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Strategies & Market Trends : LastShadow's Position Trading -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LastShadow who wrote (29454)	1/20/2000 9:13:00 AM
From: Kelvin Taylor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 43080

Thursday January 20, 8:27 am Eastern Time U.S. stocks to open higher on strong tech earnings By Amy Collins NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks are expected to open higher on Thursday with a boost from strong earnings reported late Wednesday from America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news), Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE:AMD - news). ''Those were four major companies that beat the Street,'' said Larry Wachtel, a market analyst at Prudential Securities Inc. ''This morning we're going to open on a firm note.'' IBM said fourth-quarter profits fell 10 percent as sales slowed due to Y2K computer fears, but the results topped lowered expectations with the help of strong expense controls. The stock was selling at 119-1/16 in pre-market trading on Instinet on Thursday, compared with its closing price of 115-1/2. Leading Internet service provider AOL, fresh on the heels of its announced mega-merger with Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - news), beat Wall Street expectations with second-quarter earnings that were more than double those of a year earlier. It was selling at 65-3/8 on Instinet, up from 64 at the close. Advanced Micro handily topped forecasts by reporting fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $65 million, despite predictions that Intel Corp.'s chief computer chip rival would barely turn a profit. In pre-market trading, it was up to 44-5/8, compared with its close at 39-5/16. Apple posted first-quarter profits that topped expectations as strong sales of its iMac computers offset high shipping costs and parts shortages. ''I think the story right now obviously is earnings,'' said Peter Cardillo, the research director at Westfalia Investments. Earnings are expected before the market opens from General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news), while Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:LU - news) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) will report after the close. In morning economic news, the November international trade number is expected to show an imbalance of $25.7 billion, compared with $25.94 billion in the prior month. Jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 15 are expected to show 295,000 new claims, compared with 309,000 in the prior week. Federal Reserve Board Governor Laurence Meyer will speak after noon (1700 GMT) on the economic outlook and challenges to monetary policy at the National Economists Club and Society of Government Economists. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) on Wednesday closed 71.36 points lower, or 0.62 percent, at 11,489.36. Half of the drop came from Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news), the world's largest software company, after it reported strong earnings but issued cautionary forward-looking statements. The Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC - news) ended 20.48 points higher, or 0.50 percent, at 4,151.29, setting a record high. The Standard & Poor's 500 index future for March was up 4.2 points at 1,476.7 while the Nasdaq index future index for March was up 19 points at 3,869. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) was up 0.76 of a point, or 0.05 percent, at 1,455.90. The Russell 2000 (^RUT - news), a measure of smaller companies' stock, finished at a record high of 520.02, after accumulating gains of 6.56 points, or 1.28 percent. ''That's good news. That means this market is broadening out,'' Cardillo said. The U.S. Treasury 30-year bond was down 7/32 with a yield of 6.73 percent. On Wednesday, its closing yield was 6.72 percent. The dollar was at 1.00 against the euro and 105.5 against the yen. In other company news, Engage Technologies Inc. (NasdaqNM:ENGA - news) said it will acquire Flycast and Adsmart from CMGI Inc. (NasdaqNM:CMGI - news) for 32 million Engage shares.