Positivo e Negativo a New York

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday November 6th 7:43--Equifax was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan. 7:41--Accenture priced a public offering 2.4 mln shares. 7:40--Computer Sciences was downgraded to sell at Jeffries. 7:38--Tenet Healthcare is being investigated by the UD Dept of Health for possible fraud regarding Medicare payments. 7:33--France is on board with a new UN resolution on Iraq. 7:28--Fox Entertainment was upgraded to outperform at Soundview. 7:27--Movie Gallery Q3 EPS was 28c/sh vs. 27c/sh consensus. Said Q4 EPS was 35c-38c/sh vs. 35c/sh consensus. 7:26--Old Dominion priced a 3.05 mln share offering. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +8.00, Nasdaq +16.00. -The GOP took control of the Senate 51-46, with one independent and two races still undecided (South Dakota and Louisiana). -The market thinking on the Fed is that they will not cut rates now because the Republicans will pass many stimulus packages. -Dollar stronger today based on stock market gains and expectations that the US economy will improve. -SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt resigned. The move should be slightly positive for stocks because it takes away a bit of the “corrupt” image of the SEC. Rudy Guiliani was cited as a potential replacement. Positive: -Beazer Homes Q4 EPS was $3.03/sh vs. $2.70/sh consensus. Revenues were $904.3M vs. $800.2M. Company raised full year guidance. -MetLife Q3 EPS was 69c/sh vs. 60c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q4 EPS. -Prudential Q3 EPS was 54c/sh vs. 49c/sh consensus. Company said 2002 EPD would be $2.10 vs. $2.10-$2.30 given in previous guidance and $2.13 consensus. -News Corp Q1 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $3.81B vs. $3.51B consensus. -Watson Pharmaceuticals Q3 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 42c/sh consensus. -Group 1 Software declared a 2 for 1 stock split. Upgrades: -The drug sector was raised at Goldman Sachs to neutral from cautious. -Conexant was upgraded to inline from underperform. -Cablevision was upgraded to outperform from in line at Salomon. -MBIA was upgraded to outperform at CSFB. Negative: -Computer Sciences Q3 EPS was 54c/sh which was as expected. Revenues, however, were $2.70B vs. $2.81B consensus. -Checkpoint Software’s market share has shrunk according to the WSJ. Downgrades: -Amgen was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Brocade was downgraded to perform from outperform at Bear Stearns and Deutsche Bank. -Myriad Genetics was downgraded to buy at First Albany. -Marvell was downgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch. -Cox Cable was downgraded to in line from outperform at Salomon. Neutral: -

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday November 5th 7:46--Talbots approved an additional $50M buyback program. 7:43--Boyd Gaming was upgraded to peer perform at Bear Stearns. 7:40--Synopsys raised its Q3 outlook to 96c-98c/sh vs. 87c/sh consensus. Revenue was raised to $307M-$309M vs. $306.9M consensus. 7:33--BTM weekly sales were -1.1%. Said Halloween sales were there, but paled in comparison to previous years. 7:23--Yahoo was downgraded to buy from strong buy at First Albany. 7:21--OM Group suspended its dividend. 7:18--CDW priced a 2 mln share secondary offering. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -2.00, Nasdaq -5.00. -Dollar down on renewed worries about war with Iraq after Rumsfeld yesterday afternoon said that reserve callups are likely. Additionally, focus of republicans doing well in today’s election is signaling an increased likelihood of war. -Euro supported by the ECB softening its stance on rate cut policy as several ECB members in recent days have signaled that they are open to a rate cut. Eurozone PMI was stronger at 50.1 vs. 49.1, and signaled potential strengthening of EU economies. Positive: -AmerisourceBergen Q4 EPS was 88c/sh vs. 85c/sh consensus. -Unilab Q3 EPS was 31c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. Revenues were $110.5M vs. $108.5M consensus. -Hutchinson Q4 EPS was 28c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. Revenues were $109.1M vs. $107.2M consensus. -Chesapeake Energy Q3 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Revenues were $198.2M vs. $196.0M consensus. -Pixar Q3 EPS was 87c/sh vs. 74c/sh consensus. Revenue was $102.5M vs. $79.9M consensus. Company guided FY02 higher to 1.50-1.55/sh from 1.25-1.35 given in previous guidance. -Myriad Genetics Q1 loss was -22c/sh which was as expected while revenues were $15.5M vs. $14.9M consensus. -Fisher Scientific Q4 EPS was 52c/sh vs. 46c/sh consensus. Company raised Q1 and full year guidance. Upgrades: -Exelon was upgraded to overweight from equalweight at Morgan Stanley. Negative: -Applied Materials will cut 11% of its staff, or 1,750 workers. -HealthSouth Q3 operating earnings were 10c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.094B vs. $1.113B consensus. -Circuit City cut its Q3 EPS expectations to a loss of 5c-8c/sh vs. -1c/sh consensus. -Vertex Pharmaceutical Q3 loss was -44c/sh vs. -30c/sh expected. Revenues were $34.3M vs. $46.0M consensus. -Aon priced a 32 mln share equity offering. -Household International received negative comments in the WSJ. Downgrades: -American Express was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. -Adobe was downgraded to sell from hold at Deutsche Bank. -Scientific Atlanta was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. -Tellabs was downgraded to underperform from inline at Goldman Sachs. -Bob Evans was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. -Nextel was downgraded to peer perform from outperform at Bear Stearns. -Paychex and Automatic Data Processing were downgraded at UBS. -Stryker was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. -Con Ed was downgraded to equalweight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. -Sempre Energy was downgraded to hold at Jeffries. Neutral: -

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday November 4th 8:00--Ameren has offered early retirement to 1,000 workers and has frozen management salaries. 7:56--FPL Group is paying $798M for a large stake in a nuclear power plant. 7:55--Bank of America’s Thomas McManus said there will be no double dip recession. 7:47--Gilead Sciences hepatitis treatment showed ‘significant improvement,’ according to clinical results. The drug won FDA approval in September. 7:44--Kohl’s was downgraded to hold at Prudential. 7:30--Goldman Sachs issued cautious comments on retailers, including Home Depot and Lowe’s. 7:25--Microsemi estimates were lowered at Needham. 7:19--United Surgical was upgraded to buy from hold at Wachovia. 7:16--Tenet Healthcare hired a team of experts to review the cardiology department at the troubled Redding California office reported last week. Also said that misinformation and rumors are being started by short sellers. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +11.00, Nasdaq +23.00. -Euro and Yen down after US stocks rose overnight. -Stocks up after late Friday’s Microsoft antitrust judgment that was friendly to the company. The EU said they have their own anti-trust laws and continue to build their own case. -Additional stock support will come from late Friday’s news that the west coast dockworkers reached a settlement on the technology issue, which is a signal that a complete agreement will be made and a second strike on Dec 26th will be averted. -There is stock market hope that the Fed will cut rates at Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. -The Semiconductor Industry Association said that Q3 global semiconductor sales were $36.9B vs. $34.1B in Q2. The news was out late Friday. -Pres. Bush will demand Pitt’s resignation if an SEC inquiry finds that he led the SEC board. Webster said he would step down if it is found that his troubled nomination will affect his work. -There were four attacks on US bases in Afghanistan over the weekend. Saudi Arabia said that the US will not be allowed to use its bases to attack Iraq even with UN approval. Kuwait said that they could. Positive: -Disney’s movie Santa Claus topped the box office this weekend and Disney also received positive comments in Barron’s. -Accredo Health Q1 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 36c/sh consensus. Revenues were $321.8M vs. $317.0M consensus. Company also raised 2002 outlook and declared a 3-for-2 stock split. -Anthem Q3 EPS was $1.05/sh vs. 99c/sh consensus. Revenues were $3.5B vs. $3.41B consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS higher. -IBM said they’ve made the world’s fastest silicon transistor that is 300% faster than current devices. -DTE Energy’s Q3 EPS was 96c/sh vs. 76c/sh consensus. -Pioneer Standard Electronics Q2 EPS was 2c/sh vs. break-even expected. -Walgreen’s same-store sales were +8.2% in October. Upgrades: -Outback Steakhouse was upgraded to perform from underperform at CIBC. -John Hancock was upgraded to outperform at CIBC. Negative: -Vivendi is facing an SEC probe. -Autodesk warned Q3 EPS would be 4c-5c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Revenues were guided to $186M-$190M vs. $202M consensus. Downgrades: -Amazon.com and Qualcomm both received negative comments in Barrons. -Starbucks was downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. -Barr Labs was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. Neutral: -

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 31st 8:08--Lehman was downgraded at Goldman to market perform. 8:06--Anadarko Petroleum Q3 EPS was 74c/sh vs. 69c/sh consensus. 8:05--Ohio Casualty was downgraded to underperform at Salomon. 8:04--ChevronTexaco Q3 EPS was $1.17 vs. $1.30 expected. 8:03--Oshkosh Truck was upgraded to outperform at CSFB. 8:00--Alliant Energy was downgraded to underperform at Salomon. 7:59--Qwest was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Soundview. 7:57--ExxonMobil Q3 EPS was 44c/sh vs. 43c/sh consensus. 7:55--Lincoln National was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:47--Martin Marietta Materials Q3 EPS was 80c/sh vs. 81c/sh consensus. Company said it sees full year earnings at the lower end of its $2.00-$2.15 guidance range. 7:45--Revlon Q3 loss was -34c/sh vs. -6c/sh consensus. 7:44--Alcatel was downgraded to sell at UBS. 7:41--Simon Property Q3 EPS was 94c/sh vs. 93c/sh consensus. 7:40--Microsemi was downgraded to hold at UBS. 7:32--The best number of all may have been the jobless claims, which showed a gain of 21K claims when combining the weekly change with the revision. It is positive for bonds and negative for stocks. 7:30--Q3 advance GDP was +3.1% vs. +3.6% expected. That compares to Q2’s +1.3%. Real final sales were +3.2%. 7:30--Q3 ECI was +0.8% vs. +0.9% consensus. It was +3.7% y/y. 7:30--Initial Claims were +16K to 410K vs. 400K expected. Last week was revised to 394K from 389K previously. That produces a net number of +21K. 7:19--Clorox was added to the recommended list at Goldman Sachs. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +1.00, Nasdaq -1.00. -Yen up slightly after Sep construction orders were -5.8%. -Euro up slightly after EC said they will devise rules for tighter corporate governance. Positive: -EDS Q3 EPS was 18c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. Revenues were $5.41B vs. $5.33B consensus. Company affirmed Q4 guidance. Company will cut 5,500 jobs. -American Power Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. Revenues were $337.1M vs. $320.9M consensus. -Kenneth Cole Q3 EPS was 44c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Revenues were $123.5M vs. 121.2M consensus. Revenue guidance for Q4 was $108M-$110M vs. $107.4M consensus. EPS guidance was 32c-34c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. -Allied Waste Q3 EPS was 28c/sh vs. 27c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.43B vs. $1.41B consensus. -Applebees Q3 EPS was 37c/sh vs. 36c/sh. Revenues were $208.8M vs. $209.1M consensus. Company affirmed full-year guidance of $1.44-$1.45. -Peet’s Coffee Q3 EPS was 10c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. -Aetna Q3 EPS was 73c/sh vs. 70c/sh consensus. Revenues were $4.8B vs. $4.85B consensus. -Aon Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 44c/sh consensus. However, company said they plan to raise additional $1B in capital and cut its dividend. Company said it expects Q4 & FY02 EPS to be well above consensus. -Constellation Energy Q3 EPS was $1.07 vs. $1.05 consensus. -Estee Lauder increased its share buyback program. Upgrades: -Morgan Stanley was upgraded to outperform from inline at Salomon. -Amkor was upgraded outperform from perform at CIBC. Negative: -Albertson’s lowered Q3 guidance to 47c-49c/sh vs. 52c/sh consensus. Also lowered full-year outlook to $2.10-$2.14 vs. $2.28 consensus. Company said it does not expect the tough environment to improve in the near-term. -Martha Stewart Omnimedia Q3 EPS was 6c/sh which was as expected, but guided Q4 down to 3c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. -Ocular Sciences Q3 EPS was 48c/sh vs. 49c/sh consensus. Revenues were $72.2M vs. $73.6M consensus. -Pfizer filed a $5B debt shelf. The securities will be offered periodically. Downgrades: -Myriad Genetics was downgraded to underperform from perform at CIBC. -EDS received negative comments from Lehman, UBS, and Bear Stearns after its earnings release. Neutral: -EBay reaffirmed its Q4 2003 guidance. Said Q4 EPS will be 22c-23c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. -Waste Management Q3 EPS was 38c/sh which was as expected. Company affirmed full year guidance.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday October 30th 7:54--Nine bombs exploded near a Mosque in South Africa. 7:50--Elan Q3 loss was -17c/sh vs. -8c/sh consensus. 7:44--MGC Capital was downgraded to outperform from strong buy at Piper Jaffray. 7:39--Calpine was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 7:38--Monsanto Q3 loss was -63c/sh vs. -57c/sh consensus. 7:36--Darden Restaurants was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:35--DuPont will cut 650 jobs. 7:33--Clorox Q3 EPS was 71c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. Company is selling its Brazil operations. Expects full year EPS of 2.18-2.23/sh vs. 2.14/sh consensus. 7:31--Bowater was downgraded to sell from hold at Prudential. 7:28--Allegheny Energy was downgraded to sell from hold at Wachovia. 7:25--Cox Radio Q3 EPS was 18c/sh vs. 15c/sh consensus. 7:22--Meredith Q1 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 31c/sh consensus. Sees Q2 EPS consensus as achievable. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +1.00, Nasdaq +3.00. -BOJ eased monetary policy by increasing its outright purchases of government bonds. Japan also announced its bank reform plans, but the plans are not very aggressive as they don’t allow weak banks to fail. Yen is down slightly against the dollar and up against the euro. S&P warned Japan that its debt rating may be downgraded. -Euro down slightly after French business confidence fell. -Citigroup is separating research from investment banking. The research will stay under the Salomon name. -Goldman Sachs sees the Fed cutting rates 50 bps next week. Positive: -Ingram Micro Q3 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Q3 Revenue was 5.6B vs. 5.49B consensus. Guided Q4 EPS up to 17c-19c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. -Activision Q2 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $169.2M vs. $154.8M consensus. Company raised FY03 guidance to $1.29 from $1.25 and raised revenue guidance to $934M vs. $920M. -United Surgical Q3 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $85.8M vs. $75.1M consensus. Guided FY02 revenues to $320M-$325M vs. $318.2M consensus. -NetScreen Q4 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. Revenues were $41.1M vs. $40.1M consensus. Company affirmed FY03 expectations. -Amkor Q3 loss was -29c/sh vs. -35c/sh consensus. Revenues were $454M vs. $423M consensus. -Mentor Graphics Q3 EPS was 8c/sh vs. 1c/sh consensus. Revenues were $152.7M vs. $150.1M consensus. -F5 Networks Q4 EPS was break-even vs. -3c/sh consensus. Revenues were $27.1M vs. $26.8M consensus. Affirmed Q1 EPS expectations. -Station Casinos Q3 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. While affirming Q4 EPS, full-year EPS was guided to $1.00-$1.10 vs. 88c/sh consensus. -TXU Q3 EPS vs. 92c/sh vs. 90c/sh consensus. -Entergy Q3 EPS was 1.50 vs. 1.45 consensus. -CVS Q3 EPS was 40c/sh vs. 39c/sh consensus. -Qwest Communications Q3 loss was -11c/sh vs. -14c/sh consensus. -Southern Company Q3 EPS was 84c/sh vs. 79c/sh consensus. -Corinthian Colleges Q1 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. Company guided Q2 higher. Upgrades: -Gillette was upgraded to overweight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. -Novoste was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. Negative: -Darden Restaurants Oct same-store sales were up 2-4%, which was as expected. However, company guidednQ2 EPS down to 21c-22c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. Targets growth of 15%-20% for the long-term. -Guitar Center Q3 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Revenues were $257.4M vs. $263.9M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 51c-54c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 revenues to $327M-$331M vs. $332.1M consensus. -Lincoln National Q3 EPS was 40c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. -Maxim Integrated Q1 EPS was 22c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $285.9M vs. $288.0M consensus. -Corning Q3 loss was -6c/sh vs. -8c/sh consensus. Company is cutting its Q4 outlook to loss of 8c-12c/sh vs. -7c/sh consensus. Company is cutting 2200 jobs. -Midway Games Q3 loss was -15c/sh vs. -8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $52.6M vs. $52.0M consensus. -Xcel Energy unit, NRG Energy, will miss a quarterly interest payment on a senior debt note. -IHOP Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 47c/sh consensus. Company reduced its 2002 outlook to $1.85-$1.95 vs. $1.99-$2.10 previously. Downgrades: -Wal-Mart was cut at Goldman Sachs off its recommended list. -Baxter Int’l was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -St Jude Medical was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Hartford Financial was downgraded to hold from strong buy at UBS. -Mandalay Bay and Park Place were downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. -Goldman Sachs was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. -CIT was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. Neutral: -Bausch & Lomb board ordered CEO Zarrella to forfeit his $1.1M bonus due to his bogus bio.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday October 29th 7:53--Kroger and Safeway were upgraded to strong buy at Bank of America. 7:51--Broadwing will cut 500 jobs. The cuts, along with reducing network costs, will reduce total costs by $200M. 7:45--Schlumberger was upgraded to buy at Jeffries. 7:43--SafeCo was upgraded to in line at Salomon. 7:41--John Hancock was downgraded to in line from outperform at Salomon. 7:40--Perot Systems Q3 EPS was 17c/sh which was as expected. Revenue was 342.5M vs. 335.5M consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS to 16c-18c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. 7:37--Performance Food Q3 EPS was 40c/sh ex-items which was as expected. 7:35--Cisco’s revenue estimate was lowered at Warburg by $50M to reflect flat sales expectation. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P -3.00, Nasdaq -4.00. -Yen up slightly due to the slightly lower stock market in US. Also, bank plan is expected to be released by the end of this week. -Euro down slightly after Welteke yesterday said that the ECB needs to stay independent and countries should adhere to budget targets. Positive: -P&G Q1 EPS was $1.12/sh vs. $1.10/sh consensus. -Advance PCS Q2 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. Revenues were $3.85B vs. $3.64B consensus. Company boosted FY03 EPS up to $1.06/sh vs. 96c/sh consensus. -Nationwide Q3 EPS was 81c/sh vs. 78c/sh consensus. Company guided 2003 EPS down to $2.75-$2.95 vs. $3.42/sh consensus. -Providian Q3 EPS was 15c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.22B vs. $1.31B consensus. -Biosite Q3 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 20c/sh consensus. Guided 2003 EPS up to $1.19-$1.23 vs. $1.18 consensus. -Quantum DLT Q3 loss was -7c/sh vs. -10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $204.5M vs. $206.2M consensus. -Freemarkets Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. -Clear Channel Q3 EPS was 34c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. -Earthlink Q3 EPS break-even vs. -3c/sh consensus. -Oxford Health Q3 EPS was $1.04/sh vs. $1.02/sh consensus. Upgrades: -Micron estimates were raised at Bear Stearns. Negative: -Amerigroup Q3 EPS was 58c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 down to 52c-54c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. -CSG Q3 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 31c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q4 outlook. Downgrades: -Food/drug retailers were downgraded at Lehman to negative from neutral. Company raised Albertson’s and cut GAP and Fleming. -Comverse Tech was downgraded by S&P. -Chico’s FAS was downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB. -Ross Stores was downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB. -Campbell’s Soup was downgraded to underperform from neutral at CSFB. Neutral: -Omnicom Q3 EPS was 68c/sh which was as expected. -Mylan Labs Q2 EPS was 54c/sh vs. 50c/sh consensus. Revenues were $319.5M vs. $285.2M consensus. Company guided Q3 EPS down to 48c-52c/sh vs. 53c/sh consensus. -AOL Chairman is considering a spinoff of its online division. -CIT Q3 EPS was 74c/sh which was as expected.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday October 28th 7:46--Sanmina-SCI received negative comments from Soundview, which believes the company will guide lower. 7:36--Steel Technologies Q4 EPS was 62c/sh vs. 58c/sh consensus. 7:34--Adobe reiterated its Q4 guidance of 21c-25c/sh. Consensus is 23c/sh. 7:33--Kodak was upgraded to hold from sell at Deutsche Bank. 7:31--Kellogg Q3 EPS was 49c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. 7:29--Louisiana-Pacific was upgraded to market outperform from perform at Goldman Sachs. 7:26--Sysco was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:23--Vulcan Materials was downgraded to sell from neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:22--Kroger and Safeway were upgraded to strong buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +8.00, Nasdaq +16.00. -Dollar is slightly higher due to US stocks. German IFO was 87.7 vs. 88.2 previously. -Stocks higher after Washington Post’s John Barry said the Fed could cut rates as early as Nov 6th. -A US diplomat in Jordan was shot dead outside his home. -A report of a hijacked Russian airliner was deemed to be false. -Lula won the Brazilian election and said that the country would continue to honor its debt obligations. Positive: -Safeco Q3 EPS was 68c/sh vs. 44c/sh consensus. -King Pharmaceuticals Q3 EPS was 35c/sh vs. 34c/sh consensus. -Newell-Rubbermaid Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 45c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.9B vs. $1.96B consensus. -Gene Logic Q3 loss was -26c/sh vs. -27c/sh consensus. -Cobalt Q3 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 27c/sh consensus. -JC Penny raised its Q3 EPS expectations to 21c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. -Dell CEO told a Tokyo news conference that he sees ‘some rebound’ in hardware demand. -Mylan Labs raised its dividend 25% to 20c/sh. Upgrades: -Merck was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. -Citigroup and other US banks were upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman. Banking sector was upgraded to neutral from negative at Lehman. -American Electric Power was raised at Morgan Stanley. -HP was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman. -Dollar Tree was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merrill Lynch. -Wisconsin Energy was upgraded to equal weight at Lehman. Negative: -Brocade warned that its Q4 results would miss expectations. Said it expects to earn 7c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. -Comcast Q3 EPS ex-items was 15c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. -Goodrich Q3 EPS was 50c/sh vs. 64c/sh consensus. -Honda cut its full-year forecast by 11% due to weak US sales. Downgrades: -Sandisk was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Alliant Energy was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Bed Bath & Beyond was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. -Petsmart was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. -Cinergy was downgraded to equal weight at Morgan Stanley. Neutral: -Humana Q3 EPS was 31c/sh which was as expected. Guided Q4 to 32c-33c/sh vs. 33c/sh consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 24th 10:12--A bomb went off at an Indonesian mall and wounded two. 9:55--Explosions were heard near the Moscow hostage theater. 9:49--A man was arrested after jumping over the fence at the White House. 9:47--Wendy’s added $200M to its buyback authorization. 8:57--Prime Hospitality was downgraded to market perform at Raymond James. 8:51--JetBlue announced a 3 for 2 stock split. 8:31--Bristol Myers will restate 2002 EPS numbers upward, but will lower prior periods. 8:29--Unocal Q3 EPS was 52c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. 8:27--Xerox was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. 8:26--Moscow theater hostage-takers have shot one hostage. 8:23--Sara Lee Q3 EPS was 37c/sh vs. 34c/sh consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS to 40c-42c/sh vs. 42c/sh consensus. Full-year EPS was $1.54-$1.60 vs. $1.58/sh consensus. 8:18--CSX Q3 EPS was 60c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. Company said they expect much stronger Q4 results. 8:16--Planar Systems was upgraded to buy at Wells Fargo. 8:14--Johnson Controls was downgraded to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank. 8:10--Microsoft may still be hiding technical information about Windows from rivals according to the LA Times. The Justice Dept is investigating the allegations. If true, that would be a violation of provisions of the settlement with the Justice Dept. 7:57--Sigma-Aldrich was downgraded to in line at Salomon. 7:47--American Medical Systems was downgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:44--International Paper was downgraded to sell from hold at Prudential. 7:42--Goodrich was downgraded to underperform from market perform at SG Cowen. 7:39--Teledyne Technologies Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. Affirmed Q4 EPS and raised full-year EPS to 76c-78c/sh vs. 74c/sh consensus. 7:38--Sunoco Q3 loss was -12c/sh vs. +40c/sh consensus. 7:30--Initial Claim were -25K to 389K vs. 405K expected. Last week was revised to 414K from 411K. 7:27--Ameritrade Q4 EPS was -17c/sh which was as expected. Company warned Q1 EPS would be 3c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. 7:26--SBC Q3 EPS was 51c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. Revenue matched expectations of $12.78B. Company affirmed full-year outlook of $2.26/sh. 7:26--Guitar Center was upgraded to recommended list from outperform at Goldman Sachs. 7:25--AT&T Wireless was upgraded to overweight from underweight at JP Morgan. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -3.00, Nasdaq -5.00. -Japanese opposition party has backed off from threats of censure of FSA chief Takenaka. There are also reports that the Japanese may ease monetary policy as soon as the end of this month. -Euro down slightly after speculation that ECB may ease monetary policy. -The FT said that the EU is setting up an exit mechanism for countries that want to leave the euro. -Two suspects in the serial sniper case have been caught overnight at a rest stop. -The Russian theater hostage situation is still ongoing. Theater being held by Chechens that are giving 7 days for Russian troops to begin withdrawing from Chechnya or they will blow up the theater. Positive: -AT&T Wireless Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. break-even consensus. Revenues were $4.06B vs. $3.92B consensus. -AOL TimeWarner Q3 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Q3 revenue was $10.0B vs. $9.93B expected. Company will restate revenues for AOL division. Said they were confident about Q4 and were upbeat about their free cash flow position. -Affymetrix Q3 EPS was 5c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Revenues were $72.8M vs. $68.5M consensus. Company affirmed guidance. -Chiron Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 41c/sh consensus. Revenues were $368M vs. $333M consensus. -Covance Q3 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. -WellPoint Health Q3 EPS was $1.17 vs. $1.13/sh. Revenues were $4.52B vs. $4.39B expected. -Expedia Q3 EPS was 49c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Revenues were $166M vs. $157.2M consensus. Guided 2003 EPS to $2.25 from $2.22. -Foundry Networks Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $76.6M vs. $75.9M consensus. -Broadvision Q3 loss was -7c/sh vs. -28c/sh consensus. Revenues were $27.2M vs. $27.5M consensus. -Micrel Q3 loss was -4c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $50.4M vs. $50.1M consensus. Guided Q4 revenues to $50.4M vs. $50.18M consensus. -Bank of America raised its quarterly dividend to 64c from 60c/sh. -Nextel Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. -Schering-Plough Q3 EPS was 29c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. -Viacom Q3 EPS was 36c/sh vs. 33c/sh consensus. Revenues were $6.31B vs. $6.05B consensus. Upgrades: -Manhatten Associates was upgraded to overweight at JP Morgan. Negative: -Cirrus Logic Q2 loss was -9c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $73.3M vs. $72.5M consensus. Guided Q3 loss down to 12c-16c/sh vs. -8c/sh consensus. -Varian Semiconductor Q4 EPS was 41c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. Revenues were $208M vs. $197M consensus. Said Q4 EPS would be 2c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. Company also warned on Q4 revenues. -LSI Logic Q3 pro forma EPS was +4c/sh vs. -2c/sh consensus. Revenues were $487M vs. $479M consensus. Guided Q4 revenues down to $475M-$500M vs. $510M consensus. -International Paper is offering $750M in notes in a private offering. -Tyco Q4 pro forma EPS was 30c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Guided Q1 EPS to 30c-33c/sh which is short of consensus of 40c/sh. Full year guided to $1.50-$1.75 vs. $1.72/sh consensus. Tyco will restate full-year results. -Duke Energy missed Q3 EPS 52c/sh vs. 57c/sh consensus. -AIG missed Q3 EPS was 85c/sh which missed expectations by 3c/sh. -MedImmune Q3 loss was -13c/sh vs. -14c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS down to 31c-33c/sh vs. 39c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Qualcomm was downgraded to underperform from neutral at CSFB. -Microchip Tech was downgraded to equal-weight from over-weight at Morgan Stanley. -Internet Security was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan. Neutral: -Amgen Q3 EPS was 34c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Revenue was 1.5B vs. 1.44B consensus. Company boosted 2002 product sales forecast to high 30% range. Arthritis drug Enbrel sales will be slightly below the low end of its forecast. Company lowered its 2002 EPS growth rate guidance to mid-10 percent from mid-20 percent. -Intersil Q3 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 20c/sh which is a penny below consensus of 21c/sh. -Silicon Storage Q3 loss was -1c/sh vs. -2c/sh consensus. Company warned about Q4 saying it expects a loss of 3c-5c/sh vs. break/even expected. -ESS Tech Q3 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. Revenues were $60.7M vs. $62.1M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS down to 2c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 revenue down to $45M-$50M vs. $54.4M consensus. -Microchip Tech Q2 EPS was 17c/sh which was as expected. -Kodak Q3 EPS was $1.04/sh which was as expected. Said it would cut 1,300-1,700 jobs as it attempts to increase cost-cutting. -Dow Chemical Q3 EPS was 16c/sh which was as expected.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 24th 7:57--Sigma-Aldrich was downgraded to in line at Salomon. 7:47--American Medical Systems was downgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:44--International Paper was downgraded to sell from hold at Prudential. 7:42--Goodrich was downgraded to underperform from market perform at SG Cowen. 7:39--Teledyne Technologies Q3 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. Affirmed Q4 EPS and raised full-year EPS to 76c-78c/sh vs. 74c/sh consensus. 7:38--Sunoco Q3 loss was -12c/sh vs. +40c/sh consensus. 7:30--Initial Claim were -25K to 389K vs. 405K expected. Last week was revised to 414K from 411K. 7:27--Ameritrade Q4 EPS was -17c/sh which was as expected. Company warned Q1 EPS would be 3c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. 7:26--SBC Q3 EPS was 51c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. Revenue matched expectations of $12.78B. Company affirmed full-year outlook of $2.26/sh. 7:26--Guitar Center was upgraded to recommended list from outperform at Goldman Sachs. 7:25--AT&T Wireless was upgraded to overweight from underweight at JP Morgan. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -3.00, Nasdaq -5.00. -Japanese opposition party has backed off from threats of censure of FSA chief Takenaka. There are also reports that the Japanese may ease monetary policy as soon as the end of this month. -Euro down slightly after speculation that ECB may ease monetary policy. -The FT said that the EU is setting up an exit mechanism for countries that want to leave the euro. -Two suspects in the serial sniper case have been caught overnight at a rest stop. -The Russian theater hostage situation is still ongoing. Theater being held by Chechens that are giving 7 days for Russian troops to begin withdrawing from Chechnya or they will blow up the theater. Positive: -AT&T Wireless Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. break-even consensus. Revenues were $4.06B vs. $3.92B consensus. -AOL TimeWarner Q3 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Q3 revenue was $10.0B vs. $9.93B expected. Company will restate revenues for AOL division. Said they were confident about Q4 and were upbeat about their free cash flow position. -Affymetrix Q3 EPS was 5c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Revenues were $72.8M vs. $68.5M consensus. Company affirmed guidance. -Chiron Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 41c/sh consensus. Revenues were $368M vs. $333M consensus. -Covance Q3 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. -WellPoint Health Q3 EPS was $1.17 vs. $1.13/sh. Revenues were $4.52B vs. $4.39B expected. -Expedia Q3 EPS was 49c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. Revenues were $166M vs. $157.2M consensus. Guided 2003 EPS to $2.25 from $2.22. -Foundry Networks Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $76.6M vs. $75.9M consensus. -Broadvision Q3 loss was -7c/sh vs. -28c/sh consensus. Revenues were $27.2M vs. $27.5M consensus. -Micrel Q3 loss was -4c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $50.4M vs. $50.1M consensus. Guided Q4 revenues to $50.4M vs. $50.18M consensus. -Bank of America raised its quarterly dividend to 64c from 60c/sh. -Nextel Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. -Schering-Plough Q3 EPS was 29c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. -Viacom Q3 EPS was 36c/sh vs. 33c/sh consensus. Revenues were $6.31B vs. $6.05B consensus. Upgrades: -Manhatten Associates was upgraded to overweight at JP Morgan. Negative: -Cirrus Logic Q2 loss was -9c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $73.3M vs. $72.5M consensus. Guided Q3 loss down to 12c-16c/sh vs. -8c/sh consensus. -Varian Semiconductor Q4 EPS was 41c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. Revenues were $208M vs. $197M consensus. Said Q4 EPS would be 2c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. Company also warned on Q4 revenues. -LSI Logic Q3 pro forma EPS was +4c/sh vs. -2c/sh consensus. Revenues were $487M vs. $479M consensus. Guided Q4 revenues down to $475M-$500M vs. $510M consensus. -International Paper is offering $750M in notes in a private offering. -Tyco Q4 pro forma EPS was 30c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Guided Q1 EPS to 30c-33c/sh which is short of consensus of 40c/sh. Full year guided to $1.50-$1.75 vs. $1.72/sh consensus. Tyco will restate full-year results. -Duke Energy missed Q3 EPS 52c/sh vs. 57c/sh consensus. -AIG missed Q3 EPS was 85c/sh which missed expectations by 3c/sh. -MedImmune Q3 loss was -13c/sh vs. -14c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS down to 31c-33c/sh vs. 39c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Qualcomm was downgraded to underperform from neutral at CSFB. -Microchip Tech was downgraded to equal-weight from over-weight at Morgan Stanley. -Internet Security was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan. Neutral: -Amgen Q3 EPS was 34c/sh vs. 32c/sh consensus. Revenue was 1.5B vs. 1.44B consensus. Company boosted 2002 product sales forecast to high 30% range. Arthritis drug Enbrel sales will be slightly below the low end of its forecast. Company lowered its 2002 EPS growth rate guidance to mid-10 percent from mid-20 percent. -Intersil Q3 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 20c/sh which is a penny below consensus of 21c/sh. -Silicon Storage Q3 loss was -1c/sh vs. -2c/sh consensus. Company warned about Q4 saying it expects a loss of 3c-5c/sh vs. break/even expected. -ESS Tech Q3 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. Revenues were $60.7M vs. $62.1M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS down to 2c-5c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 revenue down to $45M-$50M vs. $54.4M consensus. -Microchip Tech Q2 EPS was 17c/sh which was as expected. -Kodak Q3 EPS was $1.04/sh which was as expected. Said it would cut 1,300-1,700 jobs as it attempts to increase cost-cutting. -Dow Chemical Q3 EPS was 16c/sh which was as expected.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday October 23rd 9:17--Raytheon won a $25M electronic warfare pact from the Air Force. 8:51--RR Donnelly Q3 EPS was 54c/sh vs. 53c/sh expected. Company lowered its 2002 forecast, citing sharply lower financial activity. 8:48--Stocks rallying without any new news. KLA-Tencor trading only slightly lower at 30.25 after trading down to a low at 28.70. The supportive action in tech stocks this morning appears to be the catalyst. 8:31--Deutsche Bank downgraded transporters UPS, CH Robinson, and Canadian Pacific to hold. 8:22--Ely Lilly was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 8:20--Convergys was downgraded to sector perform from outperform. 8:05--Hyperion was upgraded to buy from neutral at First Albany. 8:03--Storage Tech was upgraded to buy at First Albany. 8:00--Skechers Q3 EPS was 35c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. However, company lowered Q4 guidance to 3c-8c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Reasons included the West Coast port closure as well as a sluggish consumer. 7:54--Manufactured Home Communities and Chateau Communities were downgraded to hold at UBS. 7:39--Reebok Q3 EPS was 81c/sh vs. 78c/sh consensus. 7:37--Oakley Q3 EPS was 18c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q4 EPS but raised full-year outlook to 68c/sh from 66c/sh previously given. 7:35--Newport was upgraded to neutral at CSFB. 7:31--Cray Inc Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. Company reaffirmed 2002 & 2003 guidance. 7:29--SPX Corp was downgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:29--webMethods was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:22--Hotels.com Q3 EPS was 45c/sh vs. 41c/sh consensus. Revenues were $277.4M vs. $252.9M consensus. 7:21--Johnson & Johnson was downgraded to perform from outperform at CIBC. 7:20--Amylin Pharmaceuticals was downgraded to hold from buy at Prudential. 7:18--The Washington Post is reporting that the SEC may force Martha Stewart to resign. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -8.00, Nasdaq -13.00. -Yen up on short covering. Technical buying was also cited. -UK monetary policy minutes showed a 6-3 vote to leave rates unchanged. 3 voted for a rate cut. UK CBI business confidence fell to -19 vs. +4 -France and Russia said that the new US resolution on Iraq is unacceptable. Bush warned that the US is willing to take action with or without the UN’s approval. Positive: -DuPont Q3 EPS was 40c/sh vs. 35c/sh consensus. Company guided full-year EPS up to $2.00/sh, which is above $1.96/sh consensus. -DaimlerChrysler said operating profits were 1.7B euros vs. 1.2B euros expected. Said full-year operating profit would exceed 5B euros vs. 3.9B given in previous forecast. -Black & Decker Q3 EPS was 95c/sh vs. 84c/sh consensus. Raised Q4 guidance to 95c-$1.05/sh vs. 98c/sh consensus. -Xerox Q3 EPS was 11c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. -International Paper Q3 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 31c/sh consensus. -GlaxoSmithKline affirmed earnings and announced a buyback. -Invision Q3 EPS was $1.17/sh vs. $1.02/sh consensus. Revenues were $117.1M vs. $112.1M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS up to $1.30/sh vs. $1.14/sh consensus. Revenues were guided to $140M vs. $121M consensus. -Computer Associates Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. Computer Associates guided Q3 EPS to 4c-5c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Raised FY03 EPS guidance to 14c-16c/sh vs. prior guidance of 10c-13c/sh. -Storage Tech Q3 EPS was 22c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Revenues were $501.7 vs. $478.6M consensus. -Silicon Labs Q3 EPS was 18c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Revenues were $51.8M vs. $46.9M consensus. Company raised revenue guidance for Q4. -Conexant Q4 loss was -16c/sh vs. -19c/sh consensus. -Lucent Q3 loss was -64c/sh vs. -65c/sh consensus. -Citrix Systems Q3 EPS was 10c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Revenues were $118.9M vs. $112.2M consensus. Guided Q4 EPS up to 11c-13c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 revenue to $115M-$120M vs. $116.5M consensus. -Boston Scientific Q3 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. Revenues were $722M vs. $704M consensus. -PEC Solutions Q3 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. Revenues were $52.8M vs. $48.6M. -California Pizza Kitchen Q3 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. -Pinnacle Systems Q1 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. -Hyperion Solutions Q1 EPS was 27c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were $119.9M vs. $118.4M consensus. -Overture Services Q3 EPS was 28c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Revenues matched expectations. Guided Q4 EPS to 23c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. Affirmed 2003 EPS, but revenue guidance was weak. -Checkfree Q1 EPS was 16c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. Raised Q2 EPS to 16c-18c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. -Moody’s Q3 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. -Nabors Q3 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. -Fleming Cos. Q3 EPS was -3c/sh vs. -4c/sh consensus. Upgrades: - Negative: -Ely Lilly Q3 EPS matched expectations of 68c/sh, but company guided Q4 and full year lower. -Citigroup CEO is being targeted by NY Atty. Gen’l Elliot Spitzer. Sandy Weill will be investigated for his conflict-of-interest with AT&T and Salomon’s research. -Anaren Microwave Q1 EPS was 1c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. -Cymer Q3 EPS was 20c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. -Tupperware Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. -Maxtor Q3 loss was -31c/sh vs. -34c/sh consensus. Revenues were $819.7M vs. $916.9M consensus. -Photon Dynamics Q4 loss was -8c/sh vs. +3c/sh consensus. Revenues were $18.4M vs. $21.9M consensus. -Praxair Q3 EPS was 85c/sh which was as expected. However, company lowered Q4 EPS down to 84c-88c/sh vs. 89c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Bally’s debt was cut at Fitch to B from B+. -Morgan Stanley downgraded BellSouth, Verizon, and SBC. -Polycom was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. -Gillette was downgraded to market perform from buy at Bank of America. -Cardinal Health was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. Neutral: -AFLAC Q3 EPS was 40c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $2.71B vs. $2.65B consensus. Said it will meet previous EPS guidance for 2003 & 2004. -Sigma-Aldrich Q3 EPS was 55c/sh vs. 56c/sh consensus. Revenues were $304.8M vs. $299.2M consensus. Company reaffirmed Q4 EPS forecast of $2.26-$2.28/sh. -KLA-Tencor Q1 EPS was 23c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. Revenues matched expectations.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday October 22nd 7:51--Deere was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. 7:50--HCA Healthcare was upgraded to outperform from neutral at CSFB. 7:49--Veritas Software was downgraded to underperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:47--Merrill Lynch is cutting brokers Waddell and Reed, Legg Mason, Goldman Sachs, and Charles Schwab. 7:45--McDonald’s Q3 EPS was 38c/sh which was as expected. Company is cutting its restaurant openings in 2003. Is boosting its annual dividend by 4.4% to 23.5c/sh. Plans at least a $500M buyback in 2003. 7:42--Morgan Stanley’s Biggs said the current stock rally is not the start of a new bull market. However, still believes that the current rally will last longer than the consensus believes when the economy eventually perks up. Said he didn’t expect a double dip recession. Biggs has been calling for a bottom in recent months and while these comments are somewhat confusing, we think he means that he’s slightly bullish on stocks. 7:36--Waters Q3 EPS was 29c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. Revenue was $216M vs. $217.3M consensus. 7:35--BTM Warburg sales +0.6%. Sales were on to above plan. 7:34--Electronic Arts was downgraded to outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:33--Metris was upgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:31--Northwest Airlines was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank. 7:30--Anheuser Busch was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan. 7:29--Dun & Bradstreet was downgraded to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan. 7:27--Cymer was downgraded to sell from neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:22--WSJ Said that DaimlerChrysler’s North American turnaround is running ahead of expectations. 7:19--GM received negative comments in the NY Times. Said that GM will fall short of its goal of capturing 29% of the US market. 7:18--US Freightways was upgraded to peer perform from underperform at Bear Stearns. 7:17--Paccar was downgraded to underweight at Lehman. 7:16--Video game makers were downgraded at Goldman. Names mentioned were ATVI, ERTS, and THQI. Goldman said investors may have to wait until 2005 for growth to return. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -8.00, Nasdaq -20.00. -Yen down slightly after there was a delay in the reform plans for Japanese banks. Plans are now expected to be released on Friday. The delay shows either a lack of Japanese resolve or strong opposition. -Euro up slightly after US stock market weakened overnight. Also, French consumer spending fell -1.2%. The Italian CPI was +2.7% (14 month high). -Another sniper shooting at a Silver Spring Maryland bus stop. -Pres. Bush said late afternoon yesterday that if Saddam Hussein changes, that may constitute regime change. The ‘softening’ of the tone from Washington has pushed crude oil lower in the last two days. Positive: -JDA SoftwareQ3 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. -Cendant Q3 EPS matched expectations. Company announced $200M buyback. -Andrew Corp Q4 EPS was 7c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $271.8M vs. $247.4M consensus. -Int’l Rectifier Q1 EPS was 21c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. -Lifepoint Hospitals Q3 EPS was 39c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. -Coach Q4 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Raised Q1 & 2003 EPS estimates. -Pulte Homes Q3 EPS was $1.83/sh vs. $1.81/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.9B vs. $1.84B consensus. Raised 2002 EPS guidance to $7.05-$7.15/sh vs. $6.92/sh consensus. Targeting 2003 EPS of $7.85-$8.25 vs. $7.71/sh consensus. Company will buy back $100M in stock. -AT&T Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. -Radioshack Q3 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 24c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 63c-68c/sh vs. 67c/sh consensus. -Pharmacia Q3 EPS was 45c/sh vs. 44c/sh consensus. -Harrah’s Q3 EPS was 91c/sh vs. 88c/sh consensus. -Mc-Graw Hill Q3 EPS was $1.41/sh vs. $1.40/sh consensus. -BellSouth Q3 EPS was 52c/sh vs. 50c/sh consensus. -RJ Reynolds Q3 EPS was 1.56/sh vs. 1.54/sh consensus. -DR Horton increased its dividend 20%. Upgrades: - Negative: -Texas Instruments Q3 pro forma was 9c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $2.248B vs. $2.27B consensus. Guided Q4 revenues down 10% to around $2.02B vs. $2.30B consensus. Guided Q4 EPS down to 2c/sh on pro forma basis vs. 11c/sh consensus. Company said they have limited visibility. Said they are not likely to raise 2003 CapEx. Said will cut 500 jobs. Said wireless is only bright spot. -Altera Q3 EPS was 6c/sh which was as expected. Lowered revenue guidance to $176.5-$183.7M vs. $188.4M consensus. Company will increase repurchase program to 68M shares from 48M shares. -THQ Q3 EPS was 12c/sh which matched expectations. Company guided Q4 EPS to the lower end of 95c-$1.00/sh guidance range. Guided Q1 EPS to loss of 10c-12c/sh vs. -9c/sh consensus. Company also lowered its 2003 industry growth forecast to 10%-15% vs. consensus of 20%-25%. -Taiwan Semiconductor Q3 EPS was 2c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Lowered 2003 CapEx to $1.65B from $2.0B previously. -Silicon Graphics Q1 loss was -16c/sh vs. -13c/sh consensus. Revenues were $241.7M vs. $260.0M consensus. -Veritas Software Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. Revenues were $365.7M vs. $357.6M consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS down to 12c-14c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. -McKesson Q2 EPS was 42c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $10.3B vs. $10.2B. Said operating margin for the full year could be down by 200 bps. -Technitrol Q3 EPS was 6c/sh which was as expected. Company guided Q4 EPS down to 6c-7c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. -Wyeth Q3 EPS was 47c/sh vs. 52c/sh consensus. Revenues were $3.62B vs. $3.73B consensus. -Kimberly-Clark Q3 EPS was 87c/sh vs. 89c/sh consensus. Company lowered full-year EPS target to $3.42-$3.46/sh vs. $3.53/sh consensus. -Cigna may be cut by Moody’s. -Martha Stewart may have civil securities fraud charges filed against her by the SEC. Downgrades: - Neutral: -Dynegy will cut 780 jobs. -UAL is cutting 1,200 jobs and said there may be more on the way.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday October 21st 7:57--Arch Coal Q3 EPS was 3c/sh vs. break-even consensus. 7:55--AK Steel was downgraded to market perform at Goldman Sachs. 7:52--MetLife was downgraded to market perform at Goldman Sachs. 7:40--FDA regulation will allow only 1 automatic stay in drug patent renewals. 7:38--Pres. Bush is announcing measures and new regulations to speed consumer access to generic drugs. 7:32--Yahoo was downgraded to neutral from outperform at Soundview. 7:30--Bristol Myers settled an antitrust lawsuit over Buspar by Walgreen’s and Safeway. 7:28--Sallie Mae was downgraded to buy at UBS. 7:24--Adolph Coors was upgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:18--Ashland Q4 EPS was 68c/sh vs. 72c/sh consensus. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -5.00, Nasdaq -10.00. -An Indonesian police investigator said he had documents showing that bin Laden transferred $74,000 to the leader of an Indonesian Muslim militant group. -Saddam Hussein released nearly all people being held in prison except those convicted of spying for US or Israel. -Yen up after Moody’s upgraded Japan’s currency rating to Aaa from Aa1. -Italian industrial production was -0.5%. -There’s worries that Germany’s budget would go over limits. -Ireland ratified the Nice treaty, which sets the parameters of legal expansion of the EU. Positive: -3M clarified Q3 guidance to $1.35-$1.40 vs. $1.38/sh expected. Raised full-year guidance to $5.22-$5.27 vs. $5.15-$5.30 in previous guidance and vs. $5.25 consensus. -Exelon Q3 EPS was $1.65/sh vs. $1.53/sh consensus. -Bunge Q3 EPS was 96c/sh vs. 84c/sh consensus. Company affirmed Q4 forecast of 55c-60c/sh. -Lexmark Q3 EPS was 79c/sh vs. 78c/sh consensus. Company raised Q4 EPS guidance to 70c-80c/sh vs. 67c-77c/sh given in previous guidance. -Arkansas Best Q3 EPS 54c/sh vs. 42c/sh. -Internet Security was tapped by Ford for threat protection. -Applied Materials received a $45M order from Tower Semiconductor. -Prosperity Bancshares Q3 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 29c/sh consensus. Company also raised its full-year outlook and hiked its dividend. Upgrades: - Negative: -Microsoft’s Ballmer said that Q1 sales rate may not be sustainable going forward. -Hasbro Q3 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. -El Paso Q3 EPS was 39c/sh vs. 56c/sh consensus. -Dime Community Bank Q1 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 44c/sh consensus. Lowered Q2 EPS to 43c/sh vs. 45c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Texas Instruments’ estimates were lowered at CSFB. -Merck was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Quest Diagnostics was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Checkfree was downgraded to sell at Deutsche Bank. -Lodging stocks were downgraded at UBS. Names include FCH, FS, and HMT. -Lincoln Nat’l was cut to sell at Prudential. Neutral: -Tyco is nearing a fraud settlement with New Hampshire.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday October 18th 7:52--Int’l Rectifier was downgraded to neutral at Soundview. 7:51--Allete sees 2002 EPS at the low end of its guidance range. 7:49--Textron was upgraded to overweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:47--PMC-Sierra was downgraded to market perform from outperform at Goldman. 7:45--Heinz was upgraded at Salomon. 7:44--Northrop Grumman was upgraded to equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:42--Checkpoint Software was downgraded at Goldman Sachs. 7:41--Merck Q3 EPS was 83c/sh. 7:40--Broadcom was downgraded at Goldman Sachs. 7:38--Sprint (FON) was upgraded to neutral at Soundview. 7:30--Sep CPI was +0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. Core CPI was +0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. There were no highlights in the CPI report. Food was +0.2%. Housing +0.1%. Apparel +0.1%. Transportation +0.3% (gasoline +1.0% offset by public trans -0.9%). Medical Care +0.3%. Tobacco +1.6%. Energy +0.7%. CPI ex-energy +0.1%. 7:30--Aug trade balance was -38.46B vs. -35.5B expected. July deficit was revised up to -35.07B from -34.55B previously. Exports were 81.86 vs. 83.91B. Imports were 120.32 vs. 117.98B. Although the trade deficit expanded, imports rose which suggests increased consumption in US and therefore better economy. However, net exports component of GDP will be more subtractive from GDP. 7:26--Schering AG received an FDA non-approvable letter for its Angeliq menopause drug. 7:25--Sears was downgraded to equal-weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:24--Martin-Marietta Materials is lowering its Q3 & 2002 EPS outlooks. 7:23--Broadcom was downgraded at CIBC. 7:16--Visteon Q3 loss was -27c/sh vs. -26c/sh consensus. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -5.00, Nasdaq -10.00. -Euro up after US stocks weakened. -Yen down after Koizumi speech that was seen as failing to take a hard line on reform. The head of LDP’s tax panel said tax cut should not be lower than 1T yen proposed by Koizumi. -S&P futures are holding at 889.60 Fibonacci retracement resistance. -The House and Senate have reached a tentative agreement on a $100 terrorism insurance bill. -Semiconductor book-to-bill fell to 0.84 in September from 1.02 in August. Orders fell 34%. -Steve Beckner said the Fed will leave rates unchanged. Positive: -Microsoft Q1 EPS was 50c/sh vs. 43c/sh consensus. Company took 5c/sh in costs and therefore would have reported 55c/sh. Guided Q2 EPS to 45c-46c/sh vs. 50c/sh consensus. Guided Q2 revenue to $8.5-$8.6B from $8.4B consensus. Microsoft guided full-year EPS to $1.89-$1.95 vs. $1.89 consensus. Guided revenue up to $32.2B-$32.6B vs. $31.9B consensus. -Sprint (Fon) Q3 EPS was 59c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. Company is seeking funding of $900M in junk bonds and $1.6B from banks to finance directory business. -Peoplesoft Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. -Molex Q1 EPS was 15c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. -PMC-Sierra Q3 EPS was -5c/sh vs. -6c/sh consensus. -Quest Diagnotics Q3 EPS was 87c/sh vs. 86c/sh consensus. -Nortel Q3 loss was -10c/sh vs. -11c/sh consensus. -Pixelworks Q3 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. -Cree Q1 EPS was 5c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $48.8M vs. $45.2M consensus. -UTStarcom Q3 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. Revenues were $265M vs. $245M consensus. -Lam Research Q1 EPS was 2c/sh vs. break-even expected. -Fairchild Semiconductor Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. -Compuware Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Revenues were 358M vs. 339M consensus. -McData Q3 EPS was 2c/sh vs. -1c/sh consensus. -Applied Micro Circuit will buy back $200M in shares. -Starbucks affirmed its growth forecast of 20%-25%. -Biogen Q3 EPS was 37c/sh vs. 35c/sh consensus. Revenues were $288.3 vs. $276.4M consensus. Guided 2002 EPS to the upper end of prior $1.50-$1.60 guidance range vs. $1.51/sh consensus. -Schering-Plough affirmed 2002 & 2003 guidance and said it is in talks with Biogen regarding a royalty payment. -Tellabs Q4 pro forma was 4c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. Tellabs had lowered guidance earlier in the quarter. -Lear Q3 EPS was 91c/sh vs. 88c/sh consensus. Upgrades: -PeopleSoft was upgraded to buy from hold at WR Hambrecht. -Sirius Satellite was upgraded to market perform at SG Cowen following yesterday’s re-capitalization announcement. -Nucor was upgraded to equal weight at Lehman. Negative: -Sun Micro Q1 EPS was -2c/sh vs. -4c/sh expected. Revenues missed estimates, however, at $2.7B vs. $2.87B expected. Company will cut 11% of jobs and take a $300M charge for job cuts. The layoffs total 4,300. Sun Micro lowered its FY03 CapEx numbers to $500M from $2B in FY02. Sun Micro said it will not see a return to profitability in 1H03, but will do so in 2H03. -Ericsson said its Q3 sales fell -29%. Systems orders fell -34%. Warned that 2002 mobile systems sales could fall more than 20%. Company is effecting a 1 for 10 reverse ratio on ADS’s. -Scientific-Atlanta Q1 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Revenues were $311.6M vs. $361M consensus. -Callaway Golf Q3 EPS was 3c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. Revenues were 160M vs. 155.9M consensus. -Gateway Q3 loss was -15c/sh which was as expected. Said it sees Q4 loss of 10c-13c/sh vs. -9c/sh consensus. -Siebel Systems Q3 EPS ex-items was 3c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. -Xilinx Q2 EPS was 11c/sh vs. 10c/sh consensus. Revenues were $277.9 vs. $274.9 consensus. Company guided Q3 revenues down to $278M-$285M vs. $287M consensus. -Atmel Q3 loss was -12c/sh vs. -9c/sh consensus. Revenues were $298.7M vs. $300.4M consensus. -UAL Q3 loss was -$8.82 vs. -$7.42 consensus. Sees ‘significant’ Q4 and full year loss. Said ‘nobody should consider a Chapter 11 filing inevitable.’ Said they are making progress on their financial recovery plan. Downgrades: -Long-term counter-party ratings for Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs were downgraded at S&P. -Siebel Systems was downgraded to hold at Deutsche Bank. -EMC was downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB. -Southwest Airlines was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. -Oracle and CheckPoint Software were downgraded to neutral at First Albany. Neutral: -Rational Software Q2 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Revenues were $147.5M vs. $154.5M consensus. -Advanced Fibre Comm Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Company said the telecom market environment has worsened appreciably. -EBay Q3 EPS was 22c/sh vs. 20c/sh consensus. Revenues were $288.8 vs. $282.4B consensus. Company is boosting its EPS and revenue forecasts for Q4. EBay lowered its FY03 guidance to $1.12-$1.15/sh vs. $1.16/sh consensus. -Northrop Grumman boosted 2003 EPS to 6.70-8.10 vs. 6.63 consensus. However, company cut 2003 sales to $19.0B-$19.5B vs. $22.1B consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 17th 10:20--HGSI down after boutique research firm Sterling initiated company with a sell rating and $2 price target. 10:05--Dell’s corporate credit rating was raised to A- from BBB+ at S&P. 9:02--The market seems to be weakening on the Sears earnings disappointment. Also, the market may have rallied too far too fast. 8:41--Nucor Q3 EPS was 50c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. 8:40--Limited Brands affirmed its Q3 EPS outlook of 2c/sh. Company cut its 2002 CapEx to $375M from $400M. 8:39--IBM was upgraded to outperform at Bear Stearns. 8:38--Robert Half was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 8:37--Genuine Parts Q3 EPS was 54c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. 8:36--Midland Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. 8:35--Delphi was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 8:34--Celestica was downgraded to peer perform at Bear Stearns. 8:21--BJ Services was upgraded to outperform at CSFB. 8:19--Northrop Grumman Q3 EPS was $1.64/sh vs. $1.73/sh consensus. Company lowered 2002 guidance to $6.10-$6.20 from $6.78. Company lowered 2003 guidance to $7.60-$8.10 vs. $8.02/sh consensus. 8:15--Sep Industrial Production -0.1% vs. +0.1% expected. Capacity utilization 75.9% vs. 76.0% expected. There were no revisions to the August numbers. The number would have been down further if utilities hadn’t risen +2.4%. The slight downtick in the numbers should be slightly positive for the credit markets. 8:03--American Home Mortgage Q3 EPS was 76c/sh vs. 65c/sh consensus. 8:02--Cypress Semiconductor Q3 loss was -3c/sh which was as expected. Company warned on Q4 revenue, however, saying it expects $185M-$195M vs. $206M consensus. 8:01--Fed’s McDonough said the markets are now better able to heal from stress. Best policy regulation is minimal policy. Didn’t make any other comments on monetary policy or the economy. 7:56--Caterpillar was downgraded to market perform at Goldman. 7:40--Fortune Brands Q3 EPS was 82c/sh vs. 79c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 87c-92c/sh vs. 91c/sh consensus. Guided full-year to $3.15-$3.20 vs. $3.16/sh consensus. 7:38--Guidant Q3 EPS was 57c/sh vs. 53c/sh consensus. Guided Q4 EPS to 54c-60c/sh vs. 54c/sh consensus. Guided full-year to $2.11-$2.17/sh vs. $2.07/sh consensus. 7:37--FedEx and UPS were downgraded to market perform from outperform at Goldman Sachs. 7:35--Rational Software was downgraded to underperform from outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:34--Salomon is raising its US equity weighting to overweight from underweight. They cut Japan’s weighting to underweight from overweight. 7:32--Aflac was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:31--The bond-positive claims were offset by the bond-negative starts. We believe that more weight should be placed in starts as they show continue strength in the housing market. Claims peaked five weeks ago at 433K. 7:30--Initial claims were +22K to 411K vs. 398K expected. Last week was revised to 389K from 384K. 7:30--Sep Housing starts were +13.3% to 1.843M vs. 1.64M expected. Housing permits were 1.727M vs. 1.669M expected. 7:28--Ingersoll-Rand Q3 EPS was 61c/sh vs. 57c/sh consensus. 7:27--Georgia-Pacific Q3 EPS was 38c/sh vs. 40c/sh consensus. 7:24--Hershey Q3 EPS was $1.01/sh vs. 99c/sh consensus. 7:23--Tribune Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. Company affirmed full year outlook. 7:22--Dial Corp Q3 EPS was 33c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS up to $1.22 vs. $1.19. 7:20--United Technologies Q3 EPS was $1.21/sh vs. $1.19/sh consensus. 7:19--Southwest Airlines Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. Company said it is impossible to predict a profit for Q4 due to higher insurance premiums and security fees. 7:18--Mattel Q3 EPS ex-items was 58c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. Company affirmed its earnings target. 7:17--Continental Airlines reported Q3 loss of -58c/sh vs. -74c/sh consensus. 7:16--DaimlerChrysler raised its 2002 revenue outlook. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +20.00, Nasdaq +27.00. -Euro down based on US stock rally. -Yen up slightly after Japanese exporters sold the dollar overnight. -North Korea has admitted to a secret nuclear arms program in violation of an agreement made with the Clinton administration. Positive: -IBM Q3 EPS was 99c/sh vs. 96c/sh. Revenue was $19.8B vs. $19.7B consensus. -Nokia Q3 EPS was 18c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. Company guided Q4 EPS up to 23c-25c/sh vs. 23c/sh. -Kodak raised Q3 EPS outlook to $1.04/sh vs. 73c/sh consensus. Q4 was boosted to 60c-70c/sh vs. 66c/sh consensus. -Symantec Q2 EPS was 38c/sh vs. 31c/sh consensus. Symantec guided Q3 EPS up to 38c/sh vs. 35c/sh consensus. Company also guided full-year slightly higher. -WebEx Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. -Celestica Q3 EPS was 20c/sh vs. 19c/sh consensus. -IDEC Pharmaceuticals Q2 EPS was 22c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Revenues were $103.7M vs. $101.9M consensus. -Extreme Networks Q1 loss was -3c/sh vs. -4c/sh consensus. Revenues were $100.6M vs. $100.2M consensus. -San Disk Q3 EPS was 16c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. Revenues were $141.1M vs. $127.1M consensus. -CDW Q3 EPS was 63c/sh vs. 59c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.151B vs. $1.138B consensus. Company affirmed Q4 EPS. -Alliance Data Q3 EPS was 17c/sh vs. 16c/sh consensus. -QLogic Q2 EPS was 28c/sh which was as 2c/sh better than expected. Company announced a repurchase program of up to $100M. -Progressive Q3 EPS was 87c/sh vs. 82c/sh consensus. -Allstate Q3 EPS was 77c/sh vs. 68c/sh consensus. Company boosted 2002 EPS to $2.80-$3.00. -United Healtcare Q3 EPS was better-than-expected. Company boosted its 2003 growth outlook. Upgrades: -IBM was upgraded at Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. -General Dynamics was upgraded to outperform from neutral at CSFB. -Capital One was upgraded to strong buy from buy at UBS. Negative: -AMD -74c/sh vs. -67c/sh consensus. Revenues were $508.2M vs. $500M consensus. Will cut its quarterly break-even point significantly as of Q1. Company is restating current assets and accounts payable due to an ‘administrative error.’ -Stryker Q3 EPS was 36c/sh vs. 37c/sh expected. -Robert Half Q3 loss was -2c/sh vs. -1c/sh consensus. -Polycom Q3 EPS was 9c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Revenues were as expected. -Bristol Myers will cut 655 jobs. -Sears cut its Q3 forecast to 59c/sh vs. 82c/sh. Downgrades: -Yahoo was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. Neutral: -Kraft Q3 EPS ex-items was 50c/sh which was as expected. -Renaissance Learning Q3 EPS was 23c/sh which matched expectations. -E*Trade Q3 EPS was 12c/sh which was as expected. -Apple Computer Q4 EPS was 2c/sh which was as expected. Revenue was $1.44B which was as expected. Sees a return to profitability but doesn’t see demand picking up strongly at this time.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday October 16th 7:57--NVidia’s estimates were reduced at Morgan Stanley. 7:56--Motorola was downgraded to outperform from strong buy at Piper Jaffray. 7:55--Washington Mutual was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:54--Scholastics was downgraded at Salomon. 7:53--Expediters Int’l was downgraded to underperform from perform at Bear Stearns. 7:53--Advanced Fibre Comm was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Wachovia. 7:47--Motorola Q4 revenues were lowered to $7.1B vs. $7.5B in prior forecast. 7:45--Wachovia Q3 EPS was 71c/sh vs. 70c/sh consensus. 7:43--GlobalSantaFe Q3 EPS was 32c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. However, company said it is cautious on its forward outlook. 7:43--Northern Trust Q3 EPS was 43c/sh which matched expectations. 7:42--Stanley Works Q3 EPS was 62c/sh which matched expectations. Company reiterated Q4 guidance of 57c/sh. 7:40--Motorola is cutting its phone unit sales forecast to 390M from 400M units. 7:38--Boeing said ’02 deliveries will be unchanted, but ’03 deliveries will be cut to 275-285. Said ’02 operating margins will be 7.25%, while ’03 margins will fall to 6.5%. 7:37--Dynegy will exit the marketing and trading business. Company sees significant cut in its work force. 7:35--Boeing Q3 EPS ex-items was 46c/sh which was in line with estimates. Company lowered its 2003 revenue outlook to $50B from $52B. Company will realign certain operations. Company lowered its fee cash flow view. 7:34--Caterpillar Q3 EPS was 61c/sh ex-items vs. 55c/sh consensus. 7:34--Intel estimates were lowered at Merrill Lynch. 7:33--Intel was downgraded to market perform from buy at Bank of America. 7:33--Comerica Q3 EPS was 14c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. 7:32--Ford Q3 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. Ford recently said it would post a small profit and not the previously forecast loss. 7:30--Metris Q3 loss was -19c/sh vs. -41c/sh consensus. 7:28--Alcan Q3 EPS ex-items was 47c/sh vs. 46c/sh consensus. However, company guided Q4 EPS down to 35c-45c/sh vs. 56c/sh consensus. 7:27--Office Depot posted Q3 EPS of 28c/sh vs. 27c/sh consensus. Company said it was comfortable with Q4 EPS estimates. 7:26--Cummins corporate rating was lowered to junk at S&P. 7:24--Forward Air was downgraded to underperform from neutral at CSFB. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P -10.00, Nasdaq -29.00. -Yen up today after BOJ’s Hayami said he didn’t expect the yen to fall further. FSA’s Takanaka said he doesn’t see the need for public funds to bail out the banks. -Bonds down after Calpers said they will shift out of bonds. Yesterday there were rumors that Warren Buffet or some other large institution was exiting bonds. Positive: -Merrill Lynch Q3 61c/sh vs. 58c/sh consensus. -Applied MicroCircuits Q2 loss was -4c/sh vs. -5c/sh consensus. -Instinet Q3 EPS was 1c/sh vs. break-even expected. -DoubleClick Q3 EPS was 5c/sh vs. break-even expected. Affirmed Q4 EPS. -Delphi Q3 EPS was 10c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. Sees Q4 EPS of 19c-21c/sh vs. 20c/sh consensus. -RF-MicroDevices Q2 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Guided Q3 EPS to 4c-5c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. -Whirlpool full-year EPS was 1.62 vs. 1.58/sh consensus. -Mercury Computer Q1 EPS was 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Guided Q2 EPS to 18c-22c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. Company affirmed full-year EPS. -Internet Security Q3 EPS was 12c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Raised Q3 pro forma EPS to 14c-16c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. -Daimler Chrysler reached an agreement with the CAW to avert a strike. -JP Morgan Q3 EPS was 16c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. Upgrades: - Negative: -Intel is cutting its 2002 CapEx numbers to $4.7B from $5.0-$5.2B previously forecast. Also warned that Q3 profit ex-items will be 11c/sh vs. 13c/sh consensus. Also said revenue would be $6.5B-6.9B vs. consensus of $6.9B. Guided Q4 EPS toward 12c/sh which is below current consensus of 16c/sh. CFO said that Q4 PC demand will be at the low end of expectations. Said that the majority of its CapEx cut is due to construction savings and not due only to weak demand. -Novellus Q3 EPS was 11c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. Novellus said Q4 EPS would be 11c/sh vs. 6c/sh consensus. Said revenues would be $211M vs. $216M consensus. The stock is down overnight on questions of the quality of earnings. -Infineon cut its 2003 CapEx to the lower end of its $1.0-$1.5B range. -Advent Software Q3 loss was -25c/sh vs. -12c/sh consensus. -FSI International Q4 loss was -32c/sh vs. -30c/sh consensus. Guided Q1 revenues down to $25.0M-$28.0M vs. $28.0M consensus. -Millenium Pharmaceutical Q3 loss was -31c/sh vs. -27c/sh consensus. -Cadence Design Q3 EPS was 15c/sh which was as expected. However, guided Q4 EPS down to 14c-16c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. -Pfizer Q3 EPS was 39c/sh vs. 38c/sh consensus. However, company guided Q4 EPS down to 47c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. -Coca-Cola posted Q3 EPS of 48c/sh which matched. However, company said full-year EPS may fall below expectations. Downgrades: -Intel was downgraded at Salomon. -Capital One was downgraded at Wachovia. Neutral: -Motorola Q3 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. Revenue was $6.4B vs. $6.7B consensus. -Honeywell Q3 EPS was 50c/sh which matched reduced guidance.