Daily stock market summary, analysis and stock picks

THE "DAILY BREAD" FOR THE MARKET

Daily Morning Insights on the Market

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY MARCH 1ST. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10450.14 = -45.14

NASDAQ: 2183.37 = +31.54

S & P 500: 1241.23 = +1.29

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed mixed as bargain hunters helped the NASDAQ post a positive gain. The NASDAQ, which mounted a bargain hunting rally in the last 2 hours, had a very heavy trading volume of over 2.259 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.294 billion shares traded. Gainers included: Actuate Corp, Analog Devices, Applied Materials, Applied Micro Circuits, Artificial Life, Art Technology Group, Avaya inc, AXT inc, Bea Systems, Bethlehem Steel, Biospheres, British Energy Plc, Brocade Communications, Callon Petroleum, Chicago Bridge & Iron N.V., Checkpoint Software, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Core inc, Corning inc, DoubleClick, EMC Corp, Gilat Communications, Grupo Tribasa S.A., Hewlett Packard, HNC Software, Hollywood Media, i2 Technologies, IBM, Innodata Corp, Intel, Intergraph Corp, International Rectifier, JDS Uniphase, Lucent Technologies, Metasolv inc, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Motorola, MSC Industrial, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Oracle, Qualcomm, Philip Morris, PMC-Sierra, Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Siebel Systems, SMC Corp, Sun Microsystems, Synquest, Texas Instruments, Veritas Software, Vesta Insurance, Videsh Sanchar, and Vitesse Semiconductor.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

The National Association of Purchasing Managers reported that its NAPM Index for February rose slightly to 41.9%, which was slightly higher than what analysts forecasted - any point below 50% is a contraction. Imports, Employment, and Prices Paid indices all dropped.
US Jobless Claims for week ending February 24th. rose 39,000 to 372,000, while the week before figures were revised to 333,000. The 4 week moving average rose to 353,000.
US Personal Income rose 0.6% in January, which was slightly above what economists forecasted. US personal Consumption grew a strong 0.7%, thus forcing personal Savings to drop 1.0%. The PCE Deflator rose 0.5%.
US Construction Spending for January rose a strong 1.5%. All sectors of construction activity were strong. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
IBM gained 6.16% after a Salomon Smith Barney analyst had positive comments about the company.
Vesta Insurance gained 14.60% after reporting strong earnings for fiscal Q4 and year 2000.
Intergraph gained 39.13% after a court ruled in favor of the company in its patent infringement lawsuit against Intel. Intergraph stands to reap huge royalties.
Fiber optic giant Corning gained 11.87% after announcing that it is cutting 825 jobs due to the slowing fiber optics market and the US economy in general.
British Energy Plc. gained after Merrill Lynch added it to its "Europe 1" list of preferred stocks Visit our BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland portal to read our summary of the London Stock Exchange.
Innodata gained 20% after setting a 2-for-1 stock split for shareholders recorded March 13. The payout is March 23rd.
Applied Micro Circuits gained 10.51% despite warning that its Q4 revenues will be between $125 million and $135 million, well below First Call's projection of $175 million.
AFTER CLOSE: Oracle, which gained 12.50% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after issuing an earnings warning.
AFTER CLOSE: SBC Communications continued its losses in after hours trading after warning that its fiscal Q1 figures will fall short.
AFTER CLOSE: Xircom, which lost 2.80% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours after Intel announced that German antitrust regulators have cleared the way for it to acquire the adaptor maker.
FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

NASDAQ:

Technology, Biotechnology, Telecommunications, and some Internets will gain. Companies like: 3 Dimensional, Accelerated Networks, Act Networks, Active Power, Advanced Electronic Support Products (AESP), Advanced Power Technology, Akamai Technology, Alamosa PCS, AlpNet, Altera, Alysis Technology, Amdahl, American Medical Systems, Amgen, Amtech Systems, Anaren Microwave, Andover.Net, Apple, Applied Materials, Applied Molecular, Arena Pharmaceuticals, Argonaut Technologies, Ariba, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Ariel Corporation, Arrowpoint, Art Technology Group, Ask Jeeves, Atherogenics, AudioCodes Ltd., Avanex Corp., Avici Systems, Axent Technology, Be Incorporated, Biospherics, Bruker Daltonic, Calypte Biomedical, Cavion Technology, Cellular Technical, Centillum Communications, Centra Software, Centura Software, Charter Communications, Chordiant Software, Cisco Systems, Clarus Corp., ClearNet Communications, CMGI, Cobalt Networks, Comdisco, Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Compugen, Concurrent Computer, Convergent Group, Copper Mountain Networks, Corio, Corvis, Covad Communications, Cyber-Care, Cygnus, Cytogen Pharmaceutical, Dallas Semiconductor, Decode Genetics, Dell, DeltaGen, Disc, Discovery Partners International, Dyax, ebay, Ecogen, Efficient Networks, Elan Corp. PLC, Emerge Interactive, Entravision Communications, Epicor Software, E-piphany, ePlus, Equinix, Ericsson, Esperion Therapeutics, EuroWeb, Excite@Home, EXE Technologies, Exfo Electro-Optical Engineering, Evolve Software, Evolving Systems, Finisar, Floware Wireless, Foundry Networks, FreeMarkets.Com, Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Genzyme Molecular Oncology, GeoWorks, Giganet Wireless, Gilead Sciences, Glenayre Technologies, GRIC Communications, Hytek Microsystems, iBasis, II-VI inc., Ilex Oncology, Illumina, Immunex, Impath, Impsat Corp., Incyte Genomics, Informix, Infosys Technologies, Inktomi, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, inSilicon, Integrated Telecom Express, Intel, Intermedia Communications, Internet Capital Group, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, JDS Uniphase, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Juniper Networks, Kana Communications, Large Scale Biology, Lattice Semiconductor, Legato Systems, Liberate Technologies, LifeMinders, Linear Technology, Lion BioSciences AG, Looksmart, Luminex, McData, McLeodUSA, The Medicines, Metasolv Software, Methode Electronics, Metricom, Metrix One, Metron Technology N.V., Microsoft, National Security, Neoforma.Com, Net2Phone, NetSilicon, Netsolve, Network Commerce, Network Computing Devices, New Tel, Neurobiological, Nhancement Technology, Niku Corp, Novellus System, Numerical Technologies, Omnivision Technology, ONI Systems, Onvia.Com, OpNet Technologies, Optelecom, Opus360, Oracle, Pac-West Telecomm, Paging Network, Pain Therapeutics, Palm, Panja, Peco II, Pegasystem, Pemstar, PFS Web, Phone.Com, PMC-Sierra, Portal Software, Precis Software, Qualcomm, Qualstar, Quantum Effect Devices, Redback Networks, Red Hat, Regenerate Technologies, Repeater Technologies, Resonate, RiverDeep Group Plc., Robocom, Rosseta Inpharmatics, Saflink, Sage, Sanchez Computer Associates, SDL inc., Sequenom, Silicom Ltd., Siliconix, Smith Micro Software, Societe Europeene Communication S.A., SonicWall, Sonus Networks, Stanford MicroDevices, StorageNetworks, Stem Cells, Sun Microsystems, Sunrise Telecom, Support.Com, Sybase, Sycamore Networks, Synaptic Pharmaceuticals, Talarian, Target Genetics, TCSI, Tegal Corp., Telecommunications Systems, Telik, Telular Corp., Terra Networks SA, TransGenomic, Trega Biosciences, Tripath Technology, TriTel, Triton Network Systems, Turnstone System, Tyler Technologies, UTStarcom, Va Linux, Variagenics, Venture Catalyst, Versata, Versicor, Vertel Corp., ViaNet.Works, Virage, Vitesse Semiconductor, V One Corp., WebMethods, Webex, Witness System, WJ Communications, WorldCom, Xicor, Xilinx, Yahoo! and Zebra Technologies.

NYSE:

Telecommunications, Retailing, Utilities, Banking, and Technology stocks like: 3Com, Aetna, Agilent Technologies, Alcatel, AMD, AOL Time Warner, American Express, Analog Devices, Applied Biosystems, AT&T, AT&T Wireless Group, Bank of America, Bank One, Bausch & Lomb, Bell Atlantic, Benchmark Electronics, BP Amoco, British Telecom (BT), Cable & Wireless, C&D Technology, Celestica, Celera Genomics, Charles Schwab, Chase, Check Point, Chevron, Cigna, Citigroup, Compaq, Computer Associates, Convergys, CTS Corp., Dominion Resources, Donaldson Lufkin, Dow Chemical, Dot Hill Systems, E.I. Dupont, El Paso Energy, EMC Corp., Exxon Mobil, Federated Dept. Stores, Fifth Third Bank, FirstStar Bank, GE, GTE, Halliburton, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, Home Depot, H Power Corp, IBM, Infineon, JC Penney, John Hancock, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan, Kmart, Kroger Co, Legg Mason, Lucent Technologies (LU), Manufacturer's Services Ltd., Medicis Pharmaceuticals, Merck & co., Merrill Lynch, Micron Technology, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Newbridge Network, Nortel Networks, PE Corp, Pfizer, Philip Morris, Price Communications, Provident Bank, Prudential, Safeguard Scientifics, SBC Communications, Schering-Plough, Schlumberger, Silverline Technology, Sprint, Sprint PCS, STMicroelectron, Sungard Data System, Texas Instruments, Transocean Sedco Forex, Tyco International, Unisys, Viasystems Group, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Vishay Intertechnology, Wal-Mart, Warner Lambert, and Wells Fargo.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 28TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10495.28 = -141.60

NASDAQ: 2151.83 = -55.99

S & P 500: 1239.94 = -18.00

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets took a tumble again as early interest rate cuts hope were dashed with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony to the House Finance Committee (visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more). Stocks were also hammered by earnings warnings and poor economic data (see below). Bond prices rose as the NASDAQ lost 22% for the month of February, its 3rd. largest monthly loss on record. The NASDAQ, which headed straight down after 10 AM, had a very heavy trading volume of over 2.094 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.174 billion shares traded. Gainers included: 3Com, AT&T, Avax Technologies, Birner Dental, Cache inc, Cooper Companies, Comdisco, Consolidated Stores, Delcath Systems, Epiq Systems, Fuel Technology N.V., Gateway, Globalstar Telecommunications, Grupo Tribasa S.A., Hancock Fabric, Hewlett Packard, H&R Block, ICIC Bank Ltd, Insmed, Jabil Circuits, Juniper Networks, Persistence Software, Nortel Networks, Nokia, Owens Corning, Santa Fe Financial Corp, Schering Plough, Select Comfort, Somera Communications, Spatialight, Sun Microsystems, Symbol Technology, TJX Companies, Trex Companies, Tyco International, Veritas Software, and Wesco International.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q4 was revised downward to a 1.1% growth, the slowest growth since 1995. Consumer and Business expenditures, and Exports were weak.
The Chicago PMI Index for February rose 3 points to 43.2% - any point below 50% is a contraction. All indices closed lower except employment, which held steady.
For week ending February 23rd., the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that, US crude oil inventories rose 2.9 million barrels and 2.2 million barrels respectively. Reuters Survey of leading analysts expected an increase of 5.2 million barrels. For Distillates, the EIA and the API reported decreases of 1.1 million barrels and 992,000 barrels respectively. Reuters expected a decrease of 300,000. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Juniper Networks gained 2.74% on rumors that it might acquire struggling Redback Networks, which closed lower.
AT&T gained 0.39% after informing AOL Time Warner today that it will sell its 25.5% stake in Time Warner cable operations. AOL Time Warner lost 1.50%.
Wal-Mart lost 1.77% after its online unit, Walmart.Com, announced it is cutting 10% of its workforce, or 24 jobs, in attempts to conserve cash.
Symbol Technology gained 15.13% on a Salomon Smith Barney upgrade.
H&R Block gained 8.47% on a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgrade.
Retailers Consolidated Stores and TJX gained after reporting earnings that beat estimates.
Amazon lost 13.30% as analysts attending the New York Society of Security Analysts took lots as to when Amazon might stop existing as a company due to a credit crunch. Amazon denied the rumors that it is in a credit crunch. Visit our Quarterly forecasts page to read our take on the future of Amazon.
Worldcom lost 3.62% despite announcing plans to cut 6,000 of its 90,000 worldwide workforce as the economic conditions continue to it the telecommunications giant.
Persistence Software gained 18.75% after announcing a global e-business caching alliance with Intel.
Epiq Systems gained 16.87% after reporting record earnings.
AFTER CLOSE: Gateway Computer, which gained 2.87% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after announcing that it will break even in fiscal Q1 2001 due to a $150 million to $275 million. Gateway is also planning to revise its fiscal 200 results, and closing its Gateway Country stores and withdrawing from global markets due to poor performance.
AFTER CLOSE: Lam research, which closed down 6.52% in regular trading, is still losing after reporting that it "is at risk" in meeting its current quarter revenue. Lam Research announced plans to slash executive salaries by 10%, instituting a mandatory 5 day shutdown each quarter, and reviewing its spending to cut cost due to a poor market condition.
AFTER CLOSE: 3Com, which closed up 1.39% in regular trading, is losing in after hors after announcing that it will not meet its fiscal Q3 estimates due to the poor telecom and US economic conditions.
AFTER CLOSE: Kana Communications is extending its losses in after hours trading after announcing plans to cut 220 jobs, or 20% of its workforce so as to save $30 million to $40 million.
AFTER CLOSE: DSL.Net is gaining in after hours after reporting fiscal Q3 losses of 47 cents a share, 8 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated.
FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 27TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10636.88 = -5.65

NASDAQ: 2207.82 = -100.68

S & P 500: 1257.77 = -9.88

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets took a tumble as early interest rate cuts hope fizzle on a comment made by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson (visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more). Stocks were hammered by earnings warnings and poor economic data (see below). The NASDAQ, which headed straight down after 12 noon, had a heavy trading volume of over 1.802 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.103 billion shares traded. Gainers included: Alpharma, AT&T, Biorelliance, Black Hawk Gaming, Bridge technology, Charles Schwab, Click2learn.Com, CNOOC Ltd, DrugMax.Com, Federated Department Stores, Fourth Shift, Garden Fresh, GE, Gentek, Genus inc, Home Depot, Leucadia National, Mediacom, Mortons Restaurants, NewEdge Corp, Orbital Engine, Owens Corning, Philip Morris, Photomedix, Realco, Register.Com, Rite Aid, Starcraft inc, Texas Instruments, Titan Corp, Trex Co, and Winstar Communications.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

The Conference Board reported that US Consumer Confidence dropped to 106.8 in February, a bigger drop than analysts forecasted, and at the lowest levels in 4 years. On the upside, consumers' plans to buy homes or cars in the next 6 months rose.
US New Home Sales dropped to 912,000 units sold in January, a slightly higher drop than economists were forecasting. All 4 regions of the country recorded a drop.
US Durable Goods Orders dropped 6.0% in January, a well higher drop than forecasted. Transportation equipment order accounted for almost all of the drop at a stunning 22% drop. On the upside, non defense capital goods (excluding Aircraft) orders rose an impressive 6.5%. Computer related orders also had a strong gain. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Realco gained 20% after announcing that it is selling its real estate brokerage subsidiaries in New Mexico.
Federated Department Stores gained despite reporting a fiscal Q4 earnings of $1.65 a share, well below the First Call estimates of $2.10 a share.
AT&T gained 4.90% on news that cable operator Mediacom is paying $2.2 billion in cash and assuming debts to acquire its cable operation AT&T Broadband.
JDS Uniphase lost 14.75% after announcing that it is cutting 10%, or 3,000 of its workforce due to a slowing demand for its fiber optics products in a sluggish economy. Other fiber optic players like Corning were also hurt by the news.
Software stocks had heavy losses after 2 influential Wall Street analysts downgraded their earnings estimates due to the economic slowdown. Goldman Sachs analyst Tom Berquist cut his earnings estimates on Ariba, Commerce One, i2 Technologies, Microsoft, Oracle, and Peoplesoft. Goldman Sachs also cut its outlook on IBM and Hewlett Packard. Banc of America Montgomery analyst Bob Austrian cut his earnings estimates on Ariba, Commerce One, Oracle, SAP AG, and Siebel Systems.
Sporting gear maker Nike lost 19.46% after reducing its profit outlook. Nike blamed the slowing economy, and problems with its supply management software developed by i2 Technologies. i2 technologies lost 22.36% on the news.
Fourth Shift gained 35.72% after announcing that AremisSoft is offering $40.5 million to acquire it.
Black Hawk Gaming gained 48.57% to close at 9 3/4 on news that its Chairman and CEO is offering $11 a share to acquire the company.
Chip maker Xilinx lost 7.46% after Robertson Stephens analyst Eric Rothdeutsche lowered his 2001 and 2002 revenue and earnings targets on the company.
AFTER CLOSE: Altera, which closed lower in regular trading, lowered its earnings target due to the slowing economy.
AFTER CLOSE: Chartered Semiconductor, which closed lower in regular trading, revised its fiscal Q1 forecast numbers downward due to the slowing economy.
AFTER CLOSE: Avanex, which closed lower in regular trading, revised its fiscal Q3 and fiscal full year figures downward. Avanex is losing aggressively in after hours trading.
FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland portal BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland., and our Canadian (English) portal BusinessJeeves Canada up and running. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Today's after hours market activities are not encouraging. Watch out for a bruising market for the rest of the week. Unless of course, bargain hunters have the stomach for it, or some exceptionally positive economic news.
We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR MONDAY FEBRUARY 26TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10642.53 = +200.63

NASDAQ: 2308.50 = +45.99

S & P 500: 1267.65 = +21.79

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets rallied as investors continue to be optimistic on an early Federal Reserve rates cut. The NASDAQ, which rose upward in the last 2 hours, had a heavy trading volume of over 1.835 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.130 billion shares traded. Gainers included: 99 Cents Stores, Abgenix, Agnico-Eagle Mines, AOL Time Warner, Ariba, AsiaInfo Holdings, AT&T, Bea Systems, Bethlehem Steel, Brocade Communications, Cacheflow, CB Richard Ellis, Charles Schwab, Ciena Corp, Citigroup, Citizens Communications, Dynacq International, EMC Corp, ESC Medical Systems, E*Trade Group, EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering, Fresh Choice, Frozen Food Express, Galey & Lord, GE, Global Crossing, Home Depot, i2 Technologies, IBM, Jewett-Cameron, JDS Uniphase, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Level 8 Systems, LifeCell, Lucent Technologies, Matrixone, Meditrust, Microsoft, National Steel, Nexmed, Nokia, Oracle, Pfizer, Qualcomm, Quantum HDD, Schlumberger, Siebel Systems, StemCells, Too inc, Tyco International, Verision inc, Veritas Software, Worlcom, Xilinx, Yahoo! and York Resources Corp.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Existing Home Sales dropped 6.6% in January to 4.65 million units sold - this was a bigger drop than analysts expected. All the 4 regions of the country had a drop. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal, the UK & Ireland, and the Canadian portals. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Microsoft gained 4.96% after the US Court of Appeals seem skeptical of the charges against the software giant.
Sun Microsystems lost a fraction despite rolling back prices on Unix workstations below the $1,000 mark.
Procter and Gamble lost after warning that the the currency crisis in Turkey will affect its earnings.
Qualcomm gained 2.02% after agreeing to settle a class action lawsuit brought on by former and present employees who claim the company cheated them in their stock options. Qualcomm will pay $11 million as part of the settlement.
Biopharmaceutical company Abgenix gained 23.71% after agreeing to pay $77 million in cash for Canadian rival ImmGenics.
ESC Medical gained 23.86% on news that it is acquiring Coherent Medical unit for $203 million.
Biotechnology and Steel stocks were hot today.
Bond prices dropped (and the yield rose) as funds rotated into stocks on speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates before their March 20th. meeting.
FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

This market seem ready to rally one more time on this early interest rate cuts optimism, no matter how far fetched it is.
We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

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MARKET SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23RD. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10441.90 = -84.91

NASDAQ: 2262.51 = +17.55

S & P 500: 1245.72 = -6.96

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed mixed as earnings warnings continue to put pressure on the market. The NASDAQ, which was sliding all day until it made an upward turn at 2 due to hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut (see below), had a very heavy trading volume of over 2.239 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.236 billion shares traded. Gainers included: 99 Cents Stores, AAron Rents, Aeroflex, Aerogen, Agnico-Eagle Mines, AMD, American Bancorp, AngloGold Ltd, Applera Celera, Applied Materials, Applied Micro Circuits, Avici Systems, Bay View Capital, Bea Systems, Broadcom, Brocade Communications, Brown Shoe Co., Ciena Corp, Cisco Systems, Compaq, Comverse Technology, Corning, Dell, EMC Corp, Energy Partners, Epimmune, Ericsson, Extended System, Hewlett Packard, Home Depot, Homestake Mining, InfoSpace, Interlink Electronics, JDS Uniphase, Juniper Networks, Liberty Digital, Louisiana Pacific, Luxottica, MDC Holdings, Meridian Gold, Microsoft, Palm, Polyone Corp, PriceLine.Com, Primacom, Profile Technology, Scientific Atlanta, Siga Technology, Siliconix, SkechersUSA, Stride-Rite Corp, Tibco Software, TRM Corp, UnitedGlobalCom, Visual Data, Visual Networks, Wal-Mart, Wesco International, Williams-Sonoma, Worldpages.Com, and Yankee Candle.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
InfoSpace gained 23.15% on news that its founder, Chairman and CEO Naveen Jain bought another 500,000 shares on February 5th. Mr. Jain now holds about 62 million of the company's stocks.
Motorola lost 6.02% after announcing that it will miss fiscal Q1 sales and earnings forecast. Motorola blamed poor orders from its semiconductor and mobile phone units.
Nokia lost 8.22% after Goldman Sachs reduced its outlook on global cell phone sales, and downgraded Nokia, France's Alcatel, and the UK's Marconi Plc. To read more on UK or London Stock Exchange, visit our subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland.
Qualcomm lost 7.66% despite announcing that its CDMA intergraded circuit sales is still on track for 16 million units sold in fiscal Q2, a 1 million units increase from Q1. Qualcomm also made known that licensing is still "exceptionally strong" and it expects to post even better figures in fiscal Q3.
Technology stocks, which were in a free fall all day, rallied back in the last 2 hours after Bear Stearns chief Economist and former Federal Reserve Governor Wayne Agnell commented that there is a 60% chance the Federal Reserve Bank might raise rates up to 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, as opposed to waiting till their March 20th. meeting to take action.
Bea Systems gained 5.07% due to its strong earnings report yesterday, and an upgrade from UBS Warburg.
Sun Microsystems closed unchanged today despite issuing an earnings warning yesterday, and a downgrade from AG Edwards.
Priceline gained 26.15% after Legg Mason analyst Thomas Underwood initiated coverage of the stock with a "strong buy" recommendation. Mr. Underwood also raised the price target on priceline to $6 a share. Priceline closed at 2 9/16.
FORECAST IS UP: Our First and Second quarters of year 2001 is now up. Don't get blinded in these uncertain times, take advantage of the information by visiting our Quarterly forecasts page.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

We are not expecting any changes from the turmoil we have seen this week, unless of course bargain hunters, or a piece of economic news changes things.
We do not see the Federal Reserve Bank cutting interest rates by 50 bases points (0.50%) next week, especially now that data is showing the economy is no longer in a free fall. Three interest rate cuts in a course of less than 2 months seem rather excessive, given the current economic conditions.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

<---D385--->

MARKET SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 22ND. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10526.81 = +0.23

NASDAQ: 2244.96 = -23.98

S & P 500: 1252.82 = -2.45

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed mixed as earnings warnings continue to put pressure on the market. The NASDAQ, which moved zig zag all day before closing lower, had a very heavy trading volume of over 2.484 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.365 billion shares traded. Gainers included: Act Teleconferencing, ACTV inc, ADC Telecommunications, AngloGold Ltd, AOL Time Warner, Applied Digital, Applied Materials, AT&T, Autodesk, Avado Financial, Avaya inc, Bancolombia SA, British Energy Plc, Candlewood Hotel, Cisco Systems, Citigroup, Citizens Communications, Compaq, Corning, Dell, DoubleClick, DSG International Ltd, Edison International, Efficient Networks, Electronics Arts, Emulex, Evoke Communications, Global Crossing, Internet Capital Group, JP Morgan Chase & Co, LastMinute.Com, Level 8 Systems, Lone Star Technology, Lucent Technologies, McLeodUSA, Modem Media, NetNation Communications, Nortel Network, O2 Wireless Solutions, Oracle, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Pfizer, Polo Ralph Lauren, Siebel Systems, SkechersUSA, SL Industries, Sprint PCS Group, Sunglass Hut, Sun Microsystems, Too inc, VerticalNet, Vitara Corp, Worldcom, and York Resources Group.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Index of Leading Economic Indicators, a good measure of economic activity and outlook, rose 0.8% in January to 109.4 - the same level seen in October 2000. Coincident Index rose 0.2% to 116.6 - the same level seen in September 2000. Lagging Index rose 0.1% to 107.7.
US Jobless Claims for week ending February 17th rose 4,000 to 348,000. The 4-week moving average rose to 351,000.
The Conference Board reported that its Newspaper Help Wanted Index, a good measure of blue collar employment, dropped 3 points in January to 76. New England and the South Atlantic however, saw increases.
Economy.Com reported that its Online Help Wanted Index, a good measure of white collar employment, dropped in February. The 4 week moving average dropped to 112.1, while the 12 week moving average dropped to 113.3.
US Crude Oil inventory dropped in the week ending February 16th, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). The EIA and API reported that US crude oil inventories dropped 11.9 million barrels and 12.0 million barrels respectively. Reuters Survey of analysts expected an increase of 500,000 barrels. For distillates, EIA and the API reported increases of 1.6 million barrels and 2.5 million barrels respectively. Reuters survey expected a decrease of 800,000 barrels. Today's data shows that while the economy has slowed drastically, it is not in a recession, as evidenced by the leading indicators rising (annualized six months drop has to be 3.5%). Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Storage company EMC Corp. lost 6.05% after issuing an earnings warning for 2001 growth due to the slowing economy.
Yahoo! lost 8.13% after confirming that listings on its Yahoo! Auctions dropped significantly after initiating a for-fee listing. Yahoo! however made known that the listings that have left were not exactly top notch because its financial bottom line hasn't being hurt. Further, it intends to direct more traffic to the auction site from some of its sites.
British Energy Plc. gained after analysts became optimistic that the struggling utility is heading towards profitability again. To read more on UK or London Stock Exchange, visit our subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland.
Software developer Bea Systems lost 8.46% despite reporting fiscal Q4 earnings of 10 cents a share, 1 cent a share better than First Call estimates. Licensing revenues rose 24% for the quarter. Bea Systems is forecasting a 46% to 48% growth in the new year with sales around $1.2 billion to $1.21 billion.
Efficient Networks gained 86.36% on news that Siemens is paying $1.5 billion for it.
Sunglass Hut gained 36.09% after Luxottica agreed to acquire it for $462 million.
Evoke Communications, a teleconferencing and email services company, gained 20.75% after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 30 cents a share, 6 cents a share less losses than First Call estimated. Revenues grew 38% to $7.7 million.
Candlewood Hotel gained 17.05% after reporting blockbuster earnings.
Lucent Technology rallied after announcing that it is in the final stages to secure a $2 billion line of Credit.
California utilities companies gained after the State of California lifted its power alert for the first time in 6 weeks.
AFTER CLOSE: Sun Microsystems, which gained 6.05% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after cutting its fiscal Q3 outlook about half. Sun also announced a $1.5 billion stock repurchase plan. Sun blamed its woes on the poor economy.
AFTER CLOSE: Autodesk, which gained in regular trading, is still gaining in after hours after reporting fiscal Q4 earnings of 57 cents a share, 5 cents a share better than First Call estimated.
AFTER CLOSE: VerticalNet, a software vendor which gained 6.6% in regular trading, reported fiscal Q4 losses of 32 cents a share, which twice the losses in reported a year ago, and bigger losses than First Call estimated.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

The Sun Microsystems warning, coupled with EMC Corp warning is setting the stage for a very weak (and possibly frightening) market tomorrow. Then again, this market is always surprising us all.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

<---D384--->

MARKET SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21ST. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10526.58 = -204.30

NASDAQ: 2268.94 = -49.41

S & P 500: 1255.27 = -23.67

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets lost heavily for the second day in a row due to economic data that triggered corporate earnings and general economic well being fears. The NASDAQ, which took a dive at noon, had a heavy trading volume of over 2.020 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.208 billion shares traded. Gainers included: American Retirement Corp, Applied Materials, Ariba, Astrazeneca Plc, Bell & Howell, BillServ.Com, Broadcom, Brokat AG, Callaway Golf, Classica group, Cobra Electronics, Coricom C.A., Corning, Crown Cork & Seal, Exodus Communications, Extendicare, Foster Wheeler, Golden Isles, Hancock Fabrics, Healthextras, i2 Technologies, Incara Pharmaceuticals, Instrumentrium, Intuit, Jore Corp, Juniper Networks, KCS Energy, Korn/Ferry International, Marex.Com, Microsoft, Net perceptions, Netsol International, Network Appliance, Nextel Communications, Nortek, Nortel Networks, Novo-Nordisk A/S, Playtex Prod, Potters Financial Corp, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Schering Plough, Six Flags, Spire Corp, Veritas Software, Viacom, Visx, Vitro SA, WebMethods, Wolohan Lumber, and York International.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

US Consumer Price Index (CPI), a good measure of consumer inflation, rose 0.6% in January, about twice what economists expected, and blamed on the rising energy costs. The Core CPI, which excludes the volatile energy and food section, rose 0.3%, again above expectations. The unexpected strong rise in Core CPI has been attributed to high tobacco, drug prescription, medical care, and services prices.
US Trade Deficit in December narrowed to $32.99 billion from the revised November figures of $33.1 billion. US Exports dropped $740 million, while Imports dropped $870 million.
US Semiconductor book-to-bill ratio dropped to 0.81 in January, due primarily to a massive drop in bookings. Shipments also dropped, but less drastic. This data shows that while the economy is slowing, a worrisome problem of price pressures (inflation) is also persisting - a rather nasty situation to deal with sometimes. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Personal finance software developer Intuit gained 16.23% after Salomon Smith barney upgraded it to a "strong buy" recommendation due to its good earnings and outlook yesterday.
Cobra Electronics gained 14.91% after reporting fiscal Q4 earnings that were 33% higher.
Consumer products giant Procter and Gamble gained 1.44% after announcing that it is merging its juice and snack food operations with Coca Cola's so that the new company will challenge Pepsico's Frito Lay's and Tropicana brands. Coca Cola and Pepsico closed lower.
Astrazeneca Plc. gained after the FDA approved its Ulcer treatment drug Nexium.
Juniper Networks gained a fraction after a Dell'Oro Group research showed that, Juniper's control of the network routers market increased 4% in Q4 2000 to 34% - rival Cisco's share dropped from 69% to 65%. The same report also pointed out that, in the Edge-of-the-Internet routers market, Redback Networks gained 7.5% to 45% - rival Nortel Networks lost 11% to 23% of the market. Nortel closed up, while Redback and Cisco closed lower.
AFTER CLOSE: Brocade Communications, which closed lower in regular trading, is still losing in after hours after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of 13 cents a share, 1 cent a share better than First Call estimated. Brocade lowered its full year revenues estimates from $830 million to $750 million due to the economic slowdown that is affecting its customers.
AFTER CLOSE: ADC Telecommunications, which lost in regular trading, is gaining in after hours after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of 7 cents a share, 1 cent a share better than First Call estimates. ADC issued caution all the way to year 2002 due to the poor economic conditions.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Bargain hunters are now our only hope. The market still have a rough 2 days this week to go, unless bargain hunters intervene (and no more economic data surprises like today's CPI report).
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

<---D383--->

MARKET SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY FEBRUARY 20TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10730.88 = -68.94

NASDAQ: 2318.35 = -107.03

S & P 500: 1278.94 = -22.59

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets came out of the 3 day holiday with massive losses as the poor earnings reported last week, coupled with economic fears pushed indices lower. The NASDAQ, which was in a dive all day, had a heavy trading volume of over 1.879 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.105 billion shares traded. Gainers included: Bei Technology, China Petroleum, Ciber inc, Coricom C.A., Donegal Group, East Pennsylvania Bank, FairMarket, Galey & Lord, GE, Home Depot, Interwest Home, Langer Biochem, Level 8 Systems, Macrochem Corp, Metricom, New Era of Networks (NEON), Oregon Steel, Owens Corning, Paulson Gaming, Philip Morris, Picturetel Corp, Scherer Health, Schering Plough, Schuller Homes, SMTC Corp, Sola International, Springs Industries, Teekay Shipping, US Industries, Wal-Mart, Westwood One, Williams Coal, and Worldcom.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Home Depot gained after reporting earnings that met First Call estimates.
Giant retailer Wal-mart gained after reporting record fiscal Q2 sales of $2 billion, and beating First Call estimates by 1 cent a share.
Intel lost 8.55% after announcing that it will delay pay raises, cut back on spending and hiring. Intel claimed there are no layoffs planned.
Brocade and ADC Telecom lost 15.73% and 8.81% respectively on the eve of their earnings reports after close of market tomorrow.
New Era of Networks (NEON) gained 20.65% after Sybase agreed to acquire it for $373 million in stocks.
Prices rotated today from stocks to the bond market.
FairMarket gained 23.33% after opening an eBay marketplace for its merchants.
Springs Industries gained 21.39% after the Springs Family in conjunction with Heartland Industries offered around $787.6 million to take the company private. The Springs family still controls 41% of the company.
AFTER CLOSE: VA Linux, a Linux vendor which closed lower in regular trading, is still losing in after hours after reporting fiscal Q2 losses of 28 cents a share, 2 cents a share more losses than First Call estimated. VA Linux also announced that it is cutting 25% of its workforce due to the economic slowdown.
AFTER CLOSE: Personal finance software developer Intuit, which lost 6.10% in regular trading, is gaining in after hours after reporting fiscal Q2 earnings of 48 cents a share, 3 cents a share better than First Call estimates. Intuit is also forecasting a good tax year.
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Bargain hunting and better economic news will detect the markets next week. We don't expect the Nortel, Hewlett Packard, and Dell factors to prevail past Tuesday.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

<---D382--->

MARKET SUMMARY FOR FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10799.82 = -91.20

NASDAQ: 2425.38 = -127.53

S & P 500: 1301.53 = -25.08

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets slumped after the disappointing earnings and outlook from Dell Computer, Hewlett Packard, and Nortel Networks. The NASDAQ, which was in a dive all day, had a very heavy trading volume of over 1.895 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.242 billion shares traded. Gainers included: American Home Mortgage, Arch Coal, Barrick Gold, Coca Cola Enterprises, Coricom C.A., Documentum, Duraswitch Industries, Eagle Bancorp, EarthLink, Edison International, Everlast Worldwide, Goldfields Ltd, Healthextras, Introgen Therapeutics, ISPAT International, IT Group, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Maverick Tube, Metricom, Mid Atlantic Medical Services, National Security, Newmont Mining, New York Health Care, OMI Corp, Orapharma, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Pfizer, Philip Morris, Q-Med, Rand Capital Corp, Riverstone Networks, Schlumberger, Tomkins Plc, TRC Companies, Universal Compressor, and VICORP Restaurants.

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

WEEKEND NEWS: US and British war planes bombed Iraqi positions over the weekend. Expect Crude Oil prices to rise on market day due to the fear that Iraq might curtail production.
HOLIDAY NEWS: The Department of Commerce reported Monday that, US e-commerce sales rose 36% from Q3 2000 to Q4 2000 to a value of $8.69 billion. Q4 2000 sales is a whopping 67% increase from Q4 1999. E-commerce as part of total retail sales also improved in Q4 2000 to 1.01%.
US Housing Starts rose 5.3% to 1.65 million units in January, the strongest increase since April 2000, and well above economists' estimates. The Midwest and the South led in the strong growth.
US Producer Price Index (PPI) rose a strong 1.1% in January, while Core PPI grew 0.7% for the period. Both figures are well above what economists expected and they are discounting the PPI figures due to their overstatement (producers can't be increasing prices when there are no buyers).
US Industrial Production dropped 0.3%, well above estimates, in January. Auto production dropped 6.0%. Capacity Utilization is now at 80.2, the lowest level in over 2 quarters. This means the economic slide is finally showing signs of stopping, and in most instances the economy is actually picking back up again. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Orapharma gained 16% after the FDA approved its periodontal disease treatment medicine Arestin.
Restaurant Operator VICORP Restaurants gained 33.11% after accepting a $25.65 a share acquisition offer from a BancBoston Capital affiliate and Goldner Hawn. VICORP closed at 24 5/8.
Juno Online lost 7.81% despite CEO Charles Ardai's comments that, the company is willing to acquire or even be acquired. Juno, an ISP that offers both free and paid premium internet access, is one of those looking for mergers/acquisition as online advertisement revenues dry up force free ISPs out of the market.
California utilities companies PG&E and Southern California Edison's parent Edison International gained after California Governor Gray Davis proposed a "recovery plan" that includes the state's purchase of the transmission grids of these companies.
Bond prices edged up as funds rotated into them and pushing yields down. Also gaining were mining stocks.
IPO Today: Riverstone Networks, a telecommunications equipment maker, braved the waters today to close 8.85% above its offering price!
Nextel Communications lost 13.95% after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 34 cents a share, 2 cents a share less losses than First Call estimates. Nextel's Q4 revenues rose to $1.65 billion, while net new subscribers increased 521,0000, a strong 21,000 more customers than analysts forecasted. Nextel is projecting year 2001 domestic revenues of over $7 billion, if the economy is stable enough.
Contract Equipment Makers (CEMs) like Jabil Circuits, Sanmina, and Solectron were hit hard today due to the poor earnings reported yesterday by their top clients.
Nortel Networks, Hewlett Packard, and Dell lost 32.77%, 8.86%, and 6% respectively after reporting poor earnings and outlooks yesterday. The demise of these 3 stocks pulled down major markets around the world!
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

Bargain hunting and better economic news will detect the markets next week. We don't expect the Nortel, Hewlett Packard, and Dell factors to prevail past Tuesday.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

<---D381--->

MARKET SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15TH. 2001

DOW INDUSTRIAL: 10891.02 = +95.61

NASDAQ: 2552.91 = +61.51

S & P 500: 1326.47 = +10.55

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS & SECTORS

The markets closed higher as Ciena earnings rocked the markets. The NASDAQ, which was in the black all day, had a very heavy trading volume of over 2.107 billion shares, while the NYSE had a volume of over 1.132 billion shares traded. Gainers included: Adam.Com, Agile Software, Amazon.Com, AMD, AOL Time Warner, Applied Materials, Applied Micro Circuits, Ariba, AT&T, Avanex Corp, Biora AB, Broadcom, Brocade Communications, Cabot Microelectronics, Ciena Corp, Cisco Systems, Citigroup, Classica Group, Compaq, ConAgra Foods, Corning, Corvis Corp, Dell, EMC Corp, Finisar Corp, GE, Hewlett Packard, HomeStore.Com, IBM, Iona Technology, Insight Health, Intel, Intermedia Communications, Interwoven, JDS Uniphase, Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Madge Network, McData, Microsoft, Motorola, Network Appliance, New Focus, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Nvidia, Ocular Sciences, Oplink Communications, Oracle, Priceline.Com, Rare Medium, Somanetics, Sun Microsystems, Sycamore Networks, Texas Instruments, Varian Semiconductor, Veritas Software, Vitesse Semiconductor, and Yahoo!

MAIN REASONS FOR ACTIVITY

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported that its NAHB Housing Market Index for February rose 3 points to 58. Single family sales rose 2 points to 62, while the next 6 months outlook rose 6 points to 67.
US Jobless Claims for week ending February 10th dropped 11,000 to 352,000. The 4-week moving average rose to 345,000.
US Import Prices dropped 0.4% to 99.4 in January, thanks to lower crude oil prices. US Export Prices rose 0.2% in the same period, thanks to capital goods and agricultural commodities.
The Philadelphia Fed Index rose slightly to 30.5%, still a very weak figure. This means the economic slide is finally showing signs of stopping, and in most instances the economy is actually picking back up again. Visit our Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Analysis page to read more. Also, visit our expanded message boards to discuss this topic or any other business topic by clicking here.
UPDATE! UPDATE!! UPDATE!!!: The price of our Business Operations listed for sale on BizBuySell.Com have been reduced. We are a family run operation that owns this web portal with a UK and Ireland subsidiary, with our Canadian subsidiary beginning operations February 28th. 2001. We also own over 70 other domain names. To view the domain names, click here. Please pass the word around about this announcement. We will miss you all. We can be contacted by visiting our Contact page.
Vitesse Semiconductor gained 8.35% on a Robertson Stephens "strong buy" recommendation.
McData gained 5.89% on a CE Unterberg Towbin "strong buy" upgrade.
Yahoo!, AOL Time Warner, and HomeStore.Com gained after Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget stated that these stocks are worth taking a look at if you are risk tolerant.
Ciena gained 15.87% after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of 18 cents a share, 3 cents a share better than First Call estimates. Ciena also forecasted that its year 2001 revenues will be between $1.67 billion and $1.75 billion, well above the $1.53 billion First Call estimated.
Software vendor Iona Technology gained 18.47% after announcing the acquisition of ebusiness software developer Netfish Technologies for $311 million in stocks.
Interwoven gained 30.53% after Prudential Securities initiated coverage of it with a "strong buy" recommendation.
Ocular Sciences gained 22.77% after Robert W. Baird upgraded it to a "market outperform" recommendation.
AFTER CLOSE: Dell computer, which gained 8.99% in regular trading, is losing in after hours after reporting fiscal Q4 earnings of 18 cents a share, 1 cent a share less than First Call estimates. Dell's quarterly was however, $170 million above estimates. Dell announced plans to cut about 1700 jobs at its Texas operations.
AFTER CLOSE: Priceline, which closed up 17.07% in regular trading, is still advancing in after hours after reporting fiscal Q4 losses of 15 cents a share, a whopping 8 cents a share larger losses than First Call estimates, and 11 cents a share higher losses than the previous year. Priceline's quarterly revenue rose to $228.2 million from previous year's $169 million. Priceline reported that it is still on track to turn a profit in fiscal Q2 2001. The closure of its WebHouse club, bad press about customer complaints, and other woes were blamed for the poor performance.
AFTER CLOSE: Agile Software, which is scheduled to be acquired by Ariba, is extending its gains in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q3 earnings of 1 cent a share, well better than the 4 cents a share loss last year, and above estimates. Agile's revenue tripled to $25 million.
AFTER CLOSE: Schering Plough, which lost 1.43% in regular trading, is losing in after hours trading after issuing an earnings warning. Schering Plough blamed poor sales on the continuing investigation of its manufacturing practices.
AFTER CLOSE: Hewlett Packard, which gained 5.70% in regular trading, is losing in after hours trading after reporting fiscal Q1 earnings of 37 cents a share, in line with First Call estimates. Revenues rose $200 million to $11.9 billion, well short of First Call's $12.4 billion estimate.
AFTER CLOSE: Nortel Networks, which gained in regular trading, is losing in after hours trading after warning that its fiscal Q1 earnings will be around $6.3 billion, well below the $8.1 billion forecasted before. Nortel announced that its projected revenue growth is being cut to 15%, half the original projection, and it expects to loss 4 cents a share for the quarter - previous guidance was expecting earnings of 16 cents a share! Nortel is planning to cut 10,000 jobs. Nortel blamed its problems on the downturn of the US economy which they say caught them by surprise!
NEW SERVICE: Now that we have our United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiary BusinessJeeves UK & Ireland. up and running, we want to inform you dedicated fans that our Canadian (English) Subsidiary BusinessJeeves Canada will be up February 28th. 2001. We are confident, the quality of our content will keep you coming back.
JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS: Due to the immense popularity this column has received recently, and the willingness of our guests to communicate with each other, we have expanded our message boards so as to serve you better. Please check out (and post on) our NEW expanded message boards here.

PICKS FOR THE NEXT MARKET DAY

REASONS BEHIND THE PICKS

We think the market will take a serious hit tomorrow due to the Nortel, Dell, and Hewlett Packard's poor earnings performance. Bonds, here they come tomorrow. If it wasn't because of the earnings problems, today's economic data wasn't bad at all.
Be on the lookout for more technology stocks rally and stock buybacks from technology and Internet powerhouses like AOL, Ariba, Inktomi, Microsoft, Nortel Networks, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Yahoo!, etc.
BARGAINS ANYONE?
STOCKS TO WATCH NEXT MARKET DAY: Technology! Internets! Technology!! Internets!!.
Check out our Quarterly forecasts for other picks.

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