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Non-Tech : Tulipomania Blowoff Contest: Why and When will it end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sir Auric Goldfinger who wrote (971)	2/11/1999 1:03:00 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3543

Schitzoid; Bloomberg's 2 hours later: "U.S. Stocks Rise, Buoyed by Internet IPOs, Earnings Optimism New York, Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. economy is ''the envy of the world,'' giving investors optimism the central bank isn't considering raising interest rates. Computer and financial shares gained, lifted by an optimistic forecast from Compaq Computer Corp. and unexpectedly strong earnings from American International Group Inc. Internet shares climbed for the first time in six days, helped by strong demand for Web-related initial public offerings. ''The fact that Greenspan said nothing on interest rates benefits the entire market -- particularly bank stocks,'' said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio manager at Dreyfus Corp., which oversees $120 billion. ''Technology stocks are where the earnings performance has been and it's where growth will continue to be.'' The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.99, or 1.1 percent, to 9280.30 in midday trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 21.85, or 1.8 percent, to 1245.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 74.50, or 3.2 percent to 2384.00. Eight stocks rose for every five that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Greenspan, in testimony before the House Banking Committee, said stock prices of merging companies have gone up substantially because ''the markets presume capital efficiency of the American economy has improved in a very significant manner. Indeed, the consequences of that are all around us .... We have an economy which is functioning exceptionally well.'' Compaq Compaq gained 2 3/16 to 43 3/8 after the world's biggest maker of personal computers said it expects shipments to Asia, excluding Japan and greater China, to rise about 20 percent in 1999. Compaq's projections echo optimistic assessments on Asia from companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's biggest printer maker, and Seagate Technology Inc., the No. 1 independent computer disk drive maker. International Business Machines corp. gained 4 to 172 7/8, accounting for 16 points of the Dow average's gain. Dell Computer Corp. climbed 4 5/8 to 101 5/8. Hewlett-Packard gained 2 1/2 to 74 7/8. Seagate rose 7/8 to 36 15/16. Fifty-six ''technology'' companies in the S&P 500 reported earnings growth averaging 22 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 4 percent for the entire index. Standard & Poor's has a broad definition of technology that includes defense and electronics shares as well as computer-related stocks. Gains are ''earnings-driven, and earnings growth is still to be found in technology stocks,'' said David Rolfe, chief investment officer with Wedgewood Partners Inc. in St. Louis, which oversees $110 million. AIG, the largest publicly traded U.S. insurer, rose 7 1/16 to 105 13/16 after reporting profit from operations of 94 cents a share, a penny above the average forecast of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. Institutional investors have been betting since mid-January that AIG shares would rally, according to Bloomberg Analytics' money-flow analysis. Investors bought more shares in rallies than they sold in declines. In composite trading, 55 stocks reached 52-week highs, and 142 fell to lows."