RECAP & STOCKS TO WATCH FOR WEDNESDAY, 2-28-01
After a 2-day bounce, the Nasdaq was once again pressured by uncertainty of a Fed inter-meeting rate cut, a new deluge of cautious comments from a number of brokerage firms, and news that consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since June 1996.
The Nasdaq Composite dumped 100 points to close at 2,207. Volume was 1.8 billion shares, with decliners outpacing advancers by 25 to 12. Blue chips diverged from the techs as the Dow lost 5 points, after being down as much as 82 points, to finish at 10,642. Volume on the Big Board was 1.1 billion shares with decliners beating advancers 8 to 7.
Right now, the markets are transfixed with Fed Chief Greenspan. Time will stand still as eyes and ears look and listen to his appearance before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday to clear the air on the monetary policy front. He has the ball in his court, and if he drops that ball, which would be typical for him, we stand to test the Nasdaq 2,000 level sooner rather than later.
From a technical standpoint, the Nasdaq Composite held support at 2,200, with next support at 2,000 and resistance at 2,500. The Dow tested and bounced back from resistance at 10,700, and formed a doji on the daily chart, indicating another possible reversal to the downside. The Semiconductor Index (SOX) broke support at 600, with new support in the 550 area.
Cintas (CTAS): Company warned for FY01, seeing EPS of $1.30-1.32 vs current EPS estimate of $1.34. Revenues are expected to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.18 bln. Company cited slowing economy, additional distribution center start-up costs, higher energy costs and weather-related factors.
CTAS will be added to the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Wednesday.
Avanex (AVNX): Company warned for Q3, seeing revenues of approximately $41 mln (vs est of $50.5 mln) and EPS of $0.02 to $0.03 (vs est. of $0.06). Companies that could be affected by this warning include JDSU, OPLK, and NUFO.
Chartered Semi (CHRT): Company warned for Q1, seeing loss of $0.22-0.24 per share vs current EPS estimate of $0.05. Company cites weakening economic environment and market conditions.
H & R Block (HRB): Reported Q3 earnings of $0.06 a share, $0.26 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.20). Revenues rose 29.0%, to $661.35 mln from a year-ago of $512.51 mln. HRB is a current Tradewinds swing play.
Altera (ALTR): Company warned for Q1, seeing revenues 20% below $368 mln Q4 revs, or about $294 mln (vs consensus mean est. of $349.4 mln). Says incoming orders deteriorated in February leading management to believe that resale rates will decline towards the end of the quarter.
Excite@Home (ATHM): Company announced plans to compete for online advertising dollars, saying strategy involves leveraging its broadband advertising expertise to increase advertisers' return on investment. |
