To: Red Scouser who wrote (47590 ) 2/10/1999 10:27:00 AM From: rupert1 Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 97611
Neil: I thought I'd look at the Prudential site again to see what they are saying since their man Accompara spoke. Here is an excerpt from the opening commentary this morning. Note the reference to the Beatles. Where you in the 'pool during their time? (Yes the match is televised at 7 p.m. on SKY - England Under 21 beat the French 2-1 last night. Jamie Carragher was captain in the 2nd half). _______________________________________________ PRUDENTIAL February 10, 1999, 8:45 a.m. EST DJIA 9133.03 -158.08 as of Tuesday's close on February 9, 1999 Nobody's perfect. Yet, at the end of January we had a handful of big cap stocks that were priced to perfection. What has been going on in this corrective period is the unraveling of these nifty-fifty stocks that dominate the well-known indices but which have become alienated from the broad market. For example, last year NASDAQ put in a gain of 39.6%. Take out Microsoft and the gain falls to 23%. Take out Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Worldcom and Dell and the return for NASDAQ becomes negative 7.3%. So, if NASDAQ is getting smashed these days, we are really correcting the excesses of five stocks. Meanwhile, the average NASDAQ stock is still 38% off its 52-week high, the average S&P 500 issue is down 22% and the average New York Stock Exchange issue is down 31%. This has always been the dilemma on Wall Street: How do you measure the market? While there is a lead time between the deterioration of breadth and the impact on the narrowly focused indices, if the troops flounder, inevitably the generals must retreat. As for this morning, futures are stabilizing overseas so that the opening might be placid enough. Problem is the market day is 6 ½ hours and what happens at the opening provides not a clue as to the close. In a weak market environment, traders usually sell into strength so that any bottoming to this correction must come from internal dynamics and yesterday's volume was not the stuff of bottoms. It is ironic that this tech meltdown is coinciding with two major tech conferences. The decline began in the throes of the Montgomery Securities conference last week and continues as the Goldman Sachs conference moves into its third day. And we are sure that Michael Dell made a sparkling keynote speech yesterday morning, during which time Dell Computer was getting smashed. Maybe the 53 multiple has something to do with it. Looks steady at the opening but there are miles to go until the bell. Finally, on this date in 1964, the Beatles make their U.S. debut. Time flies. _________________________________________________