MERRILL ON TECHS, VALUATION, and a bunch of other stuff.
Worth reading but remember this is just one firm's opinion. I am not too happy with Merrill as they talked me out of SEBL a couple days ago, but at least they talked me into CSCO and MSFT at 19.00 and 65.85.
10:37 ET Merrill Lynch Q4 Earnings Preview : In Q4 preview, Steve Milunovich said that firm is not yet convinced technology will outperform this year due to high valuations and the firm's view of a gradual recovery, but notes that it is hard to see a negative fundamental catalyst until the March pre-announcement period
10:36 ET Nasdaq Composite : -- Technical -- Some profit taking in the key semiconductor sector (SOX -1.7%) after the opening surge has triggered a slide off the high for the Nasdaq Composite. Next support is at 2040 with a secondary zone at 2034/2030. Congestion and the 38% retrace of the recent surges follows at 2023/2020.
10:33 ET Merrill Lynch Q4 Earnings Preview : Confident that Nokia (NOK) will meet, or exceed, the company's own earnings guidance; Merrill Lynch expects NOK's phone division revenues to be flat yr/yr, margins for the handset division to creep back above 21% again, and network margins to be back above 10% with revenue down 25% yr/yr in that segment... overall, still cautious on sector and maintains its NEUTRAL recommendation on NOK and Ericsson (ERICY)
10:30 ET Standout Sectors/Stocks : Notable strength witnessed this morning in Online Brokers (SCH +11%, ET +8.5%, NITE +5.5%, AMTD +3.5%), Retailers (AEOS +7.5%, ANF +6%, GPS +4%, CC +4.5%, TWTR +4.5%), and Airline names (UAL +7.5%, U +5.5% ).
10:24 ET Merrill Lynch Q4 Earnings Preview : In PC space, said the consumer side saw upside in Q4 but that corporate side remained weak and is expected to remain weak through 1H02; inventories, though, look to be in pretty good shape and expects unit growth of 10.5% in 2002 with the inflection point coming in early Q3... believes DELL, CPQ, GTW and IM have best revenue upside potential while CPQ, GTW and TECD have best EPS upside potential |
