To: thames_sider who wrote (111 ) 3/25/2002 5:00:13 PM From: Rainy_Day_Woman Respond to Close Dow -146.00 at 10281.67, S&P -16.83 at 1131.87, Nasdaq -38.90 at 1812.49: The market averages started the session off on a mildly favorable note in the wake of some positive commentary from the Street. Unfortunately, this bias proved fleeting with the market remaining under pressure into the close. The two groups that provided the minor leadership in early action were semiconductor and networking. Bolstering the former were the price target increases to the semi equipment stocks by Salomon Smith Barney. Underpinning the latter was the Lehman note that indicated in their checks U.S. IT spending trends have steadily improved in March, which they said should benefit CSCO (-2.2%). There was a period of several hours were the averages stabilized at firmly lower levels but market participants had little incentive to become aggressive. Evidence of the dominate weaker tone could be seen in the action of the homebuilding sector. The group posted significant losses despite positive economic data and commentary from the Street. Legg Mason upgraded the sector citing the recent pullback in the stocks and the view that the housing sector will remain healthy despite higher mortgage rates. On the data front Existing Home Sales for Feb were reported at 5.88 mln. While this represented a 2.8% drop from the previous report, it was still one of the highest levels on an annualized basis in history. Overall it appears that market participants are nervous about moving back into the fray in an aggressive fashion in the wake of the solid gains into the early part of the month without some concrete proof of a rebound on the earnings front. The fact that we are in warnings season, interest rate worries have increased, shorter term technicals are weak and volume was once again light left the path of least resistance to the downside. There was some buy side interest but it was limited to minor gains in oil service and the gold sector. The Gold and Silver index surged (XAU +3.2%) to its highest level in two years with gold issues dominating the new 52-wk high list. DJTA -2%, DOT -2.8%, Nasdaq 100 -2.9%, Russell 2000 -1.1%, SOX -2.8%, S&P Midcap 400 -1.5%, XOI -0.5%, NYSE Adv/Dec 964/2211, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1324/2214
