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Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike E. who wrote (9920)	8/14/2000 9:10:06 AM
From: charlie mcgeehan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 49816

===================================================================== Thomson I-Watch Morning Update thomsoninvest.net ===================================================================== ===================================================================== Market-Moving News ===================================================================== * The first rate hike by the Bank of Japan in nearly a decade had little impact on Tokyo stocks in overnight trading. The Nikkei Index edged up 0.2% to 16,154, while trading volume eased. Friday's rally in US equities helped bolster gains. Hong Kong stocks struggled without any fresh market-moving news. The Hang Seng Index fell 1.3% to close just below the crucial 17,000 level at 16,998. * London's FTSE 100 has gained 0.9% to 6,444 on relief over a mostly in-line producer prices report. Drugs and telecom issues are leading the market higher. In Frankfurt, the DAX has moved up 0.6% to 7,365 on thin trading. Meanwhile, the CAC 40 has shot up 1.0% to 6,619. * The S&P Futures are trading up 2.5 points compared to a Fair Value of 0.7 points, indicating a positive to start to the week. * Business inventories rose 0.6% in June, declining from May's unexpectedly large 0.9% increase. The results were in-line with economists' expectations. The report will not have a significant impact on the markets as there is a significant time lag and the components to the report were available prior to the release. ===================================================================== Stocks to Watch ===================================================================== * Analyst Recommendation Revisions: Lehman Brothers raised ImClone Systems (IMCL) to an "Outperform" rating from a "Neutral" rating on the heels of the company's positive FDA meeting. Lehman also increased its price target to $96 from $73. Credit Suisse First Boston upgraded Sonoco Products (SON) to a "Buy" rating, citing the decline in raw material price cycles, potential long-term downturn in polyethylene prices, lower waste paper prices, and the management shakeup. CSFB believes these factors can lead to price appreciation over the next year. Salomon Smith Barney lowered its rating on SLI Inc (SLI) to an "Outperform" rating, noting that the structure of the company is under review and that earnings visibility is limited. Merrill Lynch lowered its opinion on Paychex (PAYX) to an "Accumulate" from "Buy" on valuation. Merrill Lynch also cut its long-term rating on Apex Silver (SIL) to an "Accumulate" from a "Buy," on the premise that lower prices during construction and development time will slow the stock's price appreciation. Merrill also reduced Galileo International (GLC) to a "Neutral" rating from "Accumulate" based on GLC's lackluster bookings growth outlook. ABN Amro lowered Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) to an "Outperform" rating from a "Buy" due to recent price performance. The analyst also cited near-term uncertainty over court appeals to the state's electric restructuring plans and potential couterbids to PNW's proposed generation acquisition from Edison International (EIX). ABN Amro also reduced its rating on Telescan (TSCN) to "Outperform" from "Buy" due to execution issues and potentially volatile outside market factors. The firm cut its price target to $9 from $20 and reduced its FY00 and trimmed its FY01 earnings estimates. * Institutional Money Flows Investors' positive interest rate outlook lifted insurance-related shares Friday. PGR climbed $2 15/16 to $73 7/8, AFL jumped $1 7/8 to $56 5/16, MET gained $1 to $24, and CI rose $3 3/8 at $105 3/16. Computer hardware issues fell back Friday on DELL's disappointing revenue figures. DELL plunged $4 1/16 to $37 11/16, HWP dropped $2 1/4 at $110, SUNW lost $1 3/4 to close at $112 3/16, and AAPL slipped $1/8 to $47 11/16 * News Corp (NWS) will buy Chris Craft Industries (CCN) and its subsidiaries BHC Communications (BHC) and United Television (UTVI) for $5.35 billion, or $2.13 billion in cash and roughly 73 million American Depository Receipts. Under terms of the deal, News Corp will swap 1.1591 of its ADRs and $34 per CCN share. CCN shareholders can also opt for $85 cash or 1.9318 ADRs. News Corp offered BHC shareholders $66 cash plus 2.2278 NWS ADRs, $165 cash, or 3.7131 NWS ADRs for each BHC share. UTVI shareholders can choose $60 cash and 2.0253 ADRs, $150 cash, or 3.3755 ADRs per UTV share. The 10 acquired television stations will be operated under Fox Television Stations, which is part of News Corp's majority owned unit Fox Entertainment Group (FOX). FOX will issue 122.2 million shares to News Corp in exchange for the assets, raising NWS' equity stake to 85.25%. NWS acquired the assets from rival Viacom (VIA). NWS ended last week at $49 3/4, CCN closed at $62, BHC ended at $141 3/4, and UTVI closed at $136. In after-hours trading on Instinet, CCN jumped $15 1/2 to $78. * Chiron (CHIR) will acquire PathoGenesis (PGNS) for $38 1/2 per share in cash, or about $700 million. CHIR will gain access for PGNS' 5 major commercial products, extending CHIR's treatment offerings for infectious diseases. Chiron expects the deal to close in 3Q or 4Q and believes the acquisition will not dilute earnings after 2001. PGNS closed Friday's session at $32 3/4, while CHIR ended at $48 5/8. * Broadcom (BRCM) announced plans to acquire privately held NewPort Communications in a $1.24 billion stock deal. BRCM will issue 5.5 million class A shares and book a 3Q charge for the acquired in process R&D. The deal broadens BRCM's fiber optic reach. * PECO Energy (PE) will pay $682 million for 49.9% of Sithe Energies' North American operations. Sithe said that Peco has the option to purchase the remaining 50.1% for the North American operations 2-5 years after the close of this transaction. PECO will create a new company called Exelon Corp, with the ability to generate 46,000 MW power, according to The Wall Street Journal. * CommScope (CTV) said it expects 3Q earnings between $0.38-$0.43, below the First Call/Thomson Financial mean forecast of $0.45. CommScope attributed the shortfall to difficult pricing patterns and below expected sales in local area network and wireless/other telecom products. * Lowe's (LOW) booked FY01 2Q earnings of $0.73, rising $0.13 from last year's results. The results were in-line with the First Call/ Thomson Financial consensus estimate. * The following firms are expected to report earnings today: Consensus Company Ticker Estimate+ Automatic Data AUD 0.35 Buckeye Techno BKI 0.44 Elcor Corp. ELK 0.32 Golf Trust of GTA 0.68 Hot Topic HOTT 0.26 Magellan Hlth MGL 0.17 Network Applnc NTAP 0.08 Reliance Group REL (0.07) Rouse Co. RSE 0.78 Sauer Inc. SHS 0.33 Valspar Corp. VAL 0.59 + Source: First Call/Thomson Financial