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Technology Stocks : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (15418)	5/5/1998 10:51:00 AM
From: joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45548

>>Where'd you see this? The IMF is now meddling in US domestic economic policy? What a revolting development!<< Wake-Up Call: Stocks Look Tepid After Weakness in Europe, Rate Hike Talk By Justin Lahart Staff Reporter 5/5/98 9:12 AM ET With some weakness in the bond market, stocks look like they're going to take back some of their recent gains. Treasuries are under some pressure after International Monetary Fund Managing Director Michel Camdessus, speaking in Melbourne, suggested that the Federal Reserve will need to raise rates. "No doubt the Americans will have to move sooner rather than later," said Camdessus. "The question is to know when." Also weighing on Treasuries: fears that a series of rate hikes in Europe may be in the offing. At 9 a.m. EDT, the long bond is off 10/32 at 102 9/32, lifting the yield to 5.96%. The S&P 500 futures are off 3.10, indicating a negative open for stocks. But despite the downtick in bonds, things still look good for the stock market in the near term, says Bill Meehan, market analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. "There's a pretty good chance that the yield on the bond could trade back at the lower end of the range, so I don't see the 5% to 10% correction that some people have been calling for," he says. "The speculative nature of this market is very troublesome. Given the volume [of stocks like EntreMed (ENMD:Nasdaq) yesterday], it's much more than wild and crazy individual investors. In the near term this market can be driven much higher. I suspect we'll see even more signs of irrational exuberance." The Japanese stock market is closed for Boys' Day, the last of the Golden Week holidays. With the gloom over the Hong Kong economy unabated, and whispers of recession becoming more frequent in the marketplace, stocks there fell again. The Hang Seng fell 285.76 to 10,153.66. German stocks are lower, partly because they went up so darn much yesterday, and partly because of rate hike fears. There is some concern in the market that the Bundesbank, angered by the European Central Bank compromise in Brussels this weekend, will raise rates a bit earlier than expected. Along the same vein, there were rumors, swiftly denied, that German central banker Hans Tietmeyer would resign. It all seems rather petty, and unlikely. With bonds under pressure, the Dax fell 82.63 to 5232.02. Tietmeyer speaks at 2 p.m. EDT today. A surprise rate hike in Denmark is hurting European stocks across the board. The nationwide strike, involving 20% of the workforce, has weakened the krone, forcing Denmark to buy the currency with its reserves -- hence the aggressive 0.5% hike. (Increases in consumer spending also played a part here.) Effects of the strike are beginning to spill over into bordering countries, so there's some concern that other Scandinavian countries may need to raise rates. U.K. stocks are off in thin volume. The negative close in Hong Kong, the pressure across Europe and expectations of a weak open on Wall Street are all weighing on the London stock market. The FTSE is off 13.20 at 5997.10. ....