MARKET TALK: ISE Wastes No Time Settling In
09 Jan 11:15
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
11:15 (Dow Jones) Is electronic trading the way of the future or was it just
a very good year? The all-electronic International Securities Exchange said it
traded on Tuesday its 75-millionth options contract. In a sign of how quickly
the ISE's growth is accelerating, the New York exchange traded its 25-millionth
contract a year after it was launched (in May 2000), its 50-millionth contract
just four months later, and reached its 75-millionth contract after just three
more months. (KT)
11:05 (Dow Jones) New quantitative research from Merrill shows that 2001 was
actually the broadest year for the equity market of the last 15 years. Despite
the S&P 500 being down 13%, 65.4% of the stocks in the index outperformed the
index. So, investors had about a 2-in-3 chance of picking outperforming stocks
in 2001. Of course, they only had a 4-in-10 chance of picking a stock that
actually went up, which brings up one of our favorite Wall Street sayings: You
can't get rich by losing less than your neighbor. (TG)
10:55 (Dow Jones) FuelCell Energy (FCEL) signed its second market development
pact within a month, this one with CMS Energy's (CMS) CMS Viron Energy Services
unit. The companies will jointly pursue fuel cell projects in California under
the agreement and will jointly market and sell power plants with introductory
ratings of 250 kilowatts to 2 megawatts. In addition, the firms will jointly
perform project, customer and site development, system integration, permitting
and project financing for the plants. In late December, FuelCell announced a
similar agreement with ChevronTexaco (CVX). (TAG)
10:44 (Dow Jones) Lehman says concerns about Argentina exposure for Citigroup
(C) are overdone. The stock fell nearly 4% Tuesday, equaling a market cap loss
of more than $10B. "We believe the size of C's balance sheet in Argentina is
much less than $10B." However, Lehman sees FleetBoston (FBF) taking another
charge because of the peso devaluation. "Due to the fluidity of the situation,
we don't believe management has yet to been able to quantify the exact amount
of charges." Lehman keeps both stocks at strong buy. Citi up 1.6%, Fleet adds
0.6%. (GS)
10:35 (Dow Jones) PG&E Corp. (PCG) shareholders, get ready for increased
volatility as California regulators challenge Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s
restructuring plan. The stock should react to the twists and turns of the news
flow, says Goldman Sachs' Jonathan Raleigh. He expects the company still has a
"reasonable probablity" of exiting from bankruptcy with its restructuring plan
intact. However, assuming the utility must adopt a plan similar to the one
struck between state regulators and Edison International (EIX), Raleigh
estimates PG&E stock is worth $30 a share. Shares up 1% at $19.40. (CCC)
10:24 (Dow Jones) While the military objectives of the antiterrorism
coalition have raised concerns about the relationship between the U.S. and its
Middle East allies, Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Chairman Ray Irani sees an
opportunity to establish new common ground that could lead to economic benefits
for all. "This could accelerate the regional trend toward privatization and
lead to more foreign investment opportunities in the region's energy sector,"
Irani said during a presentation at the Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference
2002 in New York. (RG)
10:15 (Dow Jones) Major stock indexes looking pretty good across the board.
Techs act best, again, and talk in futures pits is that SAP helped turn things
around earlier this morning. Oracle up nicely, Cisco showing gains. NDX up
2.1%, SOX adds 3%, with Intel at top of Dow. DJIA gains 83 to 10233, Nasdaq
Comp higher by 36 to 2092, and S&P 500 climbs 11 to 1172. (TG)
10:08 (Dow Jones) Euro is perilously close to a breachof support at $0.8880
on the dollar, a level that would push the euro to $0.8830-.8835 and then
$0.8730, analysts say. The euro is at or near daily lows against the pound,
Swiss franc and yen as well. (JEN)
10:05 (Dow Jones) The winning of a contract from Illinois to provide
prescription benefits management services to 400,000 state employees and
retirees should go a long way in countering "misperception" that Caremark Rx
(CMX) is losing business, according to SG Cowen analyst Kemp Dolliver.
Prescription benefit management companies have seen their stock prices battered
in recent months by fear the Merck-Medco unit of drug giant Merck (MRK) is
successfully stealing business by undercutting prices. Dolliver said the
contract in Illinois should add $200 million in revenues annually and three to
five cents a share in annual earnings. Shares flat at $14.85. (JJO)
9:57 (Dow Jones) Brighter days await investors of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD),
Merrill Lynch analyst Jamie Keating suggests. Though Toronto-Dominion, one of
Canada's big five banks, has underperformed the Canadian bank sector for 18
months, the stock has outperformed its Canadian peers since Oct. 31. Keating
"senses" a sustained turnaround in Toronto-Dominion's stock for three reasons:
core revenue growth is accelerating; credit deterioration is stabilizing and
problem loans appear digestible; and excess capital generation may be
significant in 2002. (BED)
9:45 (Dow Jones) The Economic Cycle Research Institute's leading indexes have
moved much closer to predicting a recovery in early 2002. ECRI noted that
"almost 90% of the time the stock market hits bottom between three and four
months" before economic activity "and the lead is usually exactly four months."
The Sept. low for the stock market supports other signs that ECRI has seen that
"a business cycle recovery will begin in the first quarter of 2002." (JM)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 01-09-02
11:15 AM |
