MARKET TALK: The Pols Are Out In Full Force
25 Jan 12:13
Edited by Thomas Granahan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
(Call Us: 201 938-5299; All Times Eastern)
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12:12 (Dow Jones) Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., is proposing legislation in
response to Enron (ENRNQ) mess to require information about sales of company
stock by executives of publicly traded corporations to be filed electronically
and made available instantly to the public via the Internet. (JCC)
11:59 (Dow Jones) Hold the paper shredder! Now we know who has a bit more
pull among paper investors between Salomon Smith Barney and Deutsche Banc, at
least today. In a duel, Salomon upgraded Georgia-Pacific (GP) while Deutsche
Banc downgraded. The stock is up almost 9%. Two things in Salomon's favor:
Investors are likely still pleased with GP's asbestos disclosure yesterday and
the overall market is higher, pulling up all the cyclical paper stocks. (CCW)
11:51 (Dow Jones) Alcan (AL) execs did a good job controlling costs and
managing cash flow in response to depressed aluminum demand and prices that
plagued 2001, Lehman says. When economy rebounds, Lehman expects demand for
aluminum to be very strong, as buyers have significantly reduced inventories
during recent downturn. Keeps buy rating, valuation attractive. (TG)
11:29 (Dow Jones) ABN-Amro trims Qualcomm (QCOM) target to $52 from $56, 2002
EPS view to 91c from 99c, and 2003 outlook to $1.02 from $1.13. Keeps add
rating, though, saying the shares should only face modest pressure in face of
management's outlook (stock is actually up now), and longer-term fundamentals
still look good. Shares up 0.2% at $43.79. (TG)
11:23 (Dow Jones) High-yield bond mutual funds reported their first cash
outflows of the year as $266 million left the funds during the week ended Jan.
23, according to market researcher AMG Data Services. (JD)
11:07 (Dow Jones) Open TV (OPTV) extending plunge, down 17% at $6.97 after
posting a 4Q net loss of $2.5M from a $2.4M loss last year, taking a $9.1M
restructuring charge, shedding jobs. Analyst says shares mostly down on
disappointing outlook. Open TV expects a net loss for the 1Q of this year
between $10.5M and $11.5M. (MFV)
11:03 (Dow Jones) EUR/USD "is entering a very dangerous phase which could
bring new lows," says a trader, who reckons the pair is preparing to test
$0.8500-20. (GMM)
10:51 (Dow Jones) "At the end of March, the yen will (rally) to around Y130
because of the repatriation flows," said Jan Amrit Poser at Sarasin Bank, "but
then it will fall back towards Y140." EUR/USD is $0.8637; USD/JPY is Y134.20;
EUR/JPY is Y115.93. (JRH)
10:38 (Dow Jones) Accounting questions are the last thing Kmart (KM) needs
right now, and the bonds are down about 3 points after the company got an
anonymous letter raising "unspecified accounting matters." The 9 3/8% notes of
'06 are at 41-43 in active trading. A strategist says the news adds more
near-term uncertainty, but that the issue should become more clear over the
next few weeks. Meanwhile, expect more volatility as bondholders try to gauge
post-bankruptcy recovery value. Shares off 8c at 85c. (RTB)
10:29 (Dow Jones) Lehman downgrades Safeway (SWY) and Kroger (KR) to buy "to
reflect our cautious near-term outlook for much of the grocery industry given
the risks of a more challenging competitive environment." The firm also lowers
its 2002 EPS estimates on both companies by a few pennies. Both stocks off
slightly. (GS)
10:19 (Dow Jones) RSA Security (RSAS) has learned that the SEC launched a
formal investigation into "certain matters" related to the company and the
trading of its securities. RSA Security management is cooperating fully with
the SEC. RSA Security didn't provide details about the SEC's investigation in
its filing. Shares off 27% at $12.27, the worst-acting name on Nasdaq. (RG)
10:10 (Dow Jones) Existing home sales slipped by 0.8% in December to an
annual rate of 5.19 million from an upward-revised 5.23 million in November.
The slight change leaves the real estate market little changed from its recent
record strong levels. (JM)
10:07 (Dow Jones) Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., offers bill providing that
Enron (ENRNQ) employees, to cover the pensions they lost, get top priority of
Enron assets in bankruptcy court and that the government pursue top Enron
executives to recoup money lost by individuals and pension funds. (JCC)
9:53 (Dow Jones) Amazon.com (AMZN) was informed by the SEC that Ashford.com
(ASFD) "improperly reported" the resolution of a business dispute with the
company. Amazon.com didn't say what the business dispute was. It holds around a
16% stake in Ashford.com. Amazon said the SEC is considering whether it, or any
of Amazon's officers or employees, may have facilitated Ashford.com's conduct.
The company said its actions at all times were proper and that this matter
won't materially affect its results from operations or financial condition.
(GL)
9:45 (Dow Jones) When you're a major paper company that's the subject of
asbestos rumors, just got jilted at the altar as a possible joint venture
partner was whisked off by someone else, and you just reported a hefty charge
to earnings, you'd expect to ignite strong opinions. Georgia-Pacific (GP) is
doing just that, as two top paper analysts issued differing opinions on the
stock Friday. Salomon Smith Barney upped its rating to buy while Deutsche Banc
cut its rating to market perform. Interesting to see which road whiplash
investors take. The stock hasn't traded yet. Shares up slightly early. (CCW)
9:33 (Dow Jones) "I don't expect the euro to go much lower from here," said
Andrew Busch, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal in Chicago.
EUR/USD is $0.8672; USD/JPY is Y134.16; EUR/JPY is Y116.37. (JRH)
9:26 (Dow Jones) Hewlett-Packard (HWP) left one name off the list when it
summarized the careers of its board members in a filing with the SEC Thursday.
In a filing related to the proposed merger with Compaq Computer (CPQ), H-P
touted its "highly qualified and independent board," and the board's "deep
experience with strategic transactions." However, the company didn't mention
the career and qualifications of board member Walter Hewlett, the son of
company co-founder William Hewlett, who has been a vocal opponent of the
merger. (RG)
9:22 (Dow Jones) The news out of Kmart (KM) isn't likely to soothe antsy
investors. It's extremely early in the game, but Kmart just said it's looking
into allegations, received in an anonymous letter to the company, about
unspecified accounting issues. The SEC and the company are looking into it.
(TG)
9:12 (Dow Jones) Imclone Systems (IMCL) said the majority of CEO Samuel
Waksal's stake in the company was sold to cover margin calls on his personal
account. On Jan. 18, Bank of America sold 2.6 million Imclone common shares and
UBS PaineWebber sold 213,000 shares, reducing Waksal's beneficial ownership in
the company to 582,000 common shares. Bank of America also sold 72,754 Imclone
shares owned by COO Harlan Waksal to cover margin calls on his personal
account. After the sale, Harlan Waksal beneficially owned 3.1 million Imclone
shares. The stock closed at $73.83 on DEC. 5, 2001, and $19.58 Thursday. (RG)
9:08 (Dow Jones) Pittsburgh, that citadel of blue-collar sweat and
old-economy muscle, is sprinting into the Internet age, taking the top spot in
Web-measurement-firm Nielsen/NetRatings' list of the fastest growing wired
cities in the U.S. Pittsburgh's ranks of Web surfers rose 20.4% in 2001 to 1.2
million. Other bastions of Middle America followed, with Salt Lake City adding
20% more surfers and Phoenix 17% more. The top-five was rounded out by Raleigh
with 13.4% and Philadelphia with 12.8%. (RTR)
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 01-25-02
12:13 PM |
