We interrupt the political talk, for a brief stock break.
Good evening Jim,
Here is your Money Mail for Thursday, November 2.
THE BUZZ AT THE BELL
Tech stocks rallied broadly today after Intel said that its fourth
quarter results are looking strong. Intel's stock gained 4%, lifting
semiconductors generally. Xilinx was up 3% and Rambus gained 4%. As
Money Mail went to press, however, Oracle was becoming embroiled in an
unusual market event: The Nasdaq suspended some trades in Oracle stock,
which was being traded in massive quantities following rumors (denied
by the company) that founder Larry Ellison had died or was resigning.
Oracle lost 6% on the day. The Nasdaq did not explain why it halted
some transactions in Oracle shares. Stay tuned. The Nasdaq gained 95
points on heavy volume. The Dow lost 19 points as gains in tech stocks
like IBM were not enough to offset losses in cyclicals.
What did Intel say this time to prove it's the mother of all market
bellwethers? On Wednesday evening CEO Craig Barrett told a meeting
of analysts (which was broadcast over the Internet) that the company
expects sales to grow at a rate in the "high teens" for 2001, and
that the fourth quarter is off to a strong start and on track to
meet expectations. This is in line with a recent statistics from
World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, an industry organization,
which estimated recently that the world semiconductor market will
grow by 20.3% in 2001. That's terrific growth, sure, but down from
the 39.2% increase anticipated this year. Some chips!
Following up on stories we have run earlier, we note the following:
* The much anticipated IPO of Transmeta, inventor of the power
efficient, Crusoe computer-chip, has hit a snag. IBM canceled plans
to use the Crusoe it its Thinkpad laptops. IBM didn't explain its
reasoning, but as one of the manufacturers of the Crusoe, IBM's
pullout has to hurt. Transmeta is expected to go public next week.
* The New York Attorney General's office expects the number of
complaints against Internet fraud to be 67% higher in 2000 than
in 1999. Like everything else on the net, cons are booming.
* The scooter wars are heating up. Razor USA, distributor for
privately-held JD Corp. of Taiwan, is suing 15 other scooter
makers for patent infringement. That's the old holiday spirit! But
what did JD invent? Little wheels? Shiny metal? Give us a break:
the world's only first-class scooter was Phil Rizzuto.
Peter Nulty
Editor, Money Mail
moneymail@online.cnbc.com
MAJOR INDEXES AND VOLUMES
* Dow Jones Industrials: 10880.51, down 19.00 or 0.17%
* Dow Transports: 2790.77, up 38.00 or 1.38%
* Dow Utilities: 393.56, down 6.49 or 1.62%
* S&P 500: 1428.31, up 7.09 or 0.50%
* Nasdaq Composite Index: 3429.02, up 95.63 or 2.87%
* Russell 2000: 506.97, up 11.79 or 2.38%
* 30-Year Bond Yield: 5.786, unchanged
* NYSE volume (preliminary): 1.134 billion shares
* Nasdaq volume (preliminary): 2.160 billion shares
* To see our complete U.S. index list:
wwwrd.0mm.com
SCOUTING REPORT: FRIDAY
All eyes will be on Friday's employment report, as investors
look for confirmation that the current economic slowdown will not
be harsh. Today it was reported that productivity in the third
quarter rose by 3.9%, which was taken as a good omen because
that level of increase is more than enough to offset wage
inflation.
Expected Earnings
* Bell Atlantic (BEL) Q3 Est. 0.85 vs. Year Ago: 0.76
* King Pharmaceuticals (KG) Q3 Est. 0.25 vs. Year Ago: 0.21
* Unilever (UN) Q3 Est. 0.72 vs. Year Ago: 0.85
Economic Calendar
* Unemployment report (October), Dept. of Labor, at 8:30 am EST
STOCKS
* Value Technology *
Seth Tobias, Circle T-Partners general partner, has been buying
PC stocks which he describes as "value technology."
wwwrd.0mm.com
* Stocks to Drop *
Courtney Smith, president of Courtney Smith and Co., says he was
bearish about the stock market, but he is now bullish.
wwwrd.0mm.com
* Stocks to Watch *
Joe Kernen's stocks for Thursday:
wwwrd.0mm.com
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