To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (2666 ) 4/8/2002 5:54:54 PM From: Return to Sender Read Replies (1) | Respond to From Briefing.com: Close Dow -22.56 at 10249.08, S&P +2.55 at 1125.11, Nasdaq +15.84 at 1785.87: The end results for the market averages were mixed but considering the way that the session began, the overall performance was impressive. The market was in position for a lower open due to the report that Iraq was suspending oil exports for a month which raised fears of what higher oil prices could do the nascent economic recovery. Unfortunately, the bias turned downright ugly after IBM (-10%) issued a profit warning for Q1. The company now expects EPS of $0.66-$0.70 vs the First Call consensus of $0.85. They cited a very tough business environment with across-the-board weakness in revenues, particularly in OEM tech business. Thomas Weisel cut FY02/FY03 estimates before the warning while Merrill Lynch trimmed its FY02 estimate after. The impact was felt market wide with all the major averages and sectors (except for energy) posting losses in early trade. However, the ability of IBM and the market averages to stabilize over the first hour or so, the fact that volume was on the lighter side despite the substantial drop and that the averages have been on the defensive for most of the last month (shakeout day?) emboldened some participants to do a little bargain hunting in several tech sectors (software, Internet, semiconductor). Also providing some leadership early on was the retail sector with Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY +5.6%), Kenneth Cole (KCP +24.6%)-- raised guidance, Linen N Things (LIN +4.3%)-- upgrade CSFB and JC Penny (JCP +6%) top performers. As far as the Dow is concerned, stocks that helped to offset the 67 points of pressure applied by IBM were: MSFT +2.4%, UTX 1.5%, KO +1.5%, HD +1.5%, XOM +1.4% and BA +1.4%. The volume total for the day was modest with market internals positive by roughly a 5 to 4 margin. DJTA -0.9%, DJUA +0.2%, DOT +2.4%, Nasdaq 100 +1.1%, Russell 2000 +1%, SOX +0.5%, S&P Midcap 400 +1.1%, XOI +1.4%, NYSE Adv/Dec 1834/1332, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1908/1647finance.yahoo.com
