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Technology Stocks : Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCW, PCWKF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (4501)	1/21/2001 8:08:47 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4541

Susan, Found this commentary and thought you would enjoy it.LOL "Wall Street seen confident in the coming week Wall Street investors seem to have shaken the profit-warning blues and are expected to remain chin-up this week, giving stocks a boost, as the corporate earnings season revs up to full-speed. The tap opens on the flood of earnings reports this week - with a substantial batch of blue-chip companies set to issue their quarterly results - and analysts say investors will be largely able to shrug off any negative surprises. Among the Dow's 30 stocks, drug giants Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co., oil heavyweight Exxon Mobil, and SBC Communications, the nation's No. 2 local phone company, are next-at-bat on the earnings roster. Last week, technology stocks got a shot in the arm after computer giant International Business Machines painted a rosy outlook for the quarters ahead. Stocks ended last week -- shortened to four days with the stock market closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- with modest gains. Technology stocks lead the way, pushing the Nasdaq up 5.5 percent for the week and giving the tech-laden index a 12 percent increase year-to-date. Nevertheless, the market's rosier mood comes on the heels of one of the worst seasons for corporate confessions ever, with a record 687 companies warning they would miss analysts' quarterly earnings forecasts. That number is 91 percent above the 359 warnings issued over the same period last year and could go even higher. The calendar of economic data is light this week, but financial markets will be keeping their eyes peeled for federal budget, wage inflation, and durable goods figures as they ponder what the Fed's next move will be. On Thursday morning, the government issues its Employment Cost Index (ECI) for the fourth quarter of last year. The ECI measures inflation in wages, the threat of which has been a thorn in the Fed's side amid tight labor market conditions. U.S. economists on average predicted ECI rose 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2000, up from 0.9 percent gain in the previous quarter. The government is also expected to issue figures on orders for durable goods -- things like refrigerators and washing machines -- last month. Economists anticipate a 1.7 percent drop in December orders following November's 2.5 percent gain. The numbers could give clues to whether consumer spending -- one of the main drivers behind the US economy's blockbuster decade-long economic expansion -- has slowed. Monday afternoon, Wall Street gets a look at the Federal budget for December, which economists on average expected to be up US$33.29 billion vs. November's US$23.69 billion drop. There could be a bit of nail-biting on Wall Street on Thursday when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testifies before the Senate Budget Committee. Although fiscal issues will be the topic of discussion, traders will be watching for any hints of the Fed's next decision on interest rates. The Fed's next policy-setting meeting is scheduled for Jan. 30-31, and the U.S. central bank is widely expected to lower interest rates by at least a quarter of a percentage point to help pep up business activity. Earlier this month, the Fed surprised the financial markets with a 50 basis-point cut. " 36.com@@@@1287530789.0980125597@@@@&BV_EngineID=ecaljlliemhjbedcgcgckg.0&oid=538797049