Positivo e Negativo a New York

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday December 3rd 8:00--Redbook weekly chain store sales were +0.5%. 7:57--Gap’s price target and estimates were raised at Merrill Lynch. 7:51--Nokia CEO said company took handset market share in ’02. That is a neutral-to-negative comment because it shows that demand has not picked up. 7:50--Nokia’s handset estimate at Merrill Lynch was around 470M units. 7:46--Nokia sees wireless systems market down 20% in ’02 from ’01. The statements are negative. Company was upgraded yesterday at Merrill Lynch. The wireless sector was upgraded yesterday at Morgan Stanley. 7:43--Nokia said they expect 10% growth in handsets in 2003. That translates to 440M units vs. 460M given in previous forecast. 7:40--The SEC, NYSE, and NASD are fining Deutsche Bank, Goldman, Morgan, Salomon, and US Bancorp. Fines relate to email record keeping rules. Total fines are $8.25M. 7:37--Hollywood Entertainment guided Q4 EPS up to 38c-40c/sh from 37c/sh consensus. 7:36--Instinet will cut 300 jobs and take a $58M Q4 charge. 7:34--Allied Waste reaffirmed its 2002 forecast. 7:33--Alltel was downgraded to peer perform at Bear Stearns. 7:32--RF Microdevices was upgraded to by from hold at WR Hambrecht. 7:29--HGSI announced a licensing pact with Kirin to collaborate on a cancer treatment. HGSI will receive royalties under the plan. 7:28--BTM weekly chain store sales were +0.3%. 7:26--Albertson’s was downgraded at JP Morgan. Price target was lowered to $20. 7:24--UN inspectors inspected a presidential palace today. No word yet on what they found. 7:22--Intuit reaffirmed its 2003 forecast. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P -2.00, Nasdaq -7.00. -Sterling higher after UK Nov house prices +2.0%, which raises possibility of a rate hike. -ECB’s Duisenberg said that inflation pressures are easing somewhat. The comments boost expectations that the ECB will cut rates this Thursday. Positive: -Texas Instruments said they see improvement in Q4 views. Seem Q4 semi rev -2% from Q3. Sees Q4 total revenue -7% sequentially. See Q4 pro forma EPS of 3c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. See Q4 EPS of +1c/sh plus or minus a few cents. TI is citing strong demand for wireless products. Q3 revenue was $2.162B and -7% would be $2.011B vs. $2.00B consensus. -Citrix Systems guided Q4 EPS up to 12c-17c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. Raised revenue expectations up to $120M-$130M vs. $119M consensus. -Chartered Semiconductor guided Q4 loss to 47c-49c/sh including a 2c/sh loss. Consensus is 48c/sh. -Petsmart Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. Company raised 2002 guidance to 72c-73c/sh from 71c/sh consensus. The raise is based on their 2c/sh upside surprise. Initiated 2003 guidance of 87c-89c/sh vs. 89c/sh consensus. -Starbucks said their Nov same-store sales were +10%. Upgrades: -Citrix Systems was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman. -Gap was upgraded to outperform from market perform at SG Cowen. -Ciena received positive comments from Deutsche Bank. Negative: -AOL Time Warner said they see full year EBITDA at low end of 5%-9% guidance range. Company affirmed its full year revenues. -Computer Associates received negative press in the NYT, which said that CEO’s gift to a university may have been a conflict of interest. The school’s president was on CA’s board of directors at the time. -Massachusetts and West Virginia will appeal the Justice Dept. settlement with Microsoft. Downgrades: -Merrill’s Bernstein lowered his stock weighting to 45% from 50%. Bond weighting rose to 35% from 30%. -Capital One was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at CIBC. -Marriott was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. -IDEC Pharma estimates were cut at Lehman. Neutral: -Lucent proposed a reverse stock split. -Cigna affirmed its forecast. -Chico’s FAS Q3 EPS was 18c/sh which was as expected. -Coca-Cola reaffirmed its 2002 guidance of $1.15-$1.22/sh vs. $1.15 consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday December 2nd 8:00--EMC was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at RBC. 7:58--Apache was upgraded to equal-weight from underweight at Lehman. Burlington Resources was downgraded to underweight from equalweight. 7:53--United Airlines said it will not declare bankruptcy today. Said it has sufficient cash to make today’s debt payment. Said mechanics union to vote on new concessions on Thursday. 7:47--Cisco Systems was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at RBC Capital Markets. 7:45--Intel estimates were raised to 14c/sh from 12c/sh at Salomon. Price target was also raised to $18 from $14. 7:40--Integrated Circuit was downgraded to peer perform from outperform at Bear Stearns. 7:38--Intersil was upgraded to outperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns. 7:36--Intel’s estimate was raised at Bank of America. 7:33--Best Buy’s price target was raised to $32 from $28 at Bank of America. See cost cutting as a greater opportunity. 7:30--Sealed Air was upgraded to outperform at Salomon due to its asbestos settlement. 7:27--US Bancorp was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. 7:27--FifthThird was upgraded to outperform from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:25--ConocoPhillips was upgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P +11.00, Nasdaq +24.00. -Dollar higher and bonds lower due to the slightly higher stock market. Nikkei -0.5%. -Stocks higher today thanks to strong post-Thanksgiving sales. ShopperTrak’s estimate was +10.9% vs. last year’s levels. It should be important to note that this year will have a shortened shopping season because of the late Thanksgiving. Positive: -Wal-Mart said it sold $1.43B in merchandise on Friday, which is the all-time highest. It sold $1.25B in last year’s day-after-Thanksgiving. -GE won FDA approval for its 3D X-Ray/MR fusion software. -UAL secured new wage concessions from its machinists. Upgrades: -Intel and AMD were upgraded at Lehman. -Computer Sciences was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. -Northern Trust was upgraded at Piper Jaffray. -Nokia was upgraded to buy from hold at Merrill Lynch. -Wireless sector was upgraded at Morgan Stanley. -Genzyme was upgraded to outperform from neutral at CSFB. Negative: -Potash lowered its full-year earnings forecast to $1.00-$1.10 from $1.20/sh previously projected. -Johnson & Johnson is down slightly because of NYT story over the weekend that its anemia drug Eprex may be banned by European regulators. Downgrades: -EDS was downgraded to underperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. -Charles Schwab was downgraded to sell from hold at Wachovia. Neutral: -Barr Labs will acquire 3 or 4 products from Wyeth for $25 mln.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wenesday November 27th 8:05--Hormel Q4 EPS was 49c/sh which was as expected. Guided Q1 EPS to 35c-43c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. 7:46--Saba Software guided Q2 pro forma loss to 6c-12c/sh vs. +1c/sh consensus. 7:30--The claims numbers indicate that employment is recovering and will be positive for the stock market. Last week was the survey week for the employment numbers and may indicate employment growth. We were caught off guard regarding the time change of durable goods, which will be released at 9:00 CST. 7:30--Initial claims were -17K to 364 vs. 385K expected. Last week was revised to 381K vs. 376K previously reported. 7:30--Personal income was +0.1% vs. +0.1% expected. PCE was +0.4% vs. +0.3% expected. 7:25--Chartered Semiconductor was upgraded to outperform at Soundview. 7:10--Stocks are: S&P +6.00, Nasdaq +10.00. -Dollar higher and bonds lower due to the slightly higher stock market. -Sterling down on negative outlook on the UK budget. Will be released at 9:30 CST today. -Oil higher after API stats showed a drop in inventories. -Buffet said he is not interested in Burger King and Diageo. -Worldcom settled its suit with the SEC. -Israeli PM Sharon is offering conditional support for a Palestinian state. Positive: -Novellus updated Q4 bookings guidance to $200M-$210M vs. previous guidance of $200M. Said Q4 EPS will be 11c/sh which is as expected. CEO said the sector is ‘probably at a bottom.’ Said improved bookings guidance is due to higher demand rather than improved market share. -Michael’s Stores Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Revenues were $704.6M which was as expected. -Eli Lilly won FDA approval for its Strattera drug for attention deficit disorder. -GM will cut 20% of jobs in its Saab division in Sweden. -Disney received positive comments in the NYT, which said that the ABC unit is turning around. -Footstar said its November sales are modestly ahead of plan. Upgrades: -Kroll was upgraded to outperform from inline at Goldman. Negative: -Comverse Tech Q3 loss ex-items was -13c/sh vs. -15c/sh consensus. Revenue was $167M vs. $173.8M consensus. Guidance was not as positive as market expected. -Triquint Semiconductor mid-quarter update guided Q4 EPS to -1c/sh to break-even vs. break-even consensus. Downward guidance was due to acquisition of Agere Tech. Expects a loss of -8c/sh in Q1 vs. -1c/sh consensus. -Sun Micro Q2 guidance update suggested revenue will match estimates of $2.9B. Company expects Q2 gross margins to be slightly below those in Q1 and expects a modest increase in Q2 operating expenses. -H&R Block Q2 loss was -5c/sh vs. -6c/sh consensus. Guided FY03 EPS to $2.90-$3.10 vs. $3.08/sh consensus. -Dollar General Q3 EPS was 16c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.50B vs. $1.53B consensus. -Amdocs will cut 400 jobs. -Wellpoint filed a $1B mixed shelf. -Dynegy was downgraded B by S&P. Company is still on watch negative. Downgrades: -EDS debt rating was cut to A- at S&P. It is off ratings watch, but the outlook is still negative. Goldman Sachs said the move was anticipated. -El Paso was downgraded to underweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. -Whole Foods was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS after the stock reached $50 price target. -Leapfrog was downgraded to underperform at Bear Stearns. -Adaptec was downgraded to neutral at Robert Baird. -Marriott was downgraded to inline from outperform at Goldman Sachs. Neutral: -Chartered Semi entered an agreement with IBM to develop chip technology.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday November 26th 7:55--Radio One was upgraded to strong buy at SG Cowen. 7:40--The GDP was lifted by growth in inventories, net exports, and government spending. Inventories were +15.5B vs. +1.9B previously. Net Exports were revised up by $3.7B. Government spending rose +3.1% vs. +1.8% previously. Possible reasoning for the equity market flatness may be that the rise in inventories will subtract from Q1 GDP. Overall, it should be a neutral to positive for stocks. 7:38--Actel was downgraded to buy at Needham. 7:37--Emulex was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. 7:35--Qualcomm was downgraded to hold from buy at Legg Mason. 7:30--Q3 GDP was revised to +4.0% from +3.1%. The market expected +3.8%. Real final sales were revised to +3.5% from +3.2%. Implicit Price deflator +1.0% from +1.1%. 7:28--Semtech was downgraded to neutral at First Albany. 7:21--Bebe Stores was downgraded to neutral at First Albany. 7:15--NABE cut its Q4 & Q1 growth forecasts. Sees Q4 GDP at +1.4% vs. +2.7% given in their previous survey. Q1 GDP estimate was cut to +2.5% from +3.3% previously. Looks for 3.0% for full-year 2003. Expects Fed to leave policy accommodative for 7-8 months. 7:10--Stocks are: S&P -1.00, Nasdaq -4.00. -Euro and Yen slightly higher due to slightly lower US stock market. Nikkei -1.4%, Dax -0.7%. -November IFO fell to 87.3 from 87.7. The reading was the 6th straight decline and a 10-month low. -NYT reports that Pres Bush wants to eliminate all tariffs on industrial and consumer goods by 2015 in order to jump-start global trade negotiations. -BTM weekly sales +0.9%. Sales were on-to-below plan. Positive: -Alloy Q3 EPS was 31c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Company guided Q4 revenue above expectations. -Blue Rhino Q1 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. Company raised full-year guidance to 91c-94c/sh vs. 86c/sh consensus. -Roxio entered a deal with Dell to provide software. -Omnivision said it has seen strong shipments of VGA CameraChip modules to Motorola. -United Health raised its 2003 forecast to ‘at least’ $5.05 vs. $5.04/sh consensus. -Gartner-DataQuest said that mobile phone sales worldwide rose +7.8% in Q3. Recall yesterday that Ericsson CEO said that he saw no turnaround in sales. Upgrades: -Intel estimates were raised at Morgan Stanley from 12c/sh to 14c/sh. Price target was also raised. Equal-weight rating was affirmed. -Barr Labs was upgraded to buy from hold at UBS. -MediaCom Communications was upgraded to inline from underperform at Salomon. -Halliburton was upgraded to neutral from underweight at CSFB. Negative: -Semtech Q3 EPS was 17c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. However, company guided Q4 revenue lower and guided Q4 EPS down to 9c-11c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. -Tech Data Q3 EPS was 57c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $3.81B vs. $3.93B consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS down to 53c-58c/sh vs. 64c/sh consensus. -Tweeter Home Q4 EPS was 2c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. -Advanta guided 2003 EPS down to $1.30-$1.50 vs. $1.75 consensus. -Healthsouth will cut 2% of its US workforce. -Goldman Sachs could come under scrutiny for analyst emails according to the WSJ. Downgrades: -Morgan Stanley was downgraded to hold from buy at Prudential. -Biogen was downgraded to sell from neutral at Merrill Lynch. -Tech Data was downgraded to neutral from buy at First Albany. -IDEC Pharmaceutical was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. -Ariba was downgraded to underperform from sector perform at CIBC. -Galyan’s Trading was downgraded to inline from outperform at Goldman Sachs. Neutral: -

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday November 25th 7:55--Intel was downgraded at Sanford Bernstein to market perform from outperform. Said bulk of move has already been completed. 7:54--Xerox CFO sees full year 2003 EPS of 50c-55c/sh vs. 52c/sh consensus. 7:51--Dockworkers vote will come in early-Jan. 7:46--The West Coast Dockworkers have said they reached a tentative agreement. 7:44--AMD Chairman bought 300,000 shares on Friday. 7:43--Juniper Networks CEO sold 500,000 shares on Friday. 7:37--UTStarcom was downgraded to sell from buy at UBS. 7:35--Six Flags was upgraded to peer perform from under-perform at Bear Stearns. 7:18--SG Cowen downgraded HMO sector to market perform from strong buy. Individual names downgraded were AET, CI, HNT, HUM, UNH, and WLP. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +3.00, Nasdaq +7.00. -Yen unchanged even though Nikkei closed up +1.96%. Japanese exporters were strong. -Euro down after French lorry drivers and other transportation workers are threatening a walkout. -Sterling down sharply after UK firefighters remained on strike. -JP Morgan raised its US equity weighting to neutral from underweight. Eurozone was downgraded to underweight, while UK weighting was kept at overweight. -Iraq said that the UN resolution is a pretext for war. Positive: -Ford COO said their cost cuts will save more than $300 per car. -Sharper Image affirmed its Q4 & full year outlook. -KMart has set round-the-clock holiday selling hours. -National Semiconductor reiterated its Q2 outlook and said they expect the industry to recover by June. Upgrades: -GlaxoSmithKline was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. -Kraft Foods was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. -Cooper Tire was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank. -Forest Labs estimates were raised at Morgan Stanley. Negative: -Computer Associates recent accounting is being investigated. Former workers have claimed that company shifted revenues. -Cendant has been added to the SEC inquiry into Homestore.com. -Daimler Chrysler said their marketing costs will be higher than expected due to their effort to maintain pace with rebates at GM. -Bank of America received negative comments in WSJ that highlighted recent charge-offs as the result of failed loans to executives. -Tyco was asked by the SEC if it withheld data in the previous inquiry. -Lehman received negative comments regarding Conseco’s mobile home unit according to WSJ. -TXU will sell 28 mil new shares ($750M), which would represent a 10% increase in the number of outstanding shares. Said it could not provide forecast for 2003 but said 2002 EPS should be around $2.00, which is below $2.43/sh consensus. -Chubb will raise $525M in new capital through the offering of stock purchase warrants and debt securities. Downgrades: -Lehman was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. -Cisco was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Bank of New York was downgraded to buy from strong buy at UBS. -ConocoPhillips was downgraded to underperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns. -CIT Group was cut to hold at Deutsche Bank. -First Health was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. Neutral: -EDS and Xerox entered an alliance on networked office IT services. -Intel will raise flash memory prices by 20%-40%.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday November 21st 7:57--Barnes & Noble Q3 EPS was 5c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Sales were $1.13B vs. $949M consensus. 7:56--AT&T Wireless was downgraded to underperform at RBC. 7:42--Tyco plans to issue $2.5B-$4.0B in convertible stock. 7:40--The ECB meeting adjourned with no announcement and importantly, no rate cut. 7:37--The Labor Dept. said they have no reason for the large decline, indicating that seasonal adjustment factors were likely not responsible. 7:35--Deb Shops Q3 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Revenue was $81.2M vs. $85.6M consensus. Lowered Q4 guidance to 80c-85c/sh vs. $1.19/sh consensus. 7:33--Smithfield Foods Q2 EPS was 3c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.96B which was as expected. 7:31--GE Power systems ’03 operating net was guided down to $2.5B vs. $4.0B in its ’02 view. 7:30--Initial unemployment claims were -25K to 376K vs. 394K consensus. Last week was revised to 401K from 388K previously. Combining the numbers, claims were down a net -12K which indicates that the job market is recovering, albeit slowly. The number should be bearish for credit markets and bullish for stocks. 7:28--Wet Seal Q3 loss was -8c/sh vs. -7c/sh consensus. Revenues were $144.5M vs. $145.3M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 31c-39c/sh vs. 34c/sh consensus. 7:27--Bank of America said they would not chase the semiconductor equipment rally. 7:26--There are rumors of Lucent pairing up with General Dynamics. 7:25--Dillard’s Q3 loss was -7c/sh vs. -6c/sh consensus. 7:24--GE trading higher by 42 cents on Instinet. 7:21--On conference call, GE CEO said he doesn’t expect a double dip recession. Said the fundamentals are in great shape. Said war prospects add volatility to business. Said Q4 EPS would be 31c/sh after its 14c/sh charge vs. 45c/sh expected (an affirmation of Q4 EPS). 7:20--HB Fuller was downgraded to under-perform from inline at Salomon. EPS estimates and price target were also cut. 7:19--JD Edwards was upgraded to buy from neutral at First Albany. 7:18--Merck’s experimental cervical cancer drug is expected to become routine medical care according to the Washington Post. 7:17--Electronic Arts’ CEO made positive comments about holiday sales in Forbes. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -1.00, Nasdaq +5.00. -Yen higher on expectations that the government will buy bad bank loans. Nikkei +2.46%. Fitch cut Japan’s debt rating to AA- from AA. -German Q3 GDP was +0.3% and +0.9% y/y vs. expectations of +0.3% and +0.6% expected. -A suicide bomber struck last night in Israel. 11 people were killed. -A sniper attack on US troops in Kuwait left two US soldiers injured. -An item that didn’t receive much attention yesterday was the Iraqi Vice-President’s announcement that Iraq will limit weapons inspectors so that there are no “spies” in the UN group. Said also that Iraq will protect its sovereignty and independence. Later, Jacques Chirac said the UN is the only body that can authorize military strikes on Iraq. Those comments sound like resistance to weapons inspections and should be stock and dollar negative and bond positive. Markets hardly reacted yesterday. Positive: -HP Q4 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. Revenue was $18.0B vs. $17.29B consensus. HP will cut an additional 1,100 jobs in Japan. HP is affirming its Q1 EPS estimate of 27c/sh and its Q1 revenue estimate of $18.4B. Expectations are 27c/sh and 18.3B respectively. -Hot Topic Q3 EPS was 31c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. Revenues were $122.6M vs. $122.7M consensus. -Vivendi up overnight after oil billionaire Marvin Davis has approached the company to purchase some of its assets for around $15B. -Claire’s Stores Q3 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 75c/sh vs. 71c/sh consensus. -Men’s Wearhouse Q3 EPS was 11c/sh which was as expected and above lowered expectations. Company guided Q4 EPS to 48c-56c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. -Limited Brands Q3 EPS was 2c/sh which was as expected. Revenue was $1.98B vs. $1.96B consensus. -UAL machinists reached a tentative agreement for $1.5B in pay cuts. -ABN-Amro is expected to create a pact with EDS where 2,000 ABN employees will move to EDS. Upgrades: -HP estimates were raised at CSFB. Negative: -GE cut its 2002 estimate to $1.51 from $1.65. Sees 2003 $1.55-$1.70 vs. $1.70/sh consensus. Company will boost quarterly dividend by 6% to 19c/sh. Sees charge of 14c/sh. Said buyback program will continue but at a reduced rate. Company is exploring options to sell their reinsurance business. -Leggett & Platt updated 2003 guidance to $1.20-$1.50/sh vs. $1.45/sh consensus. -Books-A-Million warned that Q4 EPS would be below prior guidance. -Goodrich priced a 13 mln share follow on offering. -Boeing will cut 5,000 jobs in its commercial aircraft group. -Morgan Stanley will cut 2,200 jobs in fourth round of job cuts. -Watson Pharmaceuticals CFO has resigned to be the CFO at another company. Downgrades: -Cigna senior debt ratings was cut to Baa1 from A3 at Moody’s; outlook still negative. -Big Lots was downgraded to outperform from strong buy at Piper Jaffray. -Martha Stewart was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. Neutral: -Long’s Drug Store Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.06B vs. $1.08B consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 51c-56c/sh vs. 53c/sh consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday November 20th 7:55--Fed’s Moskow said that inflation remains low and well contained. Said anecdotal economic signs suggest slower activity. Said economy will regain momentum next year. Said economy is reaching its potential in 2003. Consumer spending ex-autos is still moving forward. Said rate cut will stimulate economy in 2003. Moskow’s comments seem in line with Greenspan’s comments yesterday and should have little or a slight positive effect on stocks. 7:53--Syncor board said it found questionable payments. 7:53--SBC Comm may sell its Sterling unit to Bain. 7:51--Auto suppliers were downgraded at Bank of America to market perform from buy. Names include AXL, BWA, JCI, and LEA. 7:35--Brown Shoe raised its full-year forecast to $2.30-$2.35 vs. $2.15-$2.20 previously. 7:30--Oct Housing Starts were 1.603M vs. 1.710M consensus and vs. 1.843M previously. Housing permits were 1.760M vs. 1.727M previously. The fall in starts was contrasted by the rise in permits and will not have too large an effect on the markets. 7:20--Genesco Q3 EPS was 41c/sh vs. 33c/sh consensus. 7:19--Citigroup received positive comments from UBS, which has a $50 price target on the company. 7:16--The Senate approved the terrorism insurance bill overnight 86-11 after they approved the homeland security bill earlier in the day. The terrorism bill will cover up to $100B in losses from future terrorist attacks. Both bills are positive for stocks, especially insurance companies. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -2.00, Nasdaq -1.00. -Yen slightly lower after Japan lowered its economic outlook for the first time in 11 months. Nikkei +1.1%. -Euro down still on yesterday’s outlook downgrade by Moody’s of Allianz and Dresdner Bank to negative from stable. -MPC minutes indicated that one MPC governor shifted to a neutral bias from easing bias, indicating that the BOE-MPC will not cut rates. -Bonds higher on continued technical strength and stronger dollar. Positive: -Saks Q3 EPS was +3c/sh vs. -3c/sh consensus. Company said it was comfortable with Q4 EPS estimates of 61c/sh. -Whole Foods Q4 EPS beat expectations by 2c/sh. Company also boosted its 2003 forecast. -Talbots Q3 EPS was 63c/sh vs. 62c/sh expected. Company maintained Q4 EPS outlook. -Hovnanian said they will exceed their prior FY02 forecasts of $4.00-$4.10/sh. Consensus is currently $4.35/sh. -Bio-Logic board okayed a 250,000 share buyback. -GE, ExxonMobil, and Stanford University announced a collaboration in alternative energy research. Upgrades: -Biogen was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman. Target price was raised. -Int’l Paper was upgraded to perform from under-perform at CIBC. Negative: -Gymboree Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 20c/sh consensus. Revenues were as expected. Company sees Q4 EPS of 38c-40c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. -Nordstrom Q3 EPS was 14c/sh which was as expected. Company guided Q4 EPS to 40c-44c/sh vs. 43c/sh consensus. Company guided full-year to $1.18 vs. $1.17 expected, but below prior guidance of $1.22. -Big Lots Q3 loss was -4c/sh vs. -5c/sh consensus. Company said they remain cautious on current sales trends and guided Q4 EPS to lower end of 57c-62c/sh guidance range vs. 58c/sh consensus. -Interpublic warned it would not meet full-year guidance. Also said the SEC is conducting an inquiry. -Sonic lowered its Q1 EPS guidance to the lower end of its previous 26c-28c/sh range. -Skywest may have incorrectly reported revenue and expenses according to the company’s auditor. Company will delay its 10-Q filing. -Qwest will issue around $4B in debt in a private offering. -Activision filed a $500M mixed securities shelf. -Daimler Chrysler may have to recall up to 1 mil cars for seatbelt problems. -NCR will cut 1,500 jobs, or 5% of work force, over next 6 months. -The SEC’s informal probe of Vivendi has turned into a formal investigation. Downgrades: -Automatic Data was downgraded to market perform from outperform at SG Cowen. -Western Digital was downgraded to inline from outperform at Salomon. -Gymboree was downgraded to outperform at Piper Jaffray. Neutral: -Analog Devices Q1 EPS was 16c/sh which was as expected. Sees Q1 revenue unchanged. -United Health affirmed its 2002 EPS guidance of $4.20/sh. -Cisco shareholders voted against the company offering a dividend by a 10-to-1 margin.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday November 19th 7:58--Northrop Grumman will sell TRW’s automotive business. Will also sell TRW’s Blackstone Group. 7:56--AmericsourceBergen was downgraded at Goldman. 7:45--Dollar Tree okayed a $200M buyback. 7:44--Deere & Co. Q4 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. 7:41--Ross Stores Q3 EPS was 57c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $870.2M vs. $871.1M consensus. 7:39--The EMC CEO said that he sees no signs of a pickup in IT spending. 7:33--The CPI showed strength in medical care +0.6% (+4.8% y/y) and energy +1.9% (+3.0% y/y). Food prices were surprisingly tame after the strong rise in the PPI. While the number was as expected, the continued rise in medical care is inflationary and may produce slightly weakness in the credit markets. Education also strong component in CPI +0.3% (+6.3% y/y). 7:30--Oct CPI was +0.3% vs. +0.3% consensus. Core CPI was +0.2% vs. +0.2% consensus. Energy prices were +1.9%. Food prices were +0.1%. 7:30--Sep Trade Balance was -38.03B vs. -37.1B consensus. Exports were 82.16B. Imports were 120.19B. Aug balance was revised to 38.28B from 38.46B previously. 7:25--Genesis Microchip was downgraded to underperform from sector perform at RBC. 7:23--Biogen was downgraded to underperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:22--Linens’nThings was downgraded to sector underperform at CIBC. 7:21--Quest Diagnostics was downgraded at SG Cowen to market perform from strong buy. Lab Corp was also downgraded to market perform from outperform. 7:19--GE estimates were lowered at Salomon. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -2.00, Nasdaq -6.00. -Yen slightly lower after Japanese bank stocks were -4%; Nikkei +0.2%. BOJ indicated that it will keep monetary policy steady. -Euro higher after speculation grew that the ECB would cut rates. Welteke said that inflation is set to moderate and that euro-zone may stabilize. -Bonds higher on continued Iraq fears (gold +1.0, oil +0.10), stock weakness, and upside momentum. -Warren Buffet may be interested in buying Diageo’s Burger King unit according to the NYT. Positive: -Centex raised its FY03 guidance to $8.00-$8.30 from $7.80-$8.20 previously. Company also raised its FY04 guidance to $8.75-$9.75 vs. $9.13 consensus. -Williams Sonoma Q3 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenue was $527.9B vs. $544.6B consensus. -Staples Q3 EPS was 27c/sh vs. 24c/sh expected. Revenues were $3.1B vs. $3.0B consensus. Company affirmed Q4 EPS of 32c/sh and boosted full year forecast to 3c/sh above estimates. -BJ’s Wholesale Q3 EPS was 38c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.41B vs. $1.38B consensus. -Agilent Q4 EPS was break-even vs. -12c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.74B vs. $1.55B consensus. -US Airways got one bid for 37.5% of the company from the Alabama state pension fund. -IBM won a contract from the Dept. of Energy to build two fastest supercomputers worth $267M. -H&R Block settled a Texas class action lawsuit and will take a 14c/sh charge. -UPS ordered 1,800 Sprinter vans from Chrysler. Upgrades: - Negative: -GE is expected to announce a new round of corporate restructuring efforts as early as this Thursday. GE may pump $2.5B-$4.0B into GE capital to raise liquidity. Also may pump $1.5B-$2.5B into GE Capital to bolster the capital position. GE is expected to take a charge of up to $2B. -Home Depot Q3 EPS was 40c/sh which was as expected. Company reaffirmed Q4 EPS forecast of 31c/sh (consensus 32c/sh). Revenue was $14.97B vs. $15.07B consensus. Company said they were cautious on the economic outlook for the next year. -TXU received an informal inquiry from the SEC for data regarding its recent dividend payout. -AMD will offer $300M in convertible sub notes. -Bausch & Lomb priced a $150M 5-yr note deal. Downgrades: -Amazon.com was downgraded at Bear Stearns to peer perform from outperform. -Wireless Telecom sector was downgraded to underweight from market weight at CSFB. European telecom stocks were upgraded yesterday at Merrill Lynch. -CIBC downgraded specialty retailers. -Wholesale drug stocks were downgraded at Goldman Sachs. Names include ABC and CAH. -Microsoft was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Raymond James. -Intersil was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Schering Plough was downgraded to market perform at Raymond James. -Circuit City and Tweeter were downgraded at CIBC. -Clorox was downgraded to under-perform from inline at Salomon. -Bowater senior unsecured debt was downgraded to Ba1 at Moody’s. Neutral: -Medtronic Q2 EPS was 34c/sh which was as expected. Medtronic said they are comfortable with current consensus estimates of 35c/sh for Q3 and 40c/sh for Q4. -Respironics said they are comfortable with previous Q2 EPS guidance of 39c-40c/sh. Consensus is 40c/sh.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday November 18th 8:44--Diageo was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. 8:36--NYT ad revenue rose +4% in October. 8:28--Tenet Healthcare said the SEC opened an informal file on the company. 8:24--MetLife was downgraded to under-perform at Salomon. 8:21--Molecular Devices was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank. 8:18--Kohl’s was removed from Goldman’s current investment list. 8:09--Amazon.com will sell the first Segway human transporters. 8:08--Microsoft and Kinkos have entered a pact. 8:07--Toys R Us Q3 loss was -13c/sh vs. -15c/sh consensus. 7:56--Estimates at 6 railroads were lowered at Morgan Stanley. 7:54--EMC was downgraded to neutral at RW Baird. 7:44--US is ‘almost ready’ to hold military tribunals according to the Washington Post. 7:40--Manpower Inc. survey said that Q1 hiring activity is expected to be ‘stable.’ 7:36--UAL’s turnaround plan includes cutting 9,000 jobs, reducing capacity by 6%, deferring deliveries, and retire old planes. 7:36--AT&T was downgraded and price target was cut at Lehman. 7:26--Silicon Image was downgraded to buy at Needham. 7:20--Delta Air will cut $500M in costs as it changes its retirement plan to a cash-balance plan from a defined benefit plan. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +7.00, Nasdaq +9.00. -Yen down after Nikkei was -1.9%. MOF data indicates that Japanese investors are buying foreign bonds. Hang Seng +0.6%. -Euro down due to higher US equity trade. Eurozone CPI was +2.3%, indicating little room for ECB to cut rates. -UN weapons inspectors have entered Iraq and have described the atmosphere as “tense.” -British Intelligence broke up a terrorist trio on Saturday that was in the planning stages of an attack on London subways. -El Al security officials foiled a hijack attempt on a flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul. Officers overpowered the hijacker who tried to take a flight attendant hostage. Positive: -Lowe’s Q3 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Revenue was $6.41B vs. $6.43 consensus. Company also boosted its Q1 outlook to 33c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Home Depot will report tomorrow. -Nokia said they see handset growth of 10%-15% over the next 3 years. -Bristol-Myers received FDA approval for their Abilify schizophrenia drug. -Caterpillar is trimming its layoff plans due to a rise in engine orders. -UAL announced a turnaround plan yesterday. -Printer makers received positive comments in Barron’s. Names include Lexmark and Hewlett-Packard. Merrill analyst made positive comments on Hewlett-Packard. -Tenet Healthcare called ‘absurdly cheap’ in Barron’s. Upgrades: -European Telecom services group was upgraded at Merrill Lynch. -Best Buy was upgraded to buy at Bank of America. Negative: -AOL Time Warner is being sued over its ties to Homestore. Suit brought by California Teachers Retirement System. -AMD will take between $300M-$600M charges in Q4. -Qwest said that they found additional accounting mistakes and will delay their quarterly report. -A Japanese newspaper is saying that the Japanese government may replace Microsoft Windows due to security problems. -Wal-Mart guided Nov comparable store sales down to the lower end of the predicted range. -Georgia-Pacific will stop production at 3 facilities. -Reliant Resources raised the possibility of bankruptcy in its recent 10-Q. -FleetBoston is closing its Nasdaq market dealer. Downgrades: -Adobe was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Cerner was downgraded to neutral at JP Morgan. -JP Morgan’s credit outlook may deteriorate further according to Lehman. JP Morgan reiterated neutral. -AT&T was downgraded to underweight at Lehman. -EDS received negative comments from Lehman. -Millenium Pharma received negative comments from Deutsche Bank. -EMC was downgraded to neutral from outperform at RW Baird. Neutral: -GlaxoSmithKline is in talks to buy Bayer’s pharmaceuticals unit according to the NYT. -Amgen filed a suit to overturn a federal government reimbursement ruling that is unfavorable to the company’s new anemia drug Aranesp. The suit is regarding the hospital outpatient prospective payment system.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday November 15th 7:53--Baxter was upgraded to buy at AG Edwards. 7:50--Fifth Third Bank disclosed inquiries by the Federal Reserve and the SEC. 7:43--CMS Energy was upgraded to neutral from under-perform at CSFB. 7:39--The BLS said the Oct PPI incorporated new changes to its “2003 model year.” The change attempts to better account for manufacturer’s car invoice increases. Said that excluding gasoline and motor vehicles, core PPI would have been +0.1%. Said that Nov DOE data suggests that gasoline is flat so far. 7:34--The number was sharply above expectations and negative for bonds and stocks. It suggests that the Fed may not be able to cut rates much more. The large spike in gasoline raises the issue of whether there was a seasonal adjustment problem. We’ll let you know when we do. Core prices were supported by passenger cars. If the bond market can discount the passenger car rise and gasoline rise as it usually does, bonds can see an upside recovery from the initial selloff. 7:30--October PPI was +1.1% vs. +0.2% consensus. Core PPI was +0.5% vs. +0.1% consensus. -Biggest gain in nearly 2 years. -Energy prices were +4.2%, ex-energy +0.5%. Gasoline +17.9%. -Crude goods were +3.4%, core crude goods +0.9%. -Passenger cars +2.2%, tobacco unchanged. 7:30--September Business Inventories were +0.5% vs. +0.2% consensus. 7:27--i2 was upgraded to neutral from under-perform at Soundview. 7:26--American Eagle was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:25--Cephalon was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:24--SAFECO priced a 9.1 mln share follow-on offering. 7:23--Illinois Toolworks Q4 guidance was 67c-77c/sh vs. 72c/sh consensus. 7:22--Forest Labs estimates were raised at Merrill Lynch. 7:21--Great Plains Energy is planning a 6 mln share follow-on offering. 7:20--Iraq has added booster rockets their surface-to-air missiles to boost their range, according to the Washington Times. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +1.00, Nasdaq -1.00. -Swedish central bank cut rates by 25 bps and may be an indication that the ECB will also cut rates. Euro slightly weaker on that news due to yield differential. -Bonds down sharply on asset-allocation and from downside follow-through from yesterday. -Stock market holding up nicely today despite slew of downgrades and the lack of upside surprise from Dell. -FBI warned that al-Qaeda may be planning a ‘spectacular’ attack and included no additional information. Positive: -Kohl’s Q3 EPS was 39c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. Revenues were $2.14B which was as expected. Company affirmed Q4 guidance. -Gap Q3 EPS was 15c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. Revenue was $3.64B vs. $3.62B consensus. -BEA Systems Q3 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Revenues were $234.0M vs. $225.6M consensus. Upgrades: -NVidia was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. -Maxim Integrated was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merrill Lynch. Negative: -Starbucks Q4 EPS was 15c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $865.2M vs. $858.6M consensus. Guided 2002 EPS to 65c-66c/sh vs. 66c/sh consensus. -Kulicke & Soffa reported a greater-than-expected Q4 loss. Company beat reduced revenue guidance and guided Q1’s revenue lower. -Gateway faces an SEC probe over its 2000 earnings. -Hanover Compressor announced that it is being formally probed by the SEC. -Wind River Q3 loss was -9c/sh vs. -11c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 loss to 10-15c/sh vs. -9c/sh consensus. -3M will raise $500M in a 30-yr convertible debt offering. -Tyco’s alarm unit is coming under scrutiny for worthless contracts according to WSJ. -Lehman fired its Chief Strategist Jeffrey Applegate according to people familiar with the situation. Company is also cutting 500 jobs. Downgrades: -Intel, Analog Devices, Applied Micro Circuits, Conexant, and Vitesse were downgraded to sell from neutral at Merrill Lynch. -FedEx was downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB due to valuation and negative outlook on the economy. -Auto sales estimates were lowered at Morgan Stanley. -GE was downgraded to underweight at JP Morgan. -Skywest was downgraded to underperform from outperform at CSFB. -BEA Systems was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. Neutral: -Dell Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 21c/sh expected. Revenues were $9.14M vs. $9.10M consensus. Sees 20% sales growth. Sees Q4 EPS of 23c/sh which is as expected. Michael Dell said that computer demand has more or less stabilized. -Worldcom named Michael Capellas its new chairman.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday November 14th 8:30--Ford and GM’s Q1 estimates were cut at JP Morgan. 8:24--Sprint (FON) is cutting 1,600 jobs to reduce operating costs. 8:18--AstraZeneca was downgraded to hold at Commerzbank. 8:07--UN weapons inspectors will arrive in Iraq on Monday Nov 25th. 8:06--Hormel Foods said they are comfortable with Q4 estimates. 8:04--Microsoft said to face wireless issues in Europe according to sources. 7:51--Simon Property was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. 7:49--Eli Lilly received EU approval for its Cialis ED treatment. 7:47--Intel is approving an additional 480M share buyback. There are still 169M shares remaining in its first buyback. 7:39--Micron was downgraded to hold from buy at Prudential. 7:37--RF Micro Devices CEO will retire but remain on the board. 7:36--Target Q3 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. Sees annual EPS up 15% or more. Sees modest Q4 earnings growth. 7:34--The continued drop in initial claims shows a strengthening economy. Retail sales were stronger than expected which shows a strengthening economy. Import prices were tame. Overall, the numbers are positive for stocks and negative for credit markets. The numbers are positive, but not exceptionally strong. They are consistent with an economy that is “bumping along” as was characterized yesterday by Pres. Bush and Chmn Greenspan. 7:30--October Retail Sales were unchanged vs. -0.2% expected. Ex-Autos were +0.7% vs. +0.3% expected. Sep sales were revised to -1.3% from -1.2%. Sep sales ex-autos were revised to -0.1% from +0.1% previously. 7:30--October Import Prices were +0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. Prices ex-oil were -0.1%. Petroleum prices were +1.1%. 7:30--Initial Claims -8K to 388K vs. 397K expected. Last week was revised to 396K from 390K previously. 7:22--Michael Chertoff is said to be Bush’s choice to head the SEC, according to people familiar with the situation. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +2.00, Nasdaq -1.00. -Yen higher after the Japanese announced a plan for an extra budget in January in order to boost growth. Nikkei -1.6%, Heng Sang +1.3%. -Euro slightly higher due to ECB monthly bulletin which showed low inflation and therefore potential rate cuts. Stocks are also stronger: Paris +2.2%, Dax +2.4%, FTSE -0.2%. Deutsche Telekom will take a $22B write-off for various units and suspend its dividend. Credit Suisse and Allianz both posted record losses but are looking for a better 2003. -FBI said hospitals in four cities are terrorist targets. Positive: -Household Int’l is being bought by HSBC for $14.2B in stock. The offer equates to $30.04/sh for Household vs. yesterday’s closing price of $22.46. -Intuit Q1 loss was -21c/sh vs. -23c/sh consensus. Revenues were $223.3M vs. $214.6M consensus. Company guided full year EPS to $1.33-$1.38/sh vs. $1.33/sh consensus. -Panera Bread Q3 EPS was 17c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q4 guidance and raised 2003 guidance by a penny to 99c/sh. -CMS Energy Q3 EPS was 42c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. Company maintained guidance. -Pep Boys Q3 EPS was 28c/sh vs. 29c/sh consensus. -American Eagle Q3 EPS was 37c/sh vs. 34c/sh consensus. -Children’s Place Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. break-even expected. -Echostar Q3 EBITDA was $197M vs. $222M consensus. -Urban Outfitters Q3 EPS was 41c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. -CNT Q3 loss was -3c/sh vs. -4c/sh consensus. -Neurocrine Bio reported positive Phase 3 insomnia trial data. -Allstate settled its asbestos claim which will cut $32M from Q3 profit. Company reiterated 2003 EPS forecast. -IBM said they are comfortable with FY03 consensus views. Upgrades: -Charles Schwab was upgraded to equal-weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. -Gillette was upgraded to outperform from inline at Salomon. -Amerada Hess was upgraded to buy from neutral at First Albany. Negative: -Applied Materials Q4 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.45B vs. $1.47B consensus. Company guided Q1 revenues to -20% from Q4, which would translate to about $1.16B, which is below consensus of $1.39B. Said it expects a small earnings loss due to a charge for headcount reduction. Current consensus is for a gain of +7c/sh. Applied Materials said that it does not expect the environment to improve. Said that despite increasing DRAM prices and a decline in inventories, it does not yet see an inflection point. -Interpublic Q3 EPS was 2c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.5B which matched consensus. -Six Flags Q3 EPS was $1.31/sh vs. $1.45/sh consensus. Revenues were $558.1M vs. $576.2M consensus. -Aquila posted a Q3 loss of -14c/sh vs. expectations for a profit of 14c/sh. Company also suspended its dividend. -Merck is being sued by West Virginia over drug costs and rebates. -Fleming Cos. disclosed an SEC investigation into several matters. -Honeywell will add $900M to its pension fund this year and expects to see $235M-$335M in pension costs next year. -SBC expects $1B-$2B in 2003 retirement costs. -UAL set Dec 2nd as a date for determination of bankruptcy. CEO Tilton wants the company overhauled and a federal loan guarantee by then and said there is a good chance of meeting that deadline. -ConocoPhillips filed a $5B mixed shelf. -Schering-Plough CEO will retire. -Tenet Healthcare doctors that are current facing probes are being allowed to continue to practice. Downgrades: -Tower Auto was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan. -Winn Dixie, Albertsons, and Kroger estimates were lowered. -Honeywell was downgraded to under-perform from inline at Salomon. -PeopleSoft was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Soundview. -Cisco was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Needham. Neutral: -

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday November 13th 8:05--Payless Shoes Q3 EPS was $1.30/sh vs. $1.07/sh consensus. Company said Q4 EPS would be 28c-48c/sh vs. 47c/sh consensus. 8:00--SBC estimates were lowered at UBS. 7:58--GM Hughes Direct TV division may see another bid from News Corp after News raised $1.3B in a secondary offering. 7:55--Campbell’s Soup Q1 EPS was 47c/sh vs. 44c/sh consensus. 7:39--UST was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:33--Grubman said he invented the story regarding his AT&T upgrade to inflate his professional importance. 7:31--Federated Department Stores Q3 EPS was 38c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. Company maintained Q4 EPS guidance of $1.95-$2.05. 7:28--HealthNet was upgraded to inline at Salomon. 7:24--Walmart is guiding its Q4 EPS down to 53c-55c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. Also guiding full year EPS down to $1.76-$1.78 vs. $1.78 consensus. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -5.00, Nasdaq -7.00. -Euro down after an EU official said he is concerned about continental European growth. There are also worries over budgets and Germany and France may receive warnings over breaching requirements of the budget pact. Stocks lower led by Cable & Wireless, Corus, and Siemens. FTSE -1.3%, Dax -3.2%. -Yen down after Japan’s Finance Minister expressed concern over Japanese growth. GDP was +0.7%. -BOE forecast higher inflation for the remainder of the year, which dampened rate cut expectations. -NYT said that an unidentified source in the US government said the Osama tape appears authentic so far, but said that there has not yet been a full voice analysis done. Positive: -IBM said to be near a deal with JP Morgan for $5B in outsourcing of JP Morgan’s computer operations over 7 years. EDS was a losing bidder for the contract. -Wal-Mart Q3 EPS was 41c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Company is said to be raising its sales forecast but we can’t confirm that. -Health Management affirmed its 2003 guidance. -Anheuser-Busch reaffirmed 2002 & 2003 growth targets. -TRW said to be close to selling its auto parts business for $4.75B. -Tivo technology will be incorporated into Toshiba DVD players. -Worlcom Chairman has stepped down to allow for Michael Capellas to take over. Upgrades: -Kraft Foods was upgraded to buy at Merrill Lynch. -Abercrombie was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Wachovia. -Corning was upgraded to outperform from inline at Salomon (after their gift yesterday from 3M). Negative: -Nordstrom lowered its Q3 guidance to 13c-14c/sh vs. 16c-20c/sh consensus. -Abercrombie Q3 EPS was 48c/sh vs. 46c/sh consensus. Revenue was $419.3M vs. $414.5M consensus. Abercrombie lowered its Q4 earnings guidance by a penny to 79c/sh vs. 80c/sh current consensus. -Network Appliance Q2 EPS was 5c/sh which was as expected. Revenue was $215.2M vs. $213.3M consensus. Q3 guidance was for 5c-6c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. In the recent past, that has been seen as downward guidance and should be slightly negative. -Jack In The Box Q4 EPS was 61c/sh vs. 60c/sh consensus. However, company cut its 2003 outlook to $2.42 from $2.46 previously. -Pathmark Stores warned its Q3 EPS would be between -3c/sh and +1c/sh. Consensus was 12c/sh. Company also lowered its full year outlook. -Footstar reported some accounts payable discrepancies. -Incyte Genomics Q3 net loss was -45c/sh vs. -37c/sh consensus. Revenues were $22.4M vs. $26.2M consensus. Company will cut 37% of its 700 person workforce. -Northrop Grumman may be sued by the SEC over lack of disclosure during its attempted merger with Lockheed 5 years ago. -Schering-Plough received additional grand jury subpoenas. -Warren Buffet cut his Dun & Bradstreet holdings to 1.4% vs. 6.7% previously. Buffet is said to be the only remaining bidder for GE Employer’s Reinsurance. -Xerox filed a $1B shelf offering. -Teva Pharmaceutical announced a $375M shelf offering. Downgrades: -Philip Morris’ estimates and price target were reduced at JP Morgan. -Lodging sector was downgraded at Lehman to neutral from positive. -Sears was downgraded to underperform from inline at Goldman. -La-Z-Boy was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. Neutral: -Citigroup’s Sandy Weil denied that he put pressure on Grubman to upgrade AT&T.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday November 12th 8:00--eResearch Tech was upgraded to strong buy at Raymond James. 7:45--Bally Q3 EPS was 37c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. 7:42--Dell Computer received positive comments from JP Morgan, which expects company to exceed earnings expectations. 7:36--Diageo long-term debt outlook was cut to negative at Moody’s. 7:33--HP estimates were lowered at JP Morgan. 7:30--AMD cut some chip prices in response to Intel’s cut yesterday. 7:28--Biomet was downgraded to outperform from top pick at RBC Capital Markets. 7:27--EW Scripps guided Q4 EPS to the higher end of expectations. 7:18--Lehman’s Applegate is raising his equity weighting in technology stocks to 16% from 6% due to low interest rates. Favorite picks are Cisco and KLA-Tencor. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +5.00, Nasdaq +4.00. -Euro down slightly after the a report said that the ECB may cut rates. -Yen slightly higher due to repatriation and flight out of the dollar. The Japanese government downgraded its outlook on the Japanese economy. -William Webster is likely to resign from the accounting panel. -US stocks supported by strength in European stocks--FTSE +1.0%, Dax +0.8%. Support coming from positive news in Vodafone and UBS. -BTM/UBS weekly retail sales were +0.5%. -OPEC is said to have abandoned production quotas according to the FT. -So far, the Iraqi parliament has condemned the UN resolution. A final decision is due from Saddam Hussein on Friday. USA/CNN poll showed that 60% of Americans favor a ground war in Iraq--30% favor even without UN support. Iraq has ordered 1 mil doses of a nerve gas antidote. Positive: -DR Horton Q4 EPS was 92c/sh vs. 87c/sh consensus. Company guided 2003 EPS up to $3.40-$3.45/sh vs. $3.22/sh. -Oracle CFO said business would stabilize in first half ’03. -Intersil said the current quarter’s trends are strong. Said company will make at least 20c/sh they previously gave in guidance. -EGL Q3 EPS was 8c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS up to 12c-15c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. -Bob Evans Q2 EPS was 56c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q3 EPS. -Coach said it is opening 10 new stores amid strong demand. -La-Z-Boy Q3 EPS was 50c/sh vs. 47c/sh consensus. -EDO Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 20c/sh consensus. -JC Penny Q3 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 27c/sh consensus. Company guided full-year EPS up to $1.10-$1.15 vs. $1.08 consensus. -Weight Watchers Q3 EPS was 34c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. -Williams restructured some energy contracts in California as part of a settlement. Upgrades: -Morgan Stanley’s Byron Ween said that there is pent up demand in stocks and that double-dip recession worries will begin to fade away. -Chubb was upgraded at Lehman to equal weight. -Scholastic was upgraded to investment list at Goldman. -Photronics was upgraded to sector perform from under-perform at CIBC. -AFC Enterprises was upgraded to inline from under-perform. -Bayer AG was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merrill Lynch. Negative: -Morgan Stanley will fire 750 brokers and close branches. The cuts will leave 12,000 brokers remaining. -Newmont Mining Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. Company guided full-year EPS to the lower end of the previous 40c-50c/sh guidance range. Consensus is 49c/sh. Company is finished restating earnings from ’99-’01 after switching from Arthur Andersen. -3M bought Corning’s Precision Lens subsidiary for $850M in cash. -H&R Block received negative comments in WSJ’s Heard on the Street regarding its mortgage portfolio. Downgrades: -Ann Taylor’s price target was cut at Morgan Stanley in front of its earnings release to $32 from $40. -May Dept Stores’ price target was cut at Morgan Stanley. -Philip Morris’ EPS estimates were lowered at Morgan Stanley. -Pacific Sunwear was downgraded to market perform from buy at Bank of America. -FedEx was downgraded to buy at Deutsche Bank. -Flextronics was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at CIBC. -Scientific-Atlanta’s estimates were lowered at CSFB. Neutral: -Motorola reiterated its Q4 guidance of 10c/sh EPS and $7.1B in revenues. -Dollar General named an acting CEO while a permanent one is being sought. -Pacific Sunwear Q3 EPS was 48c/sh which was as expected. Revenue was $228.2M vs. $228.2M consensus. -Talks between Merrill Lynch and Reuters broke off regarding a joint retail trading platform. -Plug Power bought H Power for $50.7M in stock. -Steel makers raised steel prices for US automakers by 5%-10%. It was the first rise in 7 years. -Masco Q3 EPS was 44c/sh which matched consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday November 11th 7:53--Pres. Bush beginning a speech for Veterans. 7:52--The White House said that they will take their time finding a replacement for Harvey Pitt. Said they want to do it right rather than do it fast. 7:51--Tenet Healthcare was downgraded to inline at Goldman. 7:47--Another source said that Tyson reported 30c/sh in adjusted earnings, which would have beat expectations. We have not seen any clarification of Tyson’s downward Q1 guidance. 7:45--Celeritek cut its Q3 revenue outlook to $10M-$11M vs. $13.2M consensus. 7:42--Pepsi Bottling was upgraded to overweight from underweight at JP Morgan. 7:36--Tyson Foods Q4 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 26c/sh consensus. Revenues were $5.76B vs. $5.02B previously (there was now consensus). Company sees Q1 EPS of 22c-26c/sh 29c/sh consensus. Sees FY03 EPS of $1.05-$1.15 vs. $1.11 consensus. 7:32--Chicos FAS was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at RBC. 7:23--National Semiconductor estimates were raised at Salomon. The raise came after Taiwan Semi was downgraded at Goldman and Infineon was downgraded at Deutsche Bank. 7:21--AutoNation was downgraded to underweight at Morgan Stanley. 7:20--Kellogg was upgraded to outperform at CSFB. 7:19--United Health Group was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:17--Starbucks was downgraded to inline from outperform at Goldman Sachs. 7:15--Chubb was upgraded to strong buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:13--Marsh McLennan was downgraded to market perform from buy at Bank of America. 7:11--WorldCom will restate additional financial statements, but the impact has not yet been disclosed. 7:10--Warren Buffet is eyeing GE’s reinsurance unit, but reportedly doesn’t want to pay what GE thinks the unit is worth. 7:09--Morgan Stanley lowered earnings estimates at Safeway, Kroger, and Albertson’s 7:08--Safeway was downgraded to inline from outperform at Goldman Sachs. 7:05--Stocks are: S&P -1.00, Nasdaq -3.00. -ECB’s Domingo said that the ECB does not feel pressure to ease rates. -There were comments in the UK that the next rate move may be upward due to rising house prices. -Crude oil higher on “war premium” and worries about Iraq. -There was a bombing in Kashmir that left 13 dead. Positive: -OfficeMax Q3 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. Company said they continue to be very positive on their outlook for a return to profitability. -UAL flight attendants agreed to $412M in labor concessions. On Friday, UAL said they would lay off 2,700 flight attendants to bring the total to 4,800. -Gap received positive comments in Barron’s, which said it may be due for a bounce. -Delta Airlines received positive comments in Barron’s. Upgrades: -Amgen was upgraded to outperform from sector performer at CIBC. -IT Sector weighting was raised at Lehman. Negative: -Monsanto and Solutia were the feature story on 60 minutes due to their release of PCB’s into the environment over the last 40+ years. -Goodrich is offering $200M in stock to pay down a credit facility. -Liberty Media received negative comments in the NYT. Downgrades: -Oracle was downgraded to hold at Deutsche Bank. -Taiwan Semiconductor was downgraded to in line from outperform at Goldman Sachs. -Infineon was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. -Oracle was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. -Advanced Fibre Comm was downgraded to equal-weight at Lehman. -Auto retailers were downgraded to underweight from overweight at Morgan Stanley Neutral: -AT&T Broadband and Comcast closed their $11.8B debt exchange offer. -Lab Corp will buy Dianon for $598M in cash. It will pay an 18% premium on Dianon’s Friday closing price.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday November 7th 8:08--Dillard’s Oct same stores sales were -2%. 8:07--CNA Financial Q3 EPS was 61c/sh vs. 56c/sh consensus. 8:06--Tesoro Petroleum Q3 loss was -24c/sh vs. -17c/sh consensus. 8:05--Action Performance Q4 EPS was 70c/sh vs. 69c/sh consensus. Revenues were $110.5M vs. $112.7M consensus. Guided Q1 EPS to 44c-49c/sh vs. 59c/sh consensus. Lowered guidance due to delays in new tooling requirements. Company affirmed its full-year outlook. 8:04--Walmart said that Oct same-store sales were +3.7% which is within the company’s guidance range of 2%-4%. 8:02--SourceCorp was downgraded at Bank of America. 8:01--Paychex was downgraded to under-perform from in-line at Salomon. 8:00--Deere & Co. guided Q4 EPS up to 26c/sh vs. break-even guidance given previously. Market consensus is +2c/sh. 7:59--Royal Caribbean was upgraded to outperform from in-line at Salomon. 7:57--QLogic was downgraded to neutral from buy at First Albany based on valuation. Despite the downgrade, First Albany raised its earnings expectation for 2003 & 2004 and boosted its price target to $36 from $28. 7:56--TMP Worldwide was downgraded to underperform from outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:55--MetLife was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill. 7:55--Canadian National was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:54--Abercrombie raised Q3 guidance to 41c-45c/sh from 43c/sh market consensus. Company affirmed its Q4 guidance of 79c/sh. 7:53--Gymboree guided Q3 EPS up to 18c-20c/sh from 15c-17c/sh given previously. Company reaffirmed its Q4 outlook of 38c-40c/sh. 7:53--Wet Seal guided Q3 EPS below consensus. Said loss would be 5c-8c/sh vs. +2c/sh consensus. 7:51--Duisenberg said that he was surprised by the depth of the rate cut by the Fed yesterday. Said that Europe faces the same risks that were highlighted yesterday by the Fed. Again, we’re not sure how these comments justify a steady rate policy in Europe. 7:49--ECB’s Duisenberg saying that the economy will return to growth potential in 2003, but we’re not sure how that justifies leaving rates unchanged. 7:46--Wilson’s Leather said Oct sales were lower than expected. Now sees Q3 loss of 84c-87c/sh vs. -54c/sh consensus. 7:43--Duisenberg said that the ECB will closely monitor downside risks. Said that economic growth will return to potential in 2003. Said inflation gain in Oct reflected higher energy costs. He urged euro governments to move along on reforms. Said that there is more liquidity than needed and that there is no inflation risk. 7:42--Network Appliance and Veritas Software were downgraded to buy at First Albany. 7:41--Emulex was downgraded to buy at First Albany. 7:40--Adaptec was downgraded to neutral at First Albany. 7:39--Chicos FAS is raising its Q3 outlook. Now sees 17c-18c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. 7:38--Toll Brothers and Ryland Homes were also downgraded to neutral by CSFB as part of their housing sector downgrade reported earlier. 7:38--Pepsi Bottling was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:37--Yahoo was downgraded to hold at Prudential. 7:36--Int’l Game Tech Q4 EPS was 95c/sh vs. 92c/sh consensus. Revenues were $522.5M vs. $520.0M consensus. 7:34--Kohl’s is boosting its forecast. 7:34--Ross Stores is boosting its forecast. 7:34--Gap raised Q3 guidance to 12-14c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. 7:31--The numbers today are slightly bearish for bonds and slightly positive for stocks. The fall in the jobless claims suggests slight economic strength. Productivity was essentially unchanged when the revision is taken into account. The small rise in labor costs is inflationary. 7:30--Initial Claims were -20K to 390K vs. 400K expected. Last week was unrevised at 410K previously. 7:30--Q3 productivity was +4.0% vs. +4.3% expected. Unit Labor Costs +0.8% vs. -0.6% expected. Q2 productivity was revised to +1.7% from +1.5%. 7:27--Genentech was downgraded to neutral from buy at First Albany. 7:26--Target same-store sales were +1.5% 7:26--Sears Oct same-store sales fell -10%. 7:26--The terror alert that was issued overnight came as a result of the scheduled execution of a Pakistani terrorist next week. 7:24--Western Wireless was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merrill Lynch. 7:22--Shoe Carnival boosted Q3 EPS guidance to 37c-38c/sh from 32c-34c/sh consensus. Said that sales have risen in the last month. Said cool Midwest weather has helped sales. 7:21--Hot Topic raised Q3 EPS guidance to 30c/sh vs. 27c-29c/sh previously. 7:20--American Eagle is raising Q3 guidance to the upper end of its 31c-34c/sh guidance range. 7:19--SafeCo is planning a 9.1 mln share follow-on offering. 7:17--Hovnanian was downgraded to underperform at CSFB. CSFB also downgraded DR Horton and Centex to neutral. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -7.00, Nasdaq -16.00. -The ECB left rates unchanged at 3.25%. While yield differential is negative for the dollar, there is skepticism of the eurozone growth outlook which is supporting the dollar this morning. -The BOE left rates unchanged at 4.00%. -Merrill Lynch said that the current Fed Funds rate will be the low for the easing cycle barring any further shocks. -A number of retailers are boosting their expectations this morning as they report their Oct same-store sales. -Dick Gephardt said he will not run for another term as the House Minority leader. -Rudy Guiliani said he isn’t interested in running the SEC. -The US issued a global terror warning for US citizens at home and abroad. -US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Myers said that the US military is ready for war with Iraq. Positive: -Aeropostale guided Q3 EPS up to 37c-39c/sh from 33c/sh consensus. -JC Penny is boosting its forecast. Oct same-store sales were +13.7% -Ann Taylor boosted its Q3 and full year forecast. Expects Q3 EPS of 53c/sh vs. 50c-51c/sh. Expects full year of $1.69-$1.70 vs. $1.66-$1.68 previously. -Federated Dept Stores boosted its Q3 forecast. -Talbots boosted its forecast to 61-63c/sh vs. 59-61c/sh previously. -Pier 1 guided Q3 EPS up to 30c-31c/sh vs. 29c-31c/sh consensus. -Mid Atlantic Medical beat consensus estimates by 5c/sh. -Cephalon boosted 2002 & 2003 estimates. -WebMD Q3 EPS was 8c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Revenues were $200.2M vs. $200.6M consensus. -Halliburton Q3 EPS was 22c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. -Dean Foods Q3 EPS was 71c/sh vs. 69c/sh consensus. Revenues were $2.3B vs. $2.45B consensus. Company said full year guidance is $2.75-$2.78/sh vs. $2.78c/sh consensus. Upgrades: -Intel price target was raised to 21 from 18 at UBS. Negative: -Cisco Q1 pro forma EPS was 14c/sh vs. 13c/sh (net was 8c/sh). Q1 reveune was $4.85B vs. $4.81B consensus. Cisco guided Q2 revenue down to $4.66B-$4.85B vs. $4.92B consensus. Cisco said that its Q1 book-to-bill was below 1.0 and reminded investors that it warned that that would be the case in its last conference call. Cisco was up in early after-market trade yesterday even though the company reported pro-forma earnings and reported a huge impairment charge. It is down this morning. -Costco cut its Q1 outlook to 30c-32c/sh vs. 32c-33c/sh given in previous guidance. -Michael’s Stores cut its outlook. -Yum! Brands said same store sales fell 1%. -JetBlue Q3 EPS was 27c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. Downgrades: - Neutral: -TMP Worldwide Q3 EPS was 14c/sh which was as expected. -Entravision Q3 loss was -1c/sh vs. break/even expected. Sees Q4 revenue at $61.4M-$62.7M vs. $61.6M consensus.