market talk from april 2nd
what a difference two days makes
DJ MARKET TALK: MarchFirst Has Some Problems
02 Apr 14:47
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
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2:47 (Dow Jones) Better left halted? ... MarchFirst (MRCH) shares tumbled 60%
to 6 cents apiece after Nasdaq lifted its trading halt Monday afternoon. The
cash-strapped Web services firm, which sold some assets and handed over 2,100
workers to Divine (DVIN) on Friday, said earlier that it will lay off another
1,700 workers (30% of its remaining staff) and has further extended a $53M bank
loan deadline. Oh yeah, it also said it continues to have "significant
liquidity difficulties." (MLP)
2:41 (Dow Jones) New survey says "only" 21% of Americans think Fed's
Greenspan "has done something foolish" recently. The survey, conducted by New
York public relations consultant Jeff Barge with the assistance of Opinion
Research Corp., found 85% of respondents feeling Bill Clinton had done
something foolish lately. Barge says Greenspan results mean "it's going to be
quite a hard sell for any elected officials to try to make Mr. Greenspan the
scapegoat for a declining economy." (JC)
2:32 (Dow Jones) Don't look now, but it's another great call from Arnhold's
John Roque. On Thursday, we touched on his concerns about the semis. Today, the
SOX is off 9%. Roque says a close below 535 on the SOX points to 403. SOX off
51 at 493. (TG)
2:24 (Dow Jones) Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (MWD), a.k.a. Morgan
Stanley Dean Witter Discover, has dropped its triple-word-score moniker for a
streamlined, more recognizable name - Morgan Stanley. However, the brokerage
firm will keep the full Morgan Stanley Dean Witter name for all of its legal
filings, including its quarterly reports with securities regulators. (CUB)
2:16 (Dow Jones) An inventory correction for software companies? That's what
Salomon Smith Barney sees. Analyst Heather Bellini notes that "shelfware" -
software purchased by a client but yet to be deployed - increased during the
1Q. Now that excess must be implemented "before we see a significant pick up in
new orders," Bellini says. When coupled with potential weakness in Europe and
the fact many software vendors likely drained their backlogs to try for 1Q
targets, it also suggests any weakness in 1Q will persist in 2Q. (MLP)
2:10 (Dow Jones) Ex-Treasury Secretary Summers is sounding gloomy. Asked at
Wall Street conference whether he sees a V-shaped recovery, Summers said he
didn't think the economy had seen its bottom. He sees the economy's trajectory
looking more like a "parenthesis lying on its side." Some traders are saying
his comments are behind some of the recent weakness in stocks. (MC/TG)
1:57 (Dow Jones) Shares of Winstar Communications (WCII) amassed the
second-largest loss on the Nasdaq Monday as the company prepared its request
for an extension in filing its annual report. The company cites uncertainty
over "certain material transactions which have not yet been completed" in its
request. Says annual report will be filed no later than April 17. Shares
recently down 48%. (CBN)
1:49 (Dow Jones) More from Kaufman Brothers telecom analyst Vik Grover. He
believes some on Wall Street have missed the fact that many chip makers are now
indirectly serving carriers, whose spending plans dictate how many
communications chips will be sold. "We think bandwidth is the new driver of the
cycle ... the Internet is now being used as a giant supercomputer," he said,
referring to less reliance by chip makers on personal computer sales. Grover
also noted big telecom companies led the market down last year. (JDB)
1:40 (Dow Jones) Shares of Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC) fell 12% after the
New York Times reported Sunday that the company's Chief Executive, David
Rickey, sold 90%, or 800,000 shares, of his stake between July 2000, when the
stock was trading at $100, and March 2, when the stock was at $29. The twist:
Rickey had dared investors not to own AMCC stock twice on CNBC. A company
spokeswoman said Rickey still remains "bullish" on AMCC's story. (DLF)
1:37 (Dow Jones) The Nasdaq Composite just extended its nearly 13-month bear
market when it slipped below 1794.21. There's strong "bear trap" support around
from 1770 to 1744 that could give the index a short-term lift. But if 1700 is
taken out on a weekly close, the index is vulnerable to a dip into the 1460
support area, perhaps by mid-May. (SC)
1:34 (Dow Jones) Although investors are relieved that i2 Technologies' (ITWO)
1Q shortfall wasn't as dire as some feared, the company's woes could drag on
for several quarters, warn Kash Rangan of Dain Rausher and CSFB's Brent Thill.
They say i2 remains too dependent on inking huge contracts to meet quarterly
targets and it will take a couple of quarters to shift its sales focus to more
moderate, but reliable, sized deals. (MLP)
1:28 (Dow Jones) Nasdaq Comp takes out bear-market intraday low of 1794.21,
set March 22. Index off 47 at 1793. (TG)
1:27 (Dow Jones) June Nasdaq falls to limit down of 1548, 42 points lower, at
1:20 p.m. ET. A 10-minute trading curb is in effect. If the market remains at
limit down, a 2-minute trading halt will occur. (ZHS)
1:19 (Dow Jones) June S&Ps and Nasdaq are in the midst of a technical-based
fall. June S&Ps weren't able to hold support at 1171, floor traders note. The
contract crossed resistance of 1177 to make a high of 1179, but it fell back
again in early afternoon, and repeated attempts to rise above 1177 failed.
Meanwhile, June Nasdaq has extended losses ever since taking out support at
1581. (ZHS)
1:15 (Dow Jones) Bank of New York's (BK) bullish calls traded actively
Monday, with at least one investor doing a "buy-write" involving the October 50
calls. The investor bought stock while selling out-of-the-money October 50
calls, earning between $590 and $600 a contract for selling the options. With
the stock at $49.29, more than 1,400 contracts of the October 50 calls traded,
compared with open interest of 98. These calls were at $6.50 at the Pacific
Exchange. (KXT)
1:11 (Dow Jones) Looking for a leading indicator of a Nasdaq bounce back?
Kaufman Brothers analyst Vik Grover posits that large-cap telecom companies
like Sprint (FON), Global Crossing (GX) and WorldCom (WCOM) will break away and
lead the market in terms of "positive excess returns during the summer." Grover
said he disagrees with a common thesis he's hearing on the Street - that the
chip sector will start to outperform before other sectors. "We believe the
meltdown in technology will not end until chip suppliers and equipment
manufacturers have gone through a prolonged period of pain," he said. (JDB)
1:01 (Dow Jones) Shares of Pacificare Health Systems (PHSY) rose 8% on
anticipation of upcoming good news. Thursday, the company will host its annual
investors meeting in Carlsbad, Calif. Goldman Sachs analyst Charles Boorady
expects to hear the company's management speak confidently about achieving
their price targets. A Thomson Financial/First Call survey of 15 analysts
produced a 1Q estimate of 28 cents a share. (CAL)
12:50 (Dow Jones) DJIA reverses course, off 94 points after being up 114,
which traders attribute to uncertainty over situation in China after Bush
comments and market's predilection to sell into any strength. "Any rally is
suspect until proven otherwise," said Brian Piskorowski, market analyst with
Prudential. "We had some early strength and the response has been some profit
taking." Another cause of pullback could be futures-related sell programs
involving the blue chips, Piskorowski said. (KJT)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-02-01
02:47 PM |
