MARKET TALK: Semi Data? Worse Than Horrible
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
(Call Us: 201 938-5299; All Times Eastern)
MARKET TALK can be found using code N/DJMT
8:37 (Dow Jones) "Ridiculously horrible." That's how Goldman's Terry
Ragsdale describes the July semiconductor data released after the bell on
Friday. Global semi revenue in July down 45% year/year and 19% from April
sequentially (quarterly). Even worse, July's $8.8 billion was the worst
since July/August 1994. On the bright side, the horrific numbers likely make
for a nice snap-back when it happens, but the horrible data don't give much
guidance as to when that will be, Goldman says. (TG)
8:30 (Dow Jones) Two schools of thought regarding the Hewlett-Packard
(HWP)/Compaq (CPQ) potential hook-up: First, you can make the argument that
such a big deal is a sign that maybe things are near bottoming, or at the
very least say that H-P sees value in Compaq, which could bode well for the
tech sector in general. This is really the deal that will get the stock
market going, right? Well, that brings us to our second thought: If this is
going to spur the market on, why are stocks looking essentially flat? Maybe
Wall Street is just slow to get back to work following the long weekend, but
it's certainly a sign of the times that this deal isn't sparking (at least
yet) a big rally. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) out with some impressive results
from a coated-stent trial that may have the Dow component on the move. NAPM,
construction spending later. (TG) |
