Merrill Lynch Likes STLW per release from FO conf.
MARKET WRAP UP Analysts Take the Wheel
By Eileen Buckley
With the earning season complete and the Fed finished with its
announcements, analysts have taken the wheel and are driving the
market's movements.
Today, they arrived with scoops from two major technology conferences:
the National Fiber Optics Engineers Conference and Seybold. The news
has been good for the tech sector, and the indexes reflect this. The
Nasdaq rose 0.28 percent, or 11.58 points, to close the day at
4082.17, and TheStreet.com's Internet index rose 0.78 percent, or 6.2
points, to close at 799.24. The Dow closed down 0.34 percent, or 37.74
points, at 11215.10.
Who would have thought that fiber optics - a technology comprehensible
only to engineering professors - would become a cause celebre? Well,
it has come to that. The National Fiber Optics Engineers Conference in
Denver drew such a crowd that it had to turn people away at the door.
Can you imagine: "Let me in! I've got to hear about the latest 10 GigE
capabilities and higher data-rate modulators!"
Fortunately, Merrill Lynch analyst Thomas Astle communicated the
conference's essentials. He says the cost savings potential and
high-speed data-transfer capabilities of emerging optical technologies
will drive demand for years to come. His favorites include Nortel,
which "continues to soak up market share;" Finisar, up 31 cents, or
0.74 percent, to $42.81; Stratos Lightwave, up $1.35, or 3.18 percent,
to $44.12; Ciena, up $2.50, or 1.19 percent, to $211.94; Sycamore, up
$2.25, or 1.6 percent, to $143.25; and Cisco, up 50 cents, or 0.76
percent, to $66.56. |
