. stocks will open
moderately higher.
S&P futures on the Globex trading system were
down 2.50 points at 1476.50. That's 3.02 points
above fair value for the futures -- a formula taking into
account interest and dividend effects -- which was
estimated by London traders at 1473.48. Typically,
one point of difference between the futures index and
fair value equals about eight points on the Dow Jones
industrial average as trading opens.
U.S. blue chip stocks surged to a record close
Tuesday, buoyed by solid gains from financial stocks
and cyclicals. Technology stocks, which have been
leading the market rally, closed mostly lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.63
points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,476.71. The blue-chip
index?s previous record close was 11,405.76, set last
Thursday. The Nasdaq composite slipped 3.27 points
to 3,972.11, snapping its seven-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 index added 0.57 to 1,457.66.
In Asia Wednesday, markets moved broadly
higher, with Tokyo posting narrow gains and
Singapore closing at a record high. Hong Kong
bucked the trend, though, as investors sold off blue
chips.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 27 points, or 0.1
percent, to 18,810.58. The Straits Times index in
Singapore closed up 1.1 percent at 2,472.69 as firm
financial shares lifted it back into record territory. The
Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended 1.6 percent
lower at 16,660.82, after having broken into record
territory in the morning.
In Europe, major stock markets all moved into
record territory after a slow start, though thin volumes
led to some sharper-than-usual swings among the
biggest companies.
London reopened from a long holiday break, with
the FTSE 100 adding 45 points, or 0.7 percent, to
6,851.80. The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt rose 19 points
to 6,880.90, recovering from an early 0.5 percent
decline, while the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.9 percent
higher at 5,877.62. The SMI in Zurich added 0.5
percent to reach 7,486.50.
In the Treasury market, the bellwether 30-year
bond rose 2/32 of a point in price, leaving its yield
unchanged from Tuesday at 6.47 percent. In the
currency market, the euro gained against the dollar,
rising to $1.0084 from $1.0060 late Tuesday. Against
the yen, the dollar slipped to 102.29 yen from 102.42
yen late Tuesday.
Telecom shares could grab some of the spotlight
Wednesday in the wake of AT&T decision to
challenge the FCC?s ruling to give Bell Atlantic
access to its turf in the New York long-distance
market.
In a joint motion filed late Tuesday in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, AT&T
(T) and Covad Communications (COVD) requested
that Bell Atlantic (BEL) be temporarily barred from
providing long-distance service in New York, pending
an appeal which AT&T said its plans to file on or
before Jan. 4. Bell Atlantic said it plans to begin
offering the service on Jan. 5.
The move is the latest salvo in an ongoing
long-distance battle between the two phone
companies. Earlier this month, the FCC approved
Bell Atlantic?s application to offer long-distance
service to customers in New York after determining
that the company had opened its network to enough
competing local carriers -- a federal requirement
before permission for long-distance service was
granted.
AT&T shares rose 7/8 Tuesday to 50-7/8; Bell
Atlantic stock jumped 2-1/16 to 62-3/16. Covad
Communications? shares slipped 5/8 to 52-3/4.
Airline stocks could also gain attention
Wednesday after Merrill Lynch Global Securities
became the latest investment research firm to reduce
earnings estimates on the sector.
Merrill analyst Candace Browning trimmed her
projections for Delta Air Lines (DAL), Continental
Airlines (CAL), Alaska Air Group (ALK) and AMR
Corp. (AMR), the parent of American Airlines.
Merrill announced its move in the wake of other
downgrades by airline analysts, who are citing more
empty seats than expected in December and higher
fuel prices as reason for throttling back their
current-quarter and full-year earnings estimates.
AMR ended Tuesday down 1-3/16 at 64-11/16,
while Alaska Air shares slipped 1/2 to 35-1/16.
Continental Airlines? shares rose 1/16 Tuesday to
43-3/8 and Delta stock shed 3/8 to 49-1/8.
In other corporate news, State Street Corp. (STT)
could garner some attention after announcing late
Tuesday that it has sold more than $5 billion in
investment securities recently that will result in a
one-time, pretax charge to its fourth-quarter earnings
of $57 million.
The Boston-based asset manager said the $5.2
billion sell-off -- which primarily consisted of U.S.
treasury and federal agency securities with an
average maturity of less than two years -- was part of
a "repositioning? of its investment portfolio assets.
State Street shares rose 1-1/4 Tuesday to 71-1/4.
Business-to-business e-commerce company
Elcom International Inc. could see additional action
Wednesday after its amazing run during after-hours
trading on Island ECN and MarketXT.
The stock, which was began the regular trading
session Tuesday at 20, moved well into the 50s in
the extended-hours session. Elcom (ELCO) finished
up 16-3/16 to 52-11/16 on Island, where it was the
second-most-active stock and 17 to 53-1/2 on
MarketXT, where it led in volume. |
