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

To: Clappy who wrote (45955)	1/8/2002 9:25:51 AM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

M A R K E T .. S N A P S H O T -- Stocks look to get back on track By Julie Rannazzisi, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 9:03 AM ET Jan 8, 2002 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- The futures markets signaled an open in the plus column on Tuesday following Monday's pullback but investors appeared timid judging by pre-open trades. AOL Time Warner sounded a cautious tone by predicting that it didn't expect to see an economic recovery in 2002 -- which means more tough times ahead for the advertising environment. In a conference call with analysts late Monday, the media and entertainment behemoth revealed that it would take a charge of $40 billion to $60 billion in the first quarter to write down goodwill. The company presented a conservative outlook for 2002, bracing investors for revenue growth of 5 to 8 percent and an increase in cash flow of 8 to 12 percent. AOL (AOL) last changed hands at $32.90 in the pre-open, up 22 cents from Monday's close. In the futures markets, the March S&P 500 contract gained 1.20 points, or 0.1 percent, and was trading about 1.80 points above fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. Nasdaq futures edged down 1.50 points while the Dow Jones Indicative Index gained 13 points to 10,209. Some of the tech sector's big boys eked out gains in the pre-open: Cisco Systems rose 13 cents to $20.66, Microsoft climbed 24 cents to $68.80 and Intel added 19 cents to $35.46. In corporate news, Alcoa was the first Dow stock to unveil its results for the current reporting period. The aluminum kingpin (AA) posted a fourth-quarter profit from operations of 11 cents a share, exceeding the Wall Street consensus estimate by a penny. Quarterly revenue fell 21 percent from the previous year. Alcoa indicated that it wasn't "satisfied" with the announced results. Utility holding company Entergy (ETR) informed investors that it expects fourth-quarter earnings from operations to exceed current forecasts by about 20 percent. Further, Entergy reaffirmed 2002 EPS expectations. Tiffany (TIF), meanwhile, said fourth-quarter earnings would come in at the upper-end of its previously-expected range. The luxury retailer said it was "encouraged" by rising consumer confidence and expected sales trends to improve in the second half of 2002. Treasurys take a break, dollar sprints Treasury prices retreated a touch, with losses spread across the yield curve. On Monday, fixed-income securities finished with substantial gains as equities struggled and as some flight-to-quality flows on the back of the Argentina devaluation benefited the group. The 10-year Treasury note was down 5/32 to yield ($TNX) 5.07 percent while the 30-year government bond backpedaled 1/4 to yield ($TYX) 5.505 percent. In economic news, Tuesday will see the second-tier release of factory orders, which are expected to have fallen 2.9 percent in November. Also due out in the afternoon: consumer credit for November. Check economic calendar and forecasts. In the currency sector, the dollar strengthened considerably against the major currencies. The greenback, in fact, rallied 1.2 percent to 132.65 yen while the euro slid 0.4 percent to 88.96 cents. Remarks from a Japanese official that signaled the government would tolerate a weaker yen gave the dollar its shine Monday. Haruhiko Kuroda, vice finance minister for international affairs, said the currency rate should reflect fundamentals, adding that the market is now correcting from a level that had surpassed the appropriate one. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, said Kuroda's words should leave no doubt that devaluation has become national policy. A depreciating yen is viewed as a way to help Japan's economy out of its prolonged slump as it renders the country's products cheaper to foreigners and thus supports exporting companies. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------