14:33 ET Stock BuyBacks: Advanced Health (ADVH 2 +3/4, +60%) announces plan to repurchase 3.5 million shares, or 35% of outstanding stock...
Royal Appliance Mfg (RAM 4 +1 1/2, +60%) said intends to continue repurchasing stock, under its previously announced 2.3 million share repurchase
program. Normally not a big deal, but RAM also disclosed that it has been actively buying stock under the program... Boeing Co. (BA 33 1/8 +2 3/16,
+7%) plans to buy back up to 15% of its outstanding shares... Zale Corp (ZLC 25 1/8 +2 1/8, +9%) plans to repurchase an aggregate of $50 million of
Zale common stock on the open market and that it completed a $40 million repurchase plan in June 1998.
13:12 ET Simulations Plus (SIMU) 3+1 1/2: Developer of computer software and computer access products for the physically-disabled watching stock
advance 100% on news company has licensed its GastroPlus Software for the simulation of drug absorption in the human gastro-intestinal tract to
Hoffmann-LaRoche Inc. Big mover, no volume. SIMU has traded only 3,700 shares today and sports a spread of 1 7/16 pts.
13:03 ET Internet Ratings: Warburg Dillon Read initiates coverage of Netscape (NSCP 19 1/16 +1 1/16) with a "strong buy" and Lycos (LCOS 22
1/16 +3/8), Yahoo! (YHOO 68 9/16 -7/16) and Excite (XCIT 21 3/16 +1/16) with "buy" ratings. Firm raises beyond.com (BYND 8 1/8 -1/2) from
"long-term buy" to "buy."
12:50 ET Tekelec (TKLC) 18 3/8 +5/16 (+2%): BT Alex. Brown reiterated "strong buy" rating. Believes announcement yesterday that AT&T Wireless
Services will purchase two new EAGLE STP pairs and upgrade to existing pairs increases chances company will beat quarterly estimates. However, firm
does not raise its estimate. Puts revenue impact of deal at $5+ million, shippable in this qtr. 12-month price target $30. In most cases, optimism that
company will beat its number viewed as a strong positive. But in TKLC's case, it means very little, as the company always exceeds its number. Over the
past five quarters, TKLC's quarterly earnings have topped analysts' mean estimate by an average of 92%.
12:36 ET Cybershop International (CYSP) 4 3/16 +1 1/4: Stock finding its legs today. Shares of online retailer have advanced 43% on the session.
Unfortunately for long term holders, CYSP shares still down 36% from IPO price and 85% below 52-week high. (Chart)
12:24 ET The WMF Group (WMFG) 7 -3 3/4 (-35%): Mortgage loan company reported that its wholly owned subsidiary, WMF Capital Corp, has
sold $691 million in commercial mortgage loans to Merrill Lynch Mortgage Capital Inc., and closed the related hedges, at a pre-tax loss of approximately
$30 million.
12:16 ET FIRSTPLUS Financial Group Inc. (FP) 25 15/16 +3 3/16: --Update-- Piper Jaffray maintains "strong buy" rating on specialized consumer
finance company as FP in discussions with potential acquirers; estimates takeover price at between $40 and $50 a share; believes management has
considered the seriousness of its negotiations before making comments on discussion.
11:35 ET KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) 23 11/16 +2 7/16 (+12%): Van Kasper & Co. upgrades semiconductor equipment maker from long-term "hold"
to "buy."
11:30 ET Internet Stocks: Several group names have rallied out of the red. For example, YHOO now trading 5/8 higher on the session and 7 11/16
above intraday low. After slipping over 1 1/2 pts in early trading, shares of MindSpring (MSPG 29 +2 1/8) have rallied 17% off lows of the session.
Although still down for the session, both AOL (-2 7/8) and AMZN (-6) have made impressive rallies off lows, each recovering more than 10 pts.
11:03 ET Internet Calls: EVEREN Securities upgrading shares of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN 74 3/16 -9 9/16) from "underperform" to "outperform" and
America Online Inc. (AOL 75 11/16 -6 1/4) from "market perform" to "outperform." At Warburg Dillon Read, Infoseek Corp. (SEEK 15 9/16 -1 7/16) is
initiated with a "hold" rating.
10:53 ET AXENT Technologies (AXNT) 16 3/4 +1 1/8 (+7%): Information security software company announced that it is working with Compaq
Computer to provide an ICSA certified firewall and Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution. Volume 334K; intraday range 16 1/2 to 17 1/8.
10:46 ET Integrated Circuit Systems (ICST) 8 +1 1/2: After tumbling 2 13/32 yesterday, shares of mixed signal integrated circuits manufacturer trading
23% higher on news the company expects Q1 earnings to be "well within the range" of current analysts' consensus mean estimates. Company says it has
experienced a significant recovery in bookings.
10:31 ET Indices Turn Around, Again: Dow (+32), Nasdaq (-12 1/2) rallying off lows.
10:15 ET Inktomi Corp. (INKT) 39 1/4 -9 3/4 (-20%): --Update-- Wouldn't have expected stock to stay in positive territory given news company
diluting current shareholders with acquisition. But wow! INKT shares down 26% from intraday high. The things that work in a bull market, viewed for what
they really are in a downtrending market. For example, would expect company announcing that it will spend millions for exclusive marketing arrangement
with a search-engine to see its stock crushed.
09:58 ET Indices Coming Off Highs: Dow +72, Nasdaq +28, S&P +13. Dow managed to post early gain of 142 pts; Nasdaq advanced 31 pts.
09:52 ET Aviron (AVIR) 12 7/8 -8 13/16 (-41%): Company received notification from the Food and Drug Administration that its regulatory submission
for FluMist, its live attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine, was not accepted for filing.
09:48 ET Mycogen Corp (MYCO) 27 3/8 +7 3/8: Dow Chemical subsidiary announces plans to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the agribusiness
and biotechnology company that it does not already own. Dow currently owns approximately 68% of the outstanding shares of Mycogen and will make a
tender offer to acquire all of the remaining shares of Mycogen at $28 each.
09:40 ET Market Open: MSFT +1/2, INTU +2, IBM +2, DELL +2 1/2, INTC +9/16, CSCO +3 1/4, LU +2 7/8, YHOO -2 3/16, AMZN -7,
CNWK -1 7/8, XCIT +1/2, PTVL -2 1/2. Dow +93, Nasdaq -14, S&P +11.41, Russell 2000 +2.55, SOX +3.91.
09:35 ET Inktomi Corp. (INKT) 52 1/2 +3 1/2: Issue managing to post an early gain on news company will acquire C2B Technologies, developer of
online comparison shopping software, for approximately 1.8 million INKT shares. (Press Release)
09:29 ET Health Risk Management (HRMI) 13 5/8: Company announced that Loop Corporation has made an unexpected and unsolicited offer to
purchase HRMI. But according to the company, the offer has significant contingencies and does not appear to be legally viable. (Press Release)
09:22 ET Sara Lee Corp. (SLE) 45 3/8: Lehman Brothers recommending issue as a defensive play. Firm upgrades consumer packaged goods company
from "neutral" to "buy." Other defensives include utilities, several of which actually posted gains yesterday.
09:17 ET Stock Indications: Merrill Lynch "reduce" rating hitting AMZN in pre-market; stock currently indicated 3 3/4 lower... YHOO +1, MSPG +1/8,
XCIT +1/4, NSCP +1, ELNK +7/8, MSFT +1/16, DELL +3, INTC +3/8, CSCO +3/8. Early strength fading. S&P futures now suggest Dow rebound of
30 pts.
09:10 ET Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) 27 15/16: CIBC Oppenheimer upgrades PC maker from "buy" to "strong buy." CPQ shares retreated 2
13/16 pts yesterday.
09:03 ET Hit List: Some of the stand-out losers from yesterday's action. Not recommending as buys, rather stocks worth keeping an eye should
broad-based rebound occur later in the day. YHOO (69-14 1/16), AMZN (83 3/4 -22 1/8), XCIT (21 3/4 -8 13/16), LCOS (21 1/16 -8 3/16), DELL
(100 -18 3/4), MSFT (95 15/16 -9 5/16), CMGI (38 1/8 -11 7/8).
08:54 ET Boeing Co. (BA) 30 15/16: Aircraft maker to buy back up to 15% of its outstanding shares. BA shares traded 2 pts higher on Instinet after
announcement was made yesterday. BA fell 3 pts Monday.
08:51 ET FirstPlus Financial Group (FP) 22 3/4: Subprime lender says it has begun discussions with potential acquirers and has retained Bear Stearns to
assist with evaluating offers. (Press Release)
08:47 ET Bankers Trust New York (BT) 74 5/16: Banking concern reports that so far in its Q3, it has experienced trading losses of $350 mln, with
Russian exposure being the primary reason for its losses in the period; bank now expects to report a net loss for Q3; according to First Call, company was
projected to earn $2.13 a share, vs year-ago net of $2.16 a share.
08:45 ET Amazon.com (AMZN) 83 3/4: Merrill Lynch kicking stock while it's down. Firm initiates coverage of online book and music retailer with
"reduce" rating. AMZN shares indicated 1 1/4 higher.
08:43 ET Stock Indications: MSFT +1, DELL +3, INTC +1/2, CSCO +1 1/8, YHOO +1 1/4, AMZN +1 1/4, XCIT +1/4. Pre-market indications not
very impressive considering magnitude of declines suffered yesterday.
08:37 ET Market Indication: Broader market indicated sharply higher. Current level of S&P futures suggest Dow will rally 70-75 pts at the open. Would
definitely prefer to see continuation of sell-off in early trading. Such action would signal buyers that wash-out has occurred. Would be careful about entering
early action, as strong S&P futures could certainly be head-fake. Nonetheless, some very attractive stocks out there, particularly in the Internet and
Computers arenas... Overseas, Germany trading 0.9% lower, France -1%, Hong Kong -2.9%, Japan +1.9%... 30-yr bond off 24 ticks. |
