Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: limtex who wrote (44904)	12/7/2001 1:14:24 PM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

Lim! Figures! Stocks Slide After Jobless Rate Jumps Dec 7 11:53am ET By Elizabeth Lazarowitz NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were mired in negative territory on Friday after the nation's jobless rate jumped to a six-year high, dampening hopes that the U.S. recession will be brief and shallow. "It just reminds everyone that we are still in a recession and we haven't actually turned the corner yet," said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief investment advisor at PNC Advisors. "I think we're still headed for a recovery, and I think the market understands that, but it's a little less encouraging." Investors were also locking in profits, analysts said, after a run that has carried the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> up more than 5 percent so far this week. The chip sector provided some support thanks to upbeat forecasts from high-tech icons like Intel Corp. and rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. . "If that's going to be the trend -- upward revisions in guidance rather than downward revisions -- then the market's got some upside to go," said Nat Paull, portfolio manager at New Amsterdam Partners. Major stock indexes hovered near session lows. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 36.81 points, or 0.36 percent, at 10,062.33, while the broader Standard & Poor's slipped 6.4 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,160.70. The technology-laced Nasdaq was down 18.93 points, or 0.92 percent, at 2,035.34. Halliburton Co. , the most active on the New York Stock Exchange, fell more than 20 percent or $4.35 to $16.50 after a jury in Baltimore awarded $30 million in damages against its Dresser Industries subsidiary in a case involving asbestos claims. The government said unemployment rose to a six-year high of 5.7 percent in November from 5.4 percent in October and a whopping 331,000 non-farm jobs were lost -- far worse than the drop of 189,000 economists had expected. "Clearly, the economy has been shrinking and it's shrinking at a faster rate than people expected," said Franklin Morton, director of research at Ariel Capital Management which oversees $6 billion in assets. "This will remind the market that we're still in a very difficult economy. Recovery will be at least two quarters away." The dismal report reinforced expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates at its policy-setting meeting on Tuesday to help bolster the economy. Wall Street shrugged off news that U.S. consumer sentiment bounced higher in early December, as a rising stock market and hopes for an economic rebound overshadowed worries about job cuts. The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose for a third straight month to 85.8 from 83.9 in November. Recent economic data report showing modest growth in the U.S. services sector has helped fuel expectations for a quick economic turnaround. Upbeat news for the high-tech sector came after computer chip giant Intel and rival AMD both boosted their fourth-quarter sales forecasts, boding well for holiday sales of personal computers. Intel erased an early gain and fell 51 cents to $33.65. AMD, however, climbed $2.09 to $18.34. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange's semiconductor index ticked up 0.01 percent. Intel now sees sales at the high end of its forecast. It expects fourth-quarter sales of $6.7 billion to $6.9 billion. AMD, the No. 2 maker of computer microprocessors said quarterly sales would top expectations on strong demand for its new Athlon XP chip. This follows positive news from other marquee names in the high-tech sector, including Cisco Systems , which earlier in the week helped push the Nasdaq index higher. Another bright spot was online brokerage E*Trade Group Inc. , up 96 cents to $10.76 after forecasting its 2002 operating earnings would beat Wall Street estimates. It is also buying back 20 million of its shares from Internet investor Softbank Corp. <9984.T>. Network computer maker Sun Microsystems , however, fell after saying that business showed signs of stabilizing and was meeting expectations for the current quarter. But it held back from making hard forecasts due to the unsteady economy. Sun fell 39 cents to $13.76 and was the most active on Nasdaq.