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Strategies & Market Trends : Waiting for the big Kahuna -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (30912)	10/8/1998 6:05:00 PM
From: Lee Konkel	Respond to of 94695

From CNBC: <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Among market analysts, bulls were tough to find. Prudential analyst Ralph Acampora, once famous for his optimism, said early Thursday that he no longer believes the Dow will establish a trading floor at around 7,400; the bottom, he now asserts, may be closer to 6,735. The reassessment by the widely-watched Acampora contributed to Thursday's mostly-pessimistic mood. Rick Barry, a technical analyst at J.P. Turner & Co., painted an even bleaker picture. I say the Dow hits 5,000 next year, he said. There's no support level at 7,400. Another troubling aspect of Thursday's trading day was the deterioration of share prices in sectors that recently had served as safe havens. Cable stocks, for instance, had held up well in recent weeks due to their lack of reliance on foreign markets, as well as general optimism about their strategic positioning in an increasingly digital world. CNBC's Renay San Miguel says the Nasdaq didn't enjoy as big a bounce back as the Dow. But the cable bastion appears to have fallen at last. Shares of Cox Communications, for example, reached almost $58 a share last week, but spent most of Thursday trading well below $50 a share. It closed at 49 3/8. Several stock sectors were touching disturbing low points Thursday. HMO and airline stocks, for instance, haven't traded so low in more than two years. Software shares are hitting their 18-month lows. And oil-service stocks are dipping down to their lowest level in two-and-a-half years. To be sure, some investors and analysts believe the recent downturn will pass. Pessimism has been unduly heightened, they say, by Congressional discussion of presidential impeachment hearings, and by turmoil in foreign markets. During Thursday, in fact, Congress voted 258 to 176 in favor of an impeachment investigation. PaineWebber analyst Mary Farrell, appearing on CNBC, sounded a rare positive note. By the fourth quarter, she asserted, I think we'll start seeing some improvement in both corporate earnings and share prices. Farrell asserted that the market ultimately will be valued on fundamental earnings prospects, rather than today's fleeting fears. She added that the U.S. government has the wherewithal to head off a possible recession, given its budget surplus and its ability to lower interest rates further. But many analysts believe the Federal Reserve shouldn't act too quickly on interest rates, lest it create the impression of panic on its part. If they did a 1 percent reduction, it would scare the heck out of a lot of people, Ross Margolies of Salomon Brother Capital Fund told CNBC. The turbulent day on Wall Street followed disturbing activity abroad. Japan's Nikkei average fell 5.8 percent. Many European markets fared only slightly better, as both the Xetra DAX index in Frankfurt and the CAC 40 index in Paris dropped more than 4 percent Thursday. Helsinki's HEX index plunged 8.2 percent. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<