MARKET TALK: Compaq '02 Capex Will Be Shy Of '01
31 Jan 09:33
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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9:33 (Dow Jones) Compaq Computer (CPQ) estimates it will spend about $750
million on capital expenditures for land, buildings and equipment during 2002.
The company spent about $927 million during the last fiscal year on capital
expenditures. Uses of cash for this year also include purchases of equipment to
be leased to third parties of about $440 million. Compaq said it expects to
fund expenditures for capital requirements from a combination of available cash
balances, internally generated funds and financing arrangements. (CD)
9:26 (Dow Jones) As the U.S. economy starts to move ahead, analysts see at
least a 3-month lag for similar gains in the euro zone and this could set the
scene for a euro dip to the "low eighties." EUR/USD is $0.8626; USD/JPY is
Y133.12; EUR/JPY is Y114.89. (JRH)
9:22 (Dow Jones) Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Strauss told investors that
brokerage stock prices have started to look more appealing following the hit
the group took this week after PNC restated its 2001 earnings. He would feel
even more bullish if prices came down another 5% to 10%, back to the level seen
at the end of September. He also cut his 1Q earnings estimate for Lehman
Brothers (LEH) to $1 from $1.18 a share, and for Morgan Stanley (MWD) to 65
cents from 69 cents, citing light trading volumes. (LC)
9:13 (Dow Jones) PricewaterhouseCoopers' decision to split off its consulting
business in an IPO comes as the auditing side dominated last year's IPO market.
PwC audited the results of 24 IPOs, though those deals represented 54.2% of all
money raised in the market in '01, according to Thomson Financial. Ernst &
Young was a distant second, handling just 16.8% of proceeds. Arthur Andersen,
incidentally, was far back in fourth, even before all the Enron-auditing
hubbub. (RJH)
9:03 (Dow Jones) Citizens Communications (CZN) expects to record a pretax
gain of $300 million in the 1Q ending March 31 from the sale of its water and
waste water treatment operations to American Water Works (AWK). The transaction
closed Jan. 15 for $859.1 million in cash and $120.4 million in assumed debt
and other liabilities. The sale is part of Citizens' plan to divest its public
utilities services businesses. (CC)
8:54 (Dow Jones) Oracle (ORCL) reiterated guidance, and its belief that
business has bottomed, but all's not well, as WR Hambrecht sees it. Firm still
believes a meaningful rebound in business isn't likely for at least another
eight months, and any recovery Oracle sees this year will be relatively muted.
Keeps neutral rating. (TG)
8:47 (Dow Jones) Analysts are beginning to defend companies recently hurt by
perceptions/rumors of inappropriate accounting. For example, Robertson Stephens
upgrades Electronic Data Systems (EDS) to strong buy, saying that concerns over
the company's off-balance-sheet lease contingencies are overblown. "We maintain
our belief that such contingencies do little-to-nothing to change the overall
risk/liability profile of the company." The firm also anticipates a solid 4Q
earnings report. (GS)
8:43 (Dow Jones) The employment cost index rose by 0.9% in the three months
ending in December, as expected. Wage and salary payments were only up 0.8%,
while benefits rose by 1.2%. This was the second quarter in a row in which
benefits rose by more than 1%, which is bound to raise some worries at the Fed.
Labor costs move up slowly, but once they start moving they continue and are
very hard to slow down. (JM)
8:38 (Dow Jones) Personal income rose by 0.4% in Dec., while consumer
spending slipped by 0.2%. Of course, there was very strong consumer spending in
Oct. - up 2.9% - that ensured consumer spending for the quarter as a whole
would be strong. (JM)
8:35 (Dow Jones) Jobless claims roseby 30,000 to 390,000 in the week ended
Jan. 26 from a sharply downward revised level in the prior week. This is the
fourth straight week under 400,000. The improvement in claims since
mid-December has been one of the reasons why consumer, business, and Fed
confidence has improved. (JM)
8:30 (Dow Jones) Monday was a snoozer, Tuesday was a washout, and Wednesday
brought a nice rally. What can Wall Street provide Thursday? Well, stocks look
a little bit higher, and there are loads of potential market movers. When the
clock strikes 8:30 a.m. ET, personal income and spending, weekly jobless
claims, and the ECI for the 4Q all unveiled. There's more coming later in the
day, too, while earnings aren't letting up much, either. Procter & Gamble (PG)
tops views, Oracle (ORCL) late Wednesday backed estimates, and Delta (DAL) and
Dow Chemical (DOW) miss. Treasurys flat in front of all the numbers. (TG)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 01-31-02
09:33 AM |
