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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (4439)	2/27/2004 11:29:09 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

BearcatBob, the book-to-bill ratio came out some 10 days ago I presume. I do not dispute that 1.1 is a good indicator of the future. But investors want to see a consistent say 3 months of strong book-to-bill numbers before we start to see a rise in the stock market. Again, should the stock market start to improve, it is likely that the baby boomers situation with their 401k may improve thereby alleviating their dependence on Social Security. And here is something which corroborates what I said about the impact of the BB on the stocks: FEB 28, 2004 Conflicting economic numbers leave Wall St mixed NEW YORK - A selloff in tech stocks and buying in consumer products left Wall Street little changed on Friday as investors tried to reconcile conflicting economic data -- a surprisingly strong gross domestic product figure and a drop in a consumer confidence measure. The major indexes ended February mixed, stalling an 11-month rally, and the Nasdaq composite index suffered its first monthly decline since September. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 3.78, or 0.04 per cent, to 10,583.92. The Dow ended the week 0.3 per cent lower, its second straight weekly decline. The broader gauges were narrowly mixed. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index lost 2.75, or 0.1 per cent, at 2,029.82, finishing the week 0.4 per cent lower, the sixth straight down week for the index. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 0.03, at 1,144.94. It was up less than 0.1 per cent higher for the week after last week's loss. The day's trading continued the listless pattern that marked Wall Street's performance throughout the month. Strong, early gains were eroded by profit-taking on tech stocks, but the markets recovered somewhat by the afternoon. 'We saw some selling in semiconductors that took everything with it, but there's no real reason behind it,' said market analyst at Wachovia Securities Larry Wachtel. 'It's a quirky kind of market.' He added that until economic data provides a stronger indication of the pace of the recovery, the wavering market will likely continue. The government's jobs creation report expected next Friday could move the markets again, analysts said. For the month of February, the Nasdaq lost 1.8 per cent. The Dow gained 0.9 per cent and the S&P 500 climbed 1.2 per cent -- the fifth straight monthly advance for both indexes. February lived up to its reputation as the weakest month for the stock market. But in spite of widespread expectations that stocks could retreat during the month, there was still disappointment that Wall Street's rally of the past year had gone into at least a temporary limbo. On Friday, traders were pleased by the Commerce Department's report that the economy grew by an unexpected 4.1 per cent annual rate in the last quarter of 2003. The government's latest data on the gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of the economy's health -- beat the 3.8 per cent growth forecast by economists. GDP reflects the value of all goods and services produced within the country. Initially, Wall Street did not seem dissuaded by the University of Michigan's latest consumer confidence report for February, which slid to 94.4, versus 103.8 in January. It was in line with Wall Street expectations. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.5 billion shares, compared with 1.38 billion at the same point on Thursday. The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, was up 1.70, or 0.3 per cent, at 585.56. -- AP straitstimes.asia1.com.sg