From Briefing.com:
Did you know that the Nasdaq ended Wednesday down 10.46 points to finish the session at 1720.91?
Unless you kept close tabs on the market, this is probably the first time you heard that.
Lest we forget, the bond market had a better day with gains across the yield curve.
Leaving the bond market's performance aside, the action in the stock market remained uneventful.
But, regular readers of Briefing.com wouldn't be surprised by that since we suggested that might be the case.
Oh, before we forget, volume was light with 1.37 bln shares traded at the NYSE and 1.53 bln traded at the Nasdaq.
Really, few participants were willing to make a strong bet ahead of Friday's barrage of telling economic data.
In case you were wondering, there wasn't much leadership to speak of and semiconductor stocks were weak again.
No one paid too much attention to the dated Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve.
GDP data for Q2 will be a focal point Thursday, but overall, lackluster trading is expected to persist.
Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com
5:45PM Wednesday After Hours Price levels are as of 4 pm EST: The earnings train looks to be slowing down, as the majority of companies will have reported by the end of the week and earnings season comes to a close. Today was one of the first days in a long time that showed a lot of red (down side surprises) on our Earnings Calendar, but one day does not make a trend. In any event, there wasn't much action on the street today, but things tend to change rather quickly on Wall Street. The Dow closed lower by more than 4 points and stands at 9200, the S&P 500 lost 1 point and closed at 987. S&P 500 futures were at 986, one point below fair value. NASDAQ 100 futures are one point below fair value at 1264.
Chubb (CB 64.26 +2.36) , the insurance giant reported Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.37 per share, $0.33 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $1.04. CB also raises 2003 guidance to $4.90-$5.30 from previous guidance of $4.60-$5.00.
People must be eating good in their neighborhood as Applebee's (APPB 32.40 +0.52) reported Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.45 per share, $0.02 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.43. Revenues rose 22.4% yr/yr to $250.7 mln and were ahead of the $244.0 mln consensus. APPB sees Y03 EPS of $1.70-1.72 vs consensus of $1.69
Whole Foods (00C0 51.80 -0.65) Released Q3 (Jun) earnings of $0.42 per share, excluding gain of $0.03, in line with the Reuters Research consensus of $0.42. Revenues rose 15.5% yr/yr to $749.0 mln vs the $745.7 mln consensus. WFMI also gave guidance and sees Q4 EPS of $0.38-0.39, vs R.R. consensus of $0.39, and Y03 EPS of $1.62-1.69 (ex items) vs estimate of $1.64.
Monster Worldwide (MNST 24.75 +1.33) the web based job board announced Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.09 per share, $0.01 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.08. Revenues fell 5.6% yr/yr to $167.2 mln and were better than the $164.8 mln consensus.
In other news, ChevronTexaco (CVX 71.99 +0.19) declared quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, $0.03 more than in the preceding quarter, payable Sept. 10, 2003, to stockholders of record as of Aug. 19, 2003.
Tomorrow has several more earnings release
For more detail on these, and other after hours developments, be sure to visit Briefing.com's In Play, Earnings Calendar and Guidance pages..--Brian Bolan, Briefing.com
5:06PM ESS Tech beats by $0.04, ex items, guides Q3 below consensus (ESST) 9.73 +0.11: Reports Q2 (Jun) non-GAAP (pro forma) earnings of $0.48 per share, ex items, $0.04 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.44; revenues fell 64% year/year to $31.0 mln vs the $31.5 mln consensus. Co also guides Q3, sees non-GAAP loss of $0.02-0.07, vs R.R. consensus of $0.02 profit, and revenues of $36-40 mln vs estimate of $46.1 mln.
4:23PM ON Semiconductor beats by $0.02, ex items, (ONNN) 3.29 -0.17: Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.14 per share, excluding ($0.20) per share in restructuring and other charges, $0.02 better than the Reuters Research consensus of ($0.16); revenues fell 8.7% year/year to $256.2 mln vs the $255.0 mln consensus.
4:08PM Ingram Micro beats by $0.02, guides in line (IM) 12.95 unch: Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.02 better than the Reuters Research consensus of $0.11; revenues fell 3.3% year/year to $5.17 bln vs the $5.05 bln consensus. Company sees Q3 EPS of $0.14-0.17, consensus is $0.15; revenues $5.175-5.35 bln, consensus $5.2 bln.
4:04PM O2Micro reports in line (OIIM) 16.03 -0.81: Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.06 per share, in line with the Reuters Research consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 18.1% year/year to $20.9 mln vs the $20.4 mln consensus.
Close Dow -4.41 at 9200.05, S&P -1.63 at 987.65, Nasdaq -9.42 at 1721.95: How long does it take to get to nowhere? Apparently, six and a half hours - at least that's how long it took today as the Dow and the S&P 500 spent the entirety of the session vacillating right below the unchanged line and closed the session with slight losses... The Nasdaq had a bit more to show for itself today, as it declined 0.5% in a steady fashion...
Truth is, given the dearth of fresh economic data-points, a limited number of research reports, and an absence of market-moving earnings announcements, investors spent the bulk of the session weighing their valuation concerns against the generally good Q2 earnings season thus far and the prospect of accelerated pace of economic growth in 2H03... Among the biggest laggards were the biotech, semiconductor, software, retail, and transportation sectors... Also on the defensive were the utility, financial, and disk drive groups... Finishing the session in the green were the drug, housing, and oil services sectors... In general, however, the market spent the bulk of the day in a wait-and-see mode ahead of Friday's economic data, which include July's Employment, ISM Index, and Michigan Sentiment reports...
With regard to today's economic news, the Fed's Beige Book was released at 14 ET, but did not have an effect on the market... The report indicated that the economy "increased a notch" over the past couple of months, but that capital expenditures remained "weak"... Elsewhere, the bond market was in rally mode throughout the day... The 10-year note closed the session +30/32, with its yield at 4.32%...NYSE Adv/Dec 1563/1686, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1389/1730
3:30PM : The indices maintain their range-bound positioning, with the blue-chip averages hugging the flat line and the Nasdaq submerged in negative territory... Tonight's Earnings Calendar shows plenty of reports to be announced, including APPB, INCY, ONNN, PEET, and WFMI... Tomorrow morning, look for earnings reports from the likes of ABF, CAH, HAL, LIZ, MON, PG, SLE, SHPGY, and TXU... On the Economic Calendar, look for the Initial Claims report for the week of 7/26 and the Q2 GDP report at 8 ET, as well as the Chicago PMI report at 10 ET...NYSE Adv/Dec 1444/1774, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1227/1873
1:45PM Broadcom slips below 200-day exponential moving avg of $20.95 (BRCM) 20.83 -1.07: Hearing that contributing to move lower are intraday comments by Pacific Crest.
1:18PM QLogic nearing support again (QLGC) 43.77 -0.72: -- Technical -- Tested support at its Jan 2003/late May low (43.68/43.56) this morning and bounced. However, the stock has slipped back toward this floor in recent trade.
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