morning Grizz~
thanks for the chart and the comments
where's mah T-shirt? :-)
I promise to do it justice
the warm up:
NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were seen opening mildly higher on Monday with news of the government's proposal for the breakup of Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), the world's No. 1 software company, already discounted in the market.
``I think the worst is over for them,'' said Peter Cardillo, director of research at Westfalia Investments, referring to Microsoft. ``The news is largely discounted. It looks as though we are going to have a fairly nice opening.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures for June was up 0.50 of a point to 1,460.50 while the Nasdaq 100 index futures for June gained 35 points to 3,845.
Federal and state antitrust enforcers on Friday proposed breaking software powerhouse Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) into two parts, the harshest antitrust penalty sought by the government in two decades. The company's stock was up at 72 in pre-market trading on Monday after closing at 69-3/4 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.
Wall Street will also be watching the release of the National Association of Purchasing Management's (NAPM) monthly report on the health of U.S. manufacturing, due at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), for signs the economy is in danger of overheating.
Financial markets are already on inflation watch after recent stronger-than-expected government reports on consumer price inflation, labour costs and economic growth. Economists polled by Reuters are expecting the report to register 55.6 with any number over 50 representing an expansion.
Analysts said they expected the market to gain some ground at the open as stocks remain well off their highs.
``This market has gone too far too fast,'' said James Volk, co-director of institutional trading at D.A. Davidson & Co. ``I think (the buyers) are going to come back in. It looks like a higher opening. I just don't know how long it will last.''
Concerns that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by more than a quarter of a percentage point in order to ward off inflation will continue to hurt ``old economy'' stocks more than ``new economy'' technology stocks, analysts said.
``Now that the earnings season is winding down, we are going to continue focusing on economics,'' Cardillo said. ``There will be a lot of talk about a half a percentage point interest rate increase.''
The Fed meets next on May 16 with the central bank already having raised borrowing five times since June of last year.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) ended down 154.19 points, or 1.42 percent, at 10,733.91. For the week, the Dow fell 110.14 points.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) declined 12.49 points, or 0.85 percent, to 1,452.43 and the Wilshire 5000 index (^TMW - news) slipped 3.63 points, or 0.03 percent, to 13,541.70.
The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) jumped 86.63 points, or 2.30 percent, to 3,860.66. For the week, it was up 216.78 points.
In early trading, the U.S. Treasury 10-year note was unchanged with the yield at 6.22 percent from Thursday's close of 6.14 percent. The U.S. Treasury 30-year bond eased 2/32 with the yield rising to 5.97 percent from Friday's close of 5.96 percent.
In other economic news, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig is set to speak on ``Monetary Policy and the Economic Outlook'' before an economic forum at 8:45 p.m. EDT (0045 GMT) in Overland Park, Kan. Hoenig is a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee.
Among some of the other stocks to watch on Monday, German industrial and technology group Siemens AG is close to a deal to buy Shared Medical Systems Corp. (NYSE:SMS - news) for more than $2 billion cash, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shared Medical closed at 41-7/16.
UtiliCorp United (NYSE:UCU - news) posted a first-quarter profit of 59 cents a share, up from 57 cents a year earlier. The energy company closed at 19-4/16. |
