Positivo e Negativo a New York

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday October 15th 8:13--S&P is adding a corporate governance score to its research, so that governance policies and disclosure can be evaluated. 8:04--TXU was downgraded to underperform at Salomon. 8:02--Citigroup received positive comments from Merrill Lynch. 7:45--Caterpillar plans to lay off 3,270 workers at engine plants. 7:43--Forest Labs Q2 EPS was 77c/sh vs. 74c/sh consensus. Said 2H will be at least 50% better than last year’s 2H results. 7:42--Agilent was downgraded to in line from outperform at Salomon. 7:40--AOL Time Warner was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Soundview. 7:38--GM gave FY02 guidance of $6.35 vs. $6.28/sh consensus. Q4 EPS is expected to be $1.40 vs. $1.43 consensus. 7:36--Business Inventories were -0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. 7:33--Saudi Airlines said that a lone hijacker of Sudanese dissent wielded a gun in a hijack attempt. Saudi special forces on board overwhelmed the hijacker. There were 204 people on board. 7:24--Vector Group cut its sales estimates for its tobacco unit. 7:19--Playtex was upgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:18--Morgan Stanley’s Biggs said an important bottom may be forming. Biggs has been bullish for a while now. 7:15--Wells Fargo Q3 EPS was 84c/sh which was as expected. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +22.00, Nasdaq +24.00. -Dollar higher based on rally in US stocks. -Yen also down after S&P warned Japan that they could not expect a bank recovery until they instituted more reform. -French and Italian industrial production numbers were weak. Germany will raise taxes on individuals. -BTM weekly sales were -0.9%. -ImClone’s Sam Waksal will plead guilty today. That may implicate Martha Stewart as well. -Pres. Bush tied the explosion in Bali to al-Qaeda. -Saudi Airlines foiled a hijack attempt on a Sudan flight. Positive: -Citigroup Q3 EPS was 74c/sh vs. 73c/sh consensus. -Fannie Mae Q3 EPS was $1.62/sh vs. $1.57/sh consensus. -Delta Q3 loss was $1.75 vs. $1.84/sh consensus. Also will be cutting capacity to meet reduced demand. -State Street Q3 EPS was 56c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. -L-3 Communications Q3 EPS was 62c/sh vs. 61c/sh consensus. -Bank of America Q3 EPS was $1.45/sh vs. $1.41/sh consensus. -GM Q3 EPS ex-items was $1.24/sh vs. 99c/sh consensus. -Johnson & Johnson Q3 EPS was 60c/sh vs. 59c/sh consensus. -Transpro guided said it will post better than expected results for Q3. Company is not surveyed by First Call. Upgrades: -Philip Morris was upgraded to recommended list from market outperform at Goldman Sachs. -Microsoft received positive comments from Goldman Sachs. -Aeropostale, American Eagle, and Gap was upgraded at Piper Jaffray. -Scientific-Atlanta was upgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch. Negative: -WCI Communications warned of Q3 and full year shortfall. Expects Q3 EPS of 20c-24c/sh vs. 32c-37c/sh given in prior forecast. -Pentair Q3 EPS was 75c/sh which was as expected. However, company lowered full-year guidance to $2.60-$2.65/sh vs. $2.80-$2.90/sh given in previous guidance. -Integrated Defense Tech warned that Q3 EPS would be 21c-22c/sh vs. 31c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -European banks were downgraded at UBS to underweight from neutral. -Intel margins look “shaky” according to Merrill Lynch. -Sun Micro may announce layoffs according to Merrill Lynch. Neutral: -Bank One Q3 EPS was 70c/sh which was as expected.

MORNING BRIEFING Good Morning - The Bank of Japan announced overnight that it will buy $16 billion worth of stocks from banks and urged the government to use taxpayer money to write down bad bank loans, in order to restart their critically damaged financial system. The yen continued its slide against the dollar on uncertainty, as to whether the central bank's plan will be enough to keep certain financial institutions within their required international capital requirements, given their massive loan losses. The yen fell to 124.26 per dollar compared with 123.59 late yesterday, while the euro is unchanged at 98.62 U.S. cents. The DXY Dollar Index is trading 0.12 points higher at 107.31 and we continue to recommend a long position relative to the DXY from 106.92 on 7/29/02. We also continue to recommend a sell position on the euro from 98.22 U.S. cents and a buy on the dollar-yen from 119.53 also on 7/29/02. European equity markets are trading substantially higher this morning with technology, insurance and banking stocks leading the advance. U.K. markets were also pushed higher by news that TV broadcaster Granada is in talks to buy rival Carlton Communications. The deal is estimated to be worth about $ 1.4 billion. In London, the FTSE-100 rose 111.40 points to 3,888.70. The CAC-40 blue chip index in Paris gained 105.73 points to 2,864.26, while the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt advanced 113.58 points to 2,846.77. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index rose 89.99 points to 8,529.61 and we continue to recommend a short hedge position from 4,025.10 on the FTSE-100, 3,112.83 on the CAC-40 and 3,289.13 on the Xetra Dax from 9/16/02. We also continue to recommend a short hedge position relative to the Nikkei 225 from 11,327.06 on 6/12/2002. U.S. stocks should open substantially higher this morning, after General Electric met analyst's expectation for third-quarter profits and reiterated its forecast for $1.65 per share for full year 2002. U.S. retail sales fell 1.2% in September to $302.5 billion as purchases of autos, clothing and electronics components declined. Excluding automobiles, sales rose 0.1%, after increasing 0.3% in August. However, these weak numbers were basically in line with economist's expectations. In other news, the producer prices index (PPI) rose only 0.1% in September, lower than the 0.2% economist's were anticipating, while the "core" rate also increased just 0.1%. Through the first nine months of this year, the producer price index rose at a 0.8% annual rate compared with a 0.9% rate of increase in the same period last year. These numbers indicate that while we remain in a low-inflation environment, companies still lack any pricing power to help them improve their profit margins. We now have overhead resistance at 833.13 on the S&P 500 and 868.19 on the Nasdaq NDX. Support remains at 775.68 and 795.25 respectively. Our short-term cycle stochastics remain at an oversold 21.01 on the S&P 500 and 26.97 on the NDX. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index is due out for early October at 10:00 AM and could also effect trading this morning. Based on our short term quantitative and technical indicators, we continue to recommend a short hedge market position from 873.52 on the S&P 500 and 8,207.55 on the Dow Industrials from 9/17/02. We also recommend a short hedge position relative to the Nasdaq NDX from 890.00 on 9/18/02. Our long-term indicators continue to remain negative on the S&P 500 from 1,436.51 on 9/29/00 and 3,277.77 on the Nasdaq NDX from 10/13/00.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday October 11th 8:15--Lockheed Martin was upgraded to outperform at CSFB. 8:12--Int’l Speedway was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 8:12--Cumulus Media was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 8:10--GE said the environment is tougher than they expected in July. 8:09--GE conference call said that there will be no double dip in the economy. Only expects slow growth. Expects its credit rating to remain unchanged. 8:07--Guidance won FDA approval for a heart failure technology. 8:07--Intel received an adverse patent ruling on Intergraph in a federal court. Company will appeal the ruling. 8:03--Monsanto cut its 2002 outlook. Sees $1.15-$1.23 vs. $1.50 consensus. 7:59--Kohl’s was upgraded to buy from hold at Prudential. 7:57--Traces of TNT were found on the French tanker off the Yemen coast. 7:55--NDC Health was upgraded to equal weight at Morgan Stanley. 7:54--Nortel Networks confirmed 2002 revenue estimates of $2.36B. Company sees break-even in Q2 2003. 7:53--Long’s Drugs guided Q3 EPS down to 7c-11c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. Company also guided Q4 EPS down to 51c-56c/sh vs. 58c/sh consensus. 7:50--El Paso sold its 14.4% interest in a pipeline to Enbridge for $165M. El Paso said it is on track for $4B in total asset sales in 2002. 7:43--Black Rock Q3 EPS was 51c/sh which was as expected. 7:38--MIM lowered its Q3 EPS guidance to 19c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. Also lowered full-year guidance to 74c-79c/sh vs. 89c/sh consensus. 7:33--The numbers are complete duds and give little hope of creating market movement. The numbers were too close to expectations and there were few surprises in the reports. 7:30--Sep PPI was +0.1% vs. +0.2% expected. Core PPI was +0.1% vs. +0.1% expected. Crude goods +0.6%. Intermediate goods +0.5%. Energy +0.9%. Passenger cars +0.2%. Tobacco unchanged. 7:30--Sep Retail Sales were -1.2% vs. -1.2% expected. August sales were revised to +0.6% from +0.8% previously. Retail Sales ex-Autos were +0.1% vs. +0.1% expected. August ex-auto sales were revised to +0.3% vs. +0.4% previously. 7:26--Port workers are said to be continuing with their slowdown after returning to their jobs yesterday. 7:24--Kohl’s was upgraded to buy at Prudential. 7:22--Coinstar Q3 revenue was guided up to $41M from $39M-$41M. Said EPS would be at the upper end of 31c-37c/sh range. 7:20--United Online (Juno) bought Bluelight.com’s assets for $8.4M. 7:18--EW Scripps was upgraded to overweight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. 7:17--Teco Energy priced a secondary offering of 17 mln shares. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +9.00, Nasdaq +9.00. -The BOJ 2-day meeting ended today. BOJ urged the government to inject funds into banks if necessary. Said BOJ will buy bank stocks at market prices but won’t say which ones. Said program will continue until the end of 2003. BOJ will keep easy monetary policy intact. There were no new economic policy measures announced, which is seen as disappointing for the yen. -Koizumi hinted at raising the Y30T cap on bond issuances. -French GDP revised down to +0.4%. -The Senate voted to pass the Iraq resolution 77-23. -Evidence is surfacing that the French oil tanker was attacked. Positive: -GE Q3 EPS was 41c/sh, which was as expected. Revenues were $32.6B vs. $31.7B consensus. Company affirmed full-year EPS of $1.65. -PowerWave Q3 EPS was 2c/sh vs. break-even expected. -Royal Caribbean guided Q3 EPS up to 98c-99c/sh vs. 85c/sh consensus. -Echelon Q3 EPS was 13c/sh vs. 9c/sh consensus. Revenues were $33.4M vs. $30.1M consensus. -Express Scripts guided Q3 EPS up to 67c-69c/sh vs. 63c/sh consensus. Company guided full-year EPS up to $2.53-$2.56 vs. $2.44/sh consensus. -Imation revised its Q3 forecast up to 45c-49c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. -KLA-Tencor will buy back an additional 5 mln shares. -Toyota said they see stronger US sales into 2003. Upgrades: -IBM was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Lehman. -Georgia-Pacific was upgraded to overweight at Lehman. -Linens-n-Things was upgraded to buy at Bank of America. -Redback Networks was upgraded to neutral from underperform at CSFB. -Winn-Dixie was upgraded to equal weight at Lehman. Negative: -Lucent will cut 10,000 more jobs in a restructuring program. It will take a $1B restructuring charge and a $3B pension refunding charge. Company moved its break-even revenue figure down to $2.5B. Company forecasted profitability in a year from now. -Therasense Q3 loss was-24c/sh vs. -1c/sh consensus. Revenues were $39M vs. $47M consensus. -Solutia guided Q3 EPS down to 11c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. -Household International is close to a $500M agreement to settle a predatory lending case. Downgrades: -General Mills senior unsecured debt was cut at Moody’s to Baa2. -Symbol Tech was downgraded to underperform from market perform at Raymond James. -International Paper was downgraded to underweight at Lehman. -Therasense was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. -Mattel was downgraded to market perform from strong buy at Piper Jaffray. -Intel estimates were reduced at both Piper Jaffray and Salomon. Neutral: -Juniper Networks Q3 loss was -2c/sh which was as expected. -Worldcom’s Normand pleaded guilty to fraud. He is an ex-accounting executive.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 10th 8:24--Lexmark boosted its Q3 outlook to 68c-70c/sh vs. 64c/sh consensus. 8:11--AFC Enterprises said Q3 comparable sales were below expectations, but that the company is doubling its buyback authorization. 8:09--Yahoo was upgraded to buy at Merrill Lynch. 8:07--Gap said they could see 2c-7c/sh impact on Q4 EPS from port closures. 8:06--Harrah’s was downgraded to in line from outperform at Salomon. 8:05--Gap warned of Q4 earnings risk after Sep comparable store sales were -2.0%. 8:04--Kohl’s is warning that Q3 EPS will be 34c-35c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. 8:02--Brown Shoes guided Q3 EPS up to above $1.00/sh vs. 90c-$1.00/sh given in previous guidance. 8:00--Wendy’s was downgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:48--Fed’s Santomero said that the recovery is slower than one would like, but that early recoveries are rarely smooth. Said geopolitical concerns are damping expansion. Said monetary policy remains accommodated. Said Fed retains room to react to economic trouble. Said housing prices are currently stable. The comments seem in line with comments made recently by other Fed members and should have little impact on the market. 7:46--Electronic Arts estimates were raised at Soundview. 7:43--Payless Shoe reduced their Q3 EPS to $1.00-$1.10 vs. $1.23/sh consensus. 7:41--American Eagle was downgraded at CIBC. 7:37--Amazon.com estimates were raised at Soundview. 7:34--MGIC Investment Q3 EPS was $1.41/sh vs. $1.42/sh consensus. Company said Q4 EPS would be $1.30-$1.35 vs. $1.35 consensus. Said 2003 EPS will be $6.05-$6.20 vs. $6.08 consensus. 7:32--The initial claims number is a non-factor because there was a seasonal adjustment problem at the BLS due to Sep 11th comparisons. That is likely why the bonds moved back up toward pre-7:30 levels. 7:30--Import Prices were +0.7% vs. +0.4% consensus. Prices ex-oil were +0.2%. Petroleum prices were +6.0%. 7:30--Initial Claims were -40K to 384K vs. 410K expected. Last week was revised up to 424K from 417K. 7:28--UPS was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. 7:27--Target is modestly cutting its sales and EPS views. 7:25--USA Interactive announced a merger with Ticketmaster and will carry it out with a share swap. The value of the swap puts about a 20% premium on Ticketmaster’s closing price yesterday. 7:23--Yum Brands was downgraded to buy at Bank of America. 7:22--Abercrombie & Fitch said that Q3 EPS would be 41c-45c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. 7:19--Instinet was upgraded to hold at WR Hambrecht. 7:16--Ann Taylor backed its Q3 EPS estimates. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +2.00, Nasdaq +6.00. -The ECB left refinancing rates unchanged at 3.25%. -The BOE left o/n rates unchanged at 4.00%. -Yen down slightly after Nikkei fell -1.2%. -The House will vote on an Iraq resolution today. -There was another sniper shooting at a Maryland gas station overnight. Positive: -Aetna guided Q3 EPS up to 70c/sh vs. 35c/sh consensus. Full-year guidance went to $2.20-$2.25 vs. $1.48/sh consensus. -Yahoo Q3 EPS was 5c/sh vs. 4c/sh consensus. Revenue was $248.8M vs. $238.4M consensus. Company raised guidance for 2002 & 2003 revenues above expectations. -Yum! Brands posted Q3 EPS of 49c/sh vs. 48c/sh consensus. Revenues were $1.9B vs. $1.8B consensus. Sees 2002 EPS of $1.89-$1.91 vs. $1.90 consensus. Yum raised its 2002 new store forecast, affirmed its full-year EPS view, and cut its Q4 view to 54c-56c/sh from 58c/sh consensus. -Rambus Q4 EPS was 6c/sh vs. 5c/sh consensus. Company said they will buyback up to 5 mln shares. -Sonus Networks Q3 loss was -8c/sh vs. -9c/sh consensus. -Redback Networks Q3 loss was -20c/sh vs. -23c/sh consensus. Revenues fell 52.9% on the year, but were still slightly above estimates. -Genentech Q3 EPS was 23c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $675M vs. $648M consensus. -United Technologies boosted its ’02 buyback to $700M from $600M. Board okayed a total buyback program of $1.5B or 30 mln shares. -Costco’s Q4 EPS was 52c/sh vs. 49c/sh consensus. -Network Associates Q3 EPS was 15c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. -MDC Holdings Q3 EPS was $1.57/sh vs. $1.36/sh consensus. -EW Scripps Q3 EPS was 78c/sh vs. 60c/sh consensus. Upgrades: -Applied Microcircuits was upgraded to outperform from market perform. -Yahoo was upgraded to hold from sell at WR Hambrecht. -Aetna was upgraded to peer perform from underperform at Bear Stearns. Negative: -American Eagle warned Q3 EPS will be 31c-34c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. Also warned that Q4 EPS will be 50c-55c/sh vs. 61c/sh consensus. -BJ’s Wholesale warned of Q3 & Q4 shortfall. Said Q3 EPS would be 16c-18c/sh vs. 42c/sh consensus. Said Q4 EPS would be 80c-82c/sh vs. 87c/sh consensus. -Talbot’s said Sep same-store sales were -6.1%. Lowered its Q3 EPS outlook to 59c-61c/sh vs. 70c/sh consensus. -Stanley Works cut its Q3 EPS outlook to 61c-63c/sh vs. 72c/sh consensus. -Federated cut its Q3 EPS to 30c-35c/sh vs. 35c-45c/sh given in previous guidance. -Men’s Wearhouse lowered its Q3 guidance to 10c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. Company also lowered Q4 EPS estimates. -Helix Tech cut its dividend. Downgrades: -GE was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. Said Q4 appears challenging. Company was downgraded yesterday by Morgan Stanley. -Yum was downgraded at Merrill Lynch. -Allianz debt rating was cut at S&P to AA from AA+. Neutral: -BorgWarner reaffirmed its outlook. -Accenture Q4 EPS matched estimates and company affirmed 2003 outlook. -Pier 1 affirmed Q3 EPS expectations of 29c-31c/sh. -JC Penny backed its Q3 view of 17c-21c/sh and full-year view of 90c-$1.00. -Clayton Homes matched EPS expectations.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday October 9th 7:58--Unocal was upgraded to buy at Wachovia. 7:58--Pure Resources was upgraded to buy at Wachovia. 7:55--AMB Property was downgraded to hold at Prudential. 7:54--Manufactured Homes lowered its Q3 and full-year outlook. Company only has a $650M market cap, but warning may be used as a proxy for all housing stocks after recent checks show that their business may be slowing. 7:53--Gemstar was upgraded to neutral at Soundview. 7:52--The ABC/Money Mag consumer confidence poll was the lowest since Jan ’96. 7:51--Argosy Gaming was downgraded to sell at Prudential. It was downgraded earlier at Bear Stearns after it reduced its earnings estimates yesterday afternoon. 7:50--Nextel was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:48--Ruby Tuesday was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Wachovia. 7:46--Gentex was upgraded to buy from hold at Prudential. 7:46--Johnson Controls was upgraded to buy from hold at Prudential. 7:45--ABC News/Money Magazine consumer confidence poll was down 5 points in latest week. 7:44--Merck was downgraded to market perform at Raymond James. 7:43--Manulife Financial was upgraded to sector outperform at CIBC. 7:41--Selectica was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:40--This morning’s shooting in Maryland was inside the Cadillac Motel and is thought to be a domestic issue. 7:38--Ford is recalling 400,000 Taurus and Sable models with adjustable brake pedals. The pedals are said to be too close to the gas pedal and has been linked to 18 accidents. It includes 2000-2002 models. 7:36--AT&T Broadband will cut 1,700 jobs. 7:34--Commerce Bancorp Q3 EPS was 53c/sh vs. 52c/sh consensus. Company raised its growth rates for revenue and earnings slightly. 7:33--Police do not believe that today’s shooting is related to the sniper and instead is a domestic issue. 7:30--The shooting was at a motel in Prince George’s county. 7:29--There are reports of another shooting in Maryland. 7:21--GM received negative comments from Lehman. Price target was reduced. 7:18--Siebel Systems received cautious comments from Bear Stearns, which said it may not be able to meet profit estimates. 7:14--MedImmune estimates were raised at Merrill Lynch. Price target was also raised. 7:12--Best Buy estimates were reduced at Merrill Lynch. 7:05--Stocks are: S&P -9.00, Nasdaq -7.00. -Yen up slightly after dockworker’s strike ended and US stock market moved lower this morning. Nikkei -2.0%. -Euro up slightly after German Industrial Production was +1.8%, which was better than expected. -The west coast port backlog may take 2 1/2 months to clear. Positive: -Sara Lee guided Q1 EPS up to 35c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. -American Health Q4 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. -Gymboree raised its Q3 outlook to 15c-17c/sh vs. 13c-15c/sh given previously. Company reaffirmed its Q4 forecast. -Movie Gallery raised its Q3 EPS outlook to 26c-28c/sh vs. 21c-24c/sh consensus. -Quest Diagnostics guided Q3 EPS up to 85c-87c/sh from 80c/sh consensus. -M&T Bank Q3 EPS was $1.32 vs. $1.27/sh consensus. Upgrades: -Pepsico was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Goldman Sachs. Negative: -SunTrust Banks Q3 EPS was $1.20/sh vs. $1.21/sh consensus. -Abbott Labs met Q3 EPS estimates of 46c/sh, but is cutting 2,000 jobs. -Argosy Gaming warned Q3 EPS would be 63c-65c/sh vs. 72c/sh consensus. -Corning affirmed Q3 EPS estimates. Company also said that continued difficulty in telecom industry will lead to restructurings and further reductions in headcount. -Northeast Utilities said 2002 EPS would be $1.10-$1.30 vs. $1.30 consensus. Downgrades: -Goldman’s Abby Cohen cut S&P 500 target to 1150 from 1300. Dow target was cut to 10,800 from 11,300 previously. In other words, the new target looks for a 45% rally from today’s prices. -GE’s 2003 estimates were lowered at Morgan Stanley to $1.70 from $1.79/sh. -Allmerica Financial was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Lehman. -Argosy Gaming was downgraded to peer perform at Bear Stearns. -AOL Time Warner received negative comments from Merrill Lynch. Neutral: -RPM said Q1 EPS was 38c/sh vs. 37c/sh consensus. However, company said the future remains “challenging.” -Nautica Q2 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 29c/sh consensus. Said that Q3 would be 40c-41c/sh vs. 42c/sh consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday October 8th 8:03--GM CEO said he sees 2003 sales falling due to a slow economy through the middle of next year. 7:58--The semiconductor equipment group received cautious comments from Lehman. Said KLA-Tencor and Cymer are best positioned to weather the storm. 7:51--CVS said they expect Q3 EPS at the high end of its 37c-39c/sh guidance range. 7:50--Accenture was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 7:47--Carolina Group was downgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch. 7:45--Weyerhauser will close a containerboard mill in Ontario and lay off 134 workers. 7:43--DuPont 2003 EPS estimates were lowered at Lehman. 7:40--Cholestech guided Q2 EPS down to 7c-8c/sh vs. 11c/sh consensus. 7:34--Sara Lee was upgraded to equal weight from under weight at Lehman. 7:32--ConocoPhillips was upgraded at Bear Stearns. 7:30--The auto sector was downgraded to market weight from overweight at CSFB. 7:18--BTM weekly chain store sales were +0.8%. Sales were said to have picked up and were above plan. Said they see same store sales a weak +1.5%. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +4.00, Nasdaq +2.00. -Yen unchanged. Nikkei closed +0.2%. Koizumi said he has no plans to draft an extra budget. August machine orders were -13.6% -ECB’s Duisenberg said euro unemployment is unacceptably high, inflation will stay around 2% for remainder of year, and analysis doesn’t show any deflation. -There were no developments in the dockworkers strike overnight. -Pres Bush spoke last night on Iraq, but the speech seemed to closely resemble comments that he’s made in recent weeks and months. Positive: -P&O Princess said they would meet or beat 2002 EPS estimates of 42c-44c/sh. -Sharper Image raised its Q3 loss outlook to 5c-7c/sh -Lockheed Martin will buy back up to 23M shares, or 0.5% of outstanding stock. -Apollo Group said Q4 EPS was 26c/sh vs. 22c/sh consensus. -Moog was awarded an F-35 contract from Lockheed Martin. Upgrades: -Drug sector was upgraded at Lehman. -Sigma-Aldrich was upgraded to outperform at Salomon. Negative: -Pepsico Q3 EPS was 55c/sh vs. 54c/sh expected. However, company guided full-year EPS down to $1.89/sh vs. $1.94/sh consensus. -BCE (Canadian communications firm) said Q3 profit was at the bottom end of range. Also trimmed Q4 and full-year profit -Schering-Plough confirmed that the SEC is investigating the company’s selloff last week. -JDA Software warned that Q3 EPS would be 6c-7c/sh vs. 8c/sh consensus. -W-H Energy warned that Q3 EPS would be 12c-13c/sh vs. 15c/sh consensus. -Teco Energy reported Q3 EPS of 72c/sh, which was inline with expectations. However, company said it will offer new stock in order to accelerate its financial plan. Offering will decrease 2002 & 2003 earnings. -Proxim guided Q3 pro forma revenue down to $46M from $50M-$55M consensus. -Electroglas lowered its Q3 revenue outlook and also said it will cut another 20%-25% of its workforce in Q4. -McData lowered its Q3 EPS outlook to break-even to -1c/sh vs. +2c/sh consensus. -Dollar-Tree Q3 revenue was $513.5M vs. $529M expected. Company warned that Q4 EPS would be $825M-$830M vs. $848M expected. Downgrades: -Medical Staffing sector was downgraded at Lehman. -Philip Morris was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. -IBM’s estimates were lowered at Goldman Sachs. -Household International was downgraded to underperform at CIBC. Neutral: -International Rectifier affirmed Q3 EPS expectations. -New Century Financial reaffirmed its 2002 forecast. -Charter One affirmed Q3 guidance.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday October 7th 8:43--Worldcom former Director of Accounting will plead guilty. 8:39--Law enforcement said there was no shooting at the Wal-Mart. 8:35--March McLennan was upgraded to overweight at JP Morgan. 8:32--Sears is being downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB. 8:31--Pres. Bush is setting up a port lockout board of inquiry. 8:27--There are now reports of shots fired at a WalMart just a couple miles from the school where another shooting took place this morning. 8:23--Medtronic received approval for its Zipper stent from the FDA. 8:22--Sears said Q3 EPS 80c-82c/sh vs. 86c/sh expected. The number includes 3c/sh dilution from Land’s end. Adding 3c/sh, the guidance is still below consensus. Full year was guided to $5.15/sh vs. $5.27/sh consensus. 8:04--Aspen Tech sees a shortfall in Q1 revenue. Looks for $76M-$78M vs. $84M given in previous guidance. Also said it sees a greater than expected loss. 8:02--Titan Corp was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Wachovia. 7:53--Retailers’ estimates were lowered at Prudential. 7:51--Baxter was upgraded to outperform from perform at Bear Stearns. 7:50--Citrix Systems’ estimates were raised at Bank of America. 7:48--SAP AG was upgraded to peer perform from underperform at Bear Stearns. 7:47--ASML Holdings was downgraded to sell from hold at UBS. 7:45--Regis Corp backed its Q1 EPS view. 7:43--A child was shot in front of a Maryland middle school. It was a 13 yr old boy that was shot and injured. 7:41--Prudential is also downgrading Microtune, Cypress Semiconductor, and Emcore. 7:35--Semiconductor industry was downgraded to market perform at Prudential. 7:35--Broadcom was downgraded to hold at Prudential. 7:35--LSI Logic was downgraded to hold at Prudential. 7:25--TXU was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:25--Merrill Lynch may cut 2,000 jobs according to the Sunday Times. 7:17--Therasense was downgraded to hold at WR Hambrecht. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -7.00, Nasdaq -6.00. -An explosion set a French oil tanker ablaze three miles off the port of Mina al-Dabahoff off the coast of Yemen. The tanker’s owner said a small boat struck the tanker and exploded, while the Yemeni government said the fire was caused by an oil leak. France is sending investigators. -Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a crowd in Gaza, which killed 10 and injured dozens more. There was not comment from Israel yet, but the missile explosion came hours after Palestinians fired a mortar shell at a Jewish settlement. -Nikkei closed -3.7%. -US west coast dockworkers remain on strike. -The Fed is having a normal bi-weekly meeting today, but part of the meeting is being held under “expedited procedures,” which is causing some to expect a surprise rate cut. Positive: -Entergy raised its Q3 & full-year expectations. Q3 went to $1.45 vs. $1.35 consensus and full-year was raised to $3.60-$3.70 vs. $3.54/sh consensus. -Moody’s said they will meet or exceed estimates, after on Friday, Bear Stearns warned that Moody’s would miss estimates due to a debt issuance vacuum. The stock sold off 9% on Friday as a result. Moody’s said they will make at least 39c/sh, which is current consensus. -FMC boosted its Q3 outlook to 78c/sh vs. 73c/sh consensus. -Intel’s CEO Barrett said he sees the PC market improving in early 2003. -Oracle said they see a recovery in European business in late-2003. Upgrades: -Adolph Coors was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley. Negative: -Schering-Plough received negative comments in WSJ, which said that last week’s selloff may have been the result of selective leaks to institutional clients regarding improper disclosures. -JP Morgan plans a new round of layoffs of around 4,000 workers. Downgrades: -Amerada Hess was downgraded to hold at AG Edwards. -Meristar’s debt rating was cut at S&P. -Felcor Lodging’s debt outlook was cut to negative from stable at S&P. -Household International was downgraded to market outperform from recommended list at Goldman Sachs. -RJ Reynolds may cut its forecast again according to analysts quoted by Bloomberg. -UPS and FedEx were downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Arkansas Best was downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. -GlaxoSmithKline was downgraded to hold at UBS. Neutral: -Developers Diversified will buy JDN Realty for $1B.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday October 4th 8:13--Northern Trust said that Q3 EPS was 43c/sh vs. 55c/sh consensus. 8:10--UPS estimates and its price target were cut at Salomon. 8:07--Cigna was downgraded to underperform from in line at Salomon. 8:06--Semiconductor equipment company estimates were lowered at Morgan Stanley. 8:03--Schering-Plough was upgraded to outperform at SG Cowen. Company earlier made a Q3 earnings warning. 7:56--Jack Henry was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:51--St. Jude Medical was downgraded to outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:48--Labcorp was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. It was downgraded also by Bank of America. 7:46--First Data was upgraded to strong buy at Piper Jaffray. It was downgraded earlier by Morgan Stanley. 7:44--Georgia-Pacific was downgraded to neutral at Merrill. 7:42--Labcorp was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:34--Alcoa Q3 EPS ex-items was 26c/sh, which was as expected. Sales were $5.2B vs. $5.8B expected. 7:30--September non-farm payrolls were -43K vs. +7K expected. August was revised +107K from +39K previously reported. Mfg payrolls were -35K vs. -22K expected. Average hourly earnings were +0.3% vs. +0.3% expected. Unemployment rate was 5.6% vs. 5.9% expected. Averaging the non-farm payroll number for Aug and Sep shows an upward 68K revision in Aug and a 50K miss on Sep. Net, it is +18K. The unemployment rate was much lower than expected. The other numbers were neutral. Net, it is a stronger indication on the economy and a negative for the bond market. 7:25--TXU lowered Q3 EPS guidance to 90c-95c/sh vs. $1.56/sh consensus. Lowered Q4 EPS to 60c-65c/sh vs. $1.03/sh consensus. Company also lowered full-year and 2003 EPS guidance. 7:22--Information Holdings was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 7:18--Ethan Allen was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -2.00, Nasdaq +1.00. -EuroZone PMI was 49.1 vs. 50.8 previously. German PMI was 44.6 vs. 47.4 previously. -The chief UN weapons inspector will meet with Powell and Rice today. -Greyhound passengers subdued another attack, this time in Ohio. Positive: -Research In Motion Q2 loss was -13c/sh vs. -18c/sh consensus. Company also approved the repurchase of 3.8M shares. -PC Connection raised its Q3 EPS and revenue outlook. Now expects EPS of 5c-7c/sh vs. 2c-5c/sh previously. -Cognos announced a 4.3 mln share repurchase program. -Chrysler said it will spend $35M to add 1,000 jobs at a Michigan plant. Upgrades: -CIT received positive comments from Lehman, which said company is trading below book value and is a buying opportunity. -Alexion Pharmaceutical Q4 loss was -$1.15/sh vs. -$1.30/sh consensus. -Biogen was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merrill Lynch. -Adtran was upgraded to buy at Deutsche Bank. -Lifepoint Hospitals was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. Negative: -EMC cut its Q3 loss forecast to -2c/sh from -1c/sh consensus. Cut its revenue forecast to $125B vs. $1.4B consensus. Company also said it would buy back up to 250 mln shares. -Schering-Plough warned that Q3 EPS would be 28c-29c/sh vs. 41c/sh consensus. -Interwoven guided Q3 loss forecast down to 7c-8c/sh vs. -4c/sh consensus. Said revenues would be $29M-$30M vs. $33.6M consensus. -DeVry cut its Q1 EPS guidance to 13c-16c/sh vs. 21c/sh consensus. -DuPont Photomasks warned that Q1 EPS and revenue would miss expectations. Expects Q1 loss of 30c-32c/sh vs. -7c/sh consensus. -Precision Drilling guided Q3 EPS down to 11c-14c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. Company also guided Q4 EPS down to 28c-35c/sh vs. 67c/sh consensus. -MatrixOne warned that Q3 loss would be 11-12c/sh vs. -7c/sh consensus. -Boeing said the airline recovery won’t be as rapid as expected. Sees $250M in Q3 charges, which will cut Q3 net by 20c/sh. Downgrades: -Alcoa’s corporate credit rating was cut to A from A+ at S&P. -Bally Total Fitness was downgraded to underperform at CIBC. -Park Place Entertainment was downgraded to hold at Deutsche Bank. -Documentum was cut to hold at Deutsche Bank. -Cumulus Media was downgraded to equal weight at Lehman. -First Data was downgraded to underweight from overweight at Morgan Stanley. -Advanced Energy was downgraded to underweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Marriott was downgraded to neutral at Merrill Lynch. -Celestica was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. -Sanmina was downgraded to underperform at CSFB. -Benchmark Electronics was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. Neutral: -Integrated Circuit reiterated its Q1 EPS guidance of 19c-20c/sh. -Prudential said they may sell their personal property and casualty operations.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday October 3rd 7:58--Cambrex was upgraded to overweight at JP Morgan. 7:47--Broadcom was downgraded to underperform at Salomon. 7:32--DuPont boosting Q3 outlook. Said that Q3 EPS would be 35c-37c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. DuPont’s prior forecast was 24c/sh. 7:30--Jobless claims were +5K to 417K vs. 410K expected. Last week was revised to 412K vs. 406K. 7:23--Tweeter said that Q4 EPS would be 2c-3c/sh vs. 3c/sh consensus. Full-year EPS was guided to 74c-81c/sh vs. 80c/sh consensus. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P -4.00, Nasdaq -9.00. -The Army is said to be conducting the biggest operation in Afghanistan seen in 6 months. Army also said it is relying less on special forces troops and more on airborne forces. -France and Germany are split with the US over Iraq war and weapons inspection. -Japan’s Koizumi wants to postpone banks’ deposit insurance cap. -NJ Supreme court ruled that Torricelli can be replaced on the Democratic ballot. -Yesterday’s order entry error at Bear Stearns was actually a $4M sell order that was incorrectly entered as $4B. Only $622M was actually sold, but Bear Stearns hedged itself in S&P’s in the last 15 minutes of yesterday’s trade. Positive: -Emmis Communications Q2 EPS was 4c/sh vs. 2c/sh consensus. -Adtran said that its Q3 revenue and EPS numbers would exceed expectations. -Marriott said Q3 EPS was 46c/sh vs. 42c/sh consensus. -Hormel Foods authorized a 10 mln share buyback. -Sonic Solutions video software was selected by Sony. -Footstar guided Q3 EPS up to 60c-65c/sh vs. 56c/sh consensus. Upgrades: -Motorola’s handset shipment numbers were upgraded at JP Morgan. Company was upgraded to overweight. -Intel being spun positive by Lehman and CSFB despite the earnings warning produced yesterday afternoon at AMD. Said that Intel is making headway vs. AMD. Negative: -AMD said they see Q3 sales at $500M vs. $600M previously forecast. Said they see substantial operating loss for the quarter. -The Bank of NY said that Q3 EPS would be 47c/sh before charges, which is below 50c/sh consensus. Said they are boosting their quarterly loan loss provision by $185M. Will take a $210M valuation adjustment. Said charges will cut Q3 EPS by 36c. -Wet Seal guided Q3 EPS lower to break-even to 5c/sh vs. 18c/sh market consensus. Said sales are weak. -Checkpoint Software guided Q3 sales down to $103M-$104M vs. $108.8M consensus. Company affirmed Q3 EPS of 25c/sh. -Guess lowered their Q3 guidance to 1c-3c/sh vs. 7c/sh consensus. -Micrel guided Q3 pro forma loss to 3-5c/sh vs. break-even currently expected. -Jack Henry warned that Q1 earnings would be around 12c-13c/sh vs. 17c/sh consensus. -LaQuinta warned that its Q3 results will not achieve expectations. -Micromuse guided Q4 loss to 10c-12c/sh vs. -3c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Gateway’s full-year revenue estimate was cut to $4.1B from $5.1B at CSFB. -Sun Micro’s price target was cut to $4 from $5 at CSFB. -HPQ price target was cut to $14 from $18 at CSFB. Full-year EPS estimate was also cut. -Network storage estimates were cut at Merrill Lynch. Network Appliance was downgraded to neutral. -Shoe Carnival was downgraded to hold at Wells Fargo. Neutral: -Avon Products affirmed 2002 EPS guidance.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday October 2nd 7:59--Charles River was downgraded to outperform at Piper Jaffray. 7:56--Scientific-Atlanta was downgraded at Salomon. 7:55--Nabors Industries was downgraded at Salomon. 7:44--Harrah’s and Argosy Gaming were upgraded at CIBC. 7:43--Tenet Healthcare said Q1 EPS would be 68c/sh vs. 66c/sh consensus. 7:37--AOL Time Warner is considering a merger with Disney according to the NY Post. 7:33--Internet Security was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan. 7:32--General Dynamics was added to Merrill Lynch’s Focus 1 list. 7:30--Covance reiterated its full-year outlook. 7:28--Comerica’s debt outlook was revised to negative from stable at Fitch. 7:26--Comerica warned that Q2 EPS would be around 90c/sh vs. $1.22/sh current consensus. 7:21--Boston Scientific was upgraded to outperform from perform at CIBC. Guidance was downgraded to underperform from perform. 7:20--Stocks are: S&P -7.00, Nasdaq -14.00. -German debt auction received only a 1.6 bid/cover and the poor showing is pressuring European bonds. -Yen down after Nikkei failed to follow-through with yesterday’s US market strength. Nikkei -1.2%. -Ex-Enron CFO surrendered to federal agents. -Iraq said it will not accept any new UN resolution. Sec of State Powell said not one thing has changed since 1998 and Iraq must have consequences for failure to perform. -API said crude oil inventories fell 14 mln barrels. -Network TV ads sales are strong, with Q4 nearly sold out, according to the WSJ. Positive: -Dell said that Q3 EPS would be around 21c/sh which is as expected. Company said revenue would be around $9.1B vs. $8.9B given in previous guidance. -Hollywood Entertainment raised its profit forecast to 25c-26c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. -Barnes & Noble will buy back $10M in B&N.com. -United Defense won two Navy contracts worth $90M. Upgrades: - Negative: -EDS’ purchase and settlement of forward contracts of its own stock received an informal inquiry by the SEC. -Guidant lost a ruling yesterday by a judge regarding a stent trial. Boston Scientific is seen as a beneficiary. -Deutsche Telekom will cut 8,300 jobs in 2004-2005. -Advent Software sees Q3 & Q4 revenue below market estimates. -Charter Comms said Q3 cash flow will miss projections. -ATI Tech warned that Q4 EPS would miss expectations of 2c/sh. -Polycom lowered Q3 pro forma guidance to 8c-9c/sh vs. 12c/sh consensus. -Dow Chemical warned that Q3 EPS would be 16c/sh vs. 29c/sh consensus. -Park Electrochemical Q2 loss was -3c/sh which was below consensus. -Shoe Carnival lowered Q3 & Q4 EPS guidance. -BNSF lowered EPS guidance. -Retek lowered its Q3 EPS guidance. Downgrades: -Merrill Lynch lowered its 2002 & 2003 semiconductor company growth estimates. Estimates were cut at a number of semiconductor equipment companies. -Schlumberger’s outlook was cut to negative at Moody’s. -Cisco’s revenue estimate and price target were reduced at UBS. -Enterprise software estimates were reduced at Deutsche Bank. Names include SEBL, PSFT, MANU, DCTM, and VIGN. -Guidant was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. -Ball Corp was downgraded to underweight at Morgan Stanley. -Owens-Illinois was downgraded to equal weight at Morgan Stanley. -Lehman’ price target was cut to $66 from $72 at Morgan Stanley. -Merrill Lynch’s price target was cut to $43 from $44 at Morgan Stanley. Neutral: -US Airways will issue standby travel coupons for $100. -TRW sold its aeronautical systems division to Goodrich for $1.5B.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday October 1st 8:02--Apache was downgraded to neutral at CSFB. 8:00--Sun Microsystems’ sales forecast was cut at Goldman. 7:58--Airline sector was downgraded to neutral from positive at Lehman. 7:57--TXU was downgraded to neutral from buy at Merrill Lynch. 7:56--Aeropostale was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:54--Flowserve was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:52--Target was downgraded to in line at Salomon. 7:47--Network Associates was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight at Lehman. 7:44--Biosite was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Bank of America. 7:42--Scotts postponed a 4.5 mln share offering due to unfavorable market conditions. 7:39--Autozone filed a shelf of $500 mln in debt securities. 7:36--Alcon was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Bank of America. 7:33--Forest Labs was upgraded to buy at Bank of America after yesterday’s upward guidance. 7:32--Supervalu Q2 EPS was 44c/sh vs. 43c/sh consensus. Revenues were $4.5B vs. $4.42B consensus. On the negative side, company said that Q3 EPS will be 47c-52c/sh vs. 52c/sh consensus. Full-year EPS is expected $2.10-$2.20/sh vs. $2.12/sh consensus. 7:29--ASML Holdings was upgraded to sector perform at CIBC. 7:26--US Bancorp was upgraded to overweight at Morgan Stanley. 7:25--BTM weekly retail sales was -0.8%. Firm said they see incredibly weak Sept same-store sales of +1.5%. 7:24--Toyota will recall 420,000 vehicles for defects in brakes and steering parts. 7:23--Talk America increased its EBITDA estimate to $15M-$16M from $12M-$14M previously. 7:22--SAP AG was downgraded to hold from buy at Wachovia. 7:21--Amazon.com’s Q3 estimates were raised at Bear Stearns. 7:20--United Surgical priced a 2.1 mln share follow-on offering. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +6.00, Nasdaq +6.00. -Euro down after French consumer confidence fell to a 5 month low on unemployment concerns. -Yen down after Japanese PMI moved below 50, showing more pessimism. Tankan survey rose to -14 vs. -18. -Bonds said to be down on Fannie Mae’s narrowing of its duration gap from -14 (14 months) to -10 (10 months). -Crude oil up on worries about Hurricane Lilly. -Information has surfaced that the US supplied Iraq with germ samples in the 1980’s. -CBO estimates that war with Iraq would cost $9B/month. -Worldwide chip sales were +2.2%. -Steve Beckner said that the two dissenters in last FOMC doesn’t mean that the fed would ease (could also be bearish for credit markets). Positive: -Sun’s annual report showed an upward revision to Q4 EPS from +1c/sh to +2c/sh. The move was made due to vacation and commission accruals. Company also said that if its market cap did not rise to $29.1B, it would have to take a $2.2B goodwill impairment charge. -Forest Labs will exceed estimates for FY03. Will give a yearly forecast during its Q2 earnings release. Also said it expects to beat Q2 EPS expectations of 57c/sh by 30% due to strong sales. Upgrades: -US Bancorp and MGIC were upgraded at Lehman. -Dell was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. Negative: -UAL suspended its dividend. -Cirrus Logic cut its Q2 revenue goal and forecast flat Q3 revenue. -Pericom Semiconductor said its Q1 loss would be -4c/sh vs. break-even expected. -Harmonic said they will miss Q3 EPS and revenue targets. -Oracle may have improperly booked revenue in its sale of a business unit to California. -Ninetendo cut is full year forecast based on yen strength. -Target said Sept same-store sales will miss forecasts. -Aeropostale said that Q3 EPS would be 31c-33c/sh vs. 50c/sh consensus. -Advo cut its Q4 sales forecast. -Nabors Industries guided Q3 & Q4 EPS down below consensus. Downgrades: - Neutral: -PepsiBottling met Q3 EPS expectations of 61c/sh. -AOL Time Warner’s Case is wanted out by Ted Turner according to the NYT.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday September 30th 8:34--Radian was upgraded to strong buy at UBS. 8:20--Tupperware was upgraded to strong buy at Raymond James. 8:17--One thing we are weary of is last week’s addition of Fed speakers to this week’s calendar. There are 8 scheduled speeches taking place this week and suggest remaining on guard for possible prepping of markets for a rate cut. 8:16--The NABE is forecasting business spending to remain weak in 2003. Said GDP will rise to 3% in the second half of 2002. Said interest rates should remain low in 2003. Said middle ease turmoil will pose a risk to the economy. 8:13--McDonough said bankers hurt themselves lacking faith in Brazil. Doesn’t see Lula changing government policies. These comments tied with his earlier comments that the US could cut rates suggests that Latin America will play a part in a US rate cut decision as well as the US economy and a potential war with Iraq. 8:13--Carpenter Tech cut its dividend to 8.25c/sh from 33c/sh. 8:11--Advanced Fibre Communication’s estimates were lowered at Morgan Stanley. 8:07--Bristol Myers estimates were cut at SG Cowen. 8:03--RGR Technical is liquidating its short bond position at market, or 11413. Position was entered on Friday at 11326. Loss is 19 ticks. 8:00--Fed’s McDonough said the Fed has room to lower interest rates. Said it’s likely the US economy will do just fine. Said the Fed knows what to do if the economy slows. The comments are significant and suggest that a rate cut will eventually come. Just last week, it seemed the market was expecting the next move to be a rate hike. 7:58--Network Associates was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Wachovia. Firm also cut estimates for Internet Security and Checkpoint Systems. 7:55--Takenaka said a panel will intensively discuss a tax cut policy in October. Said there wasn’t a big gap on the size of a tax cut between gov’t panels. 7:53--MGIC Investment was upgraded to strong buy from buy at UBS. 7:46--Nortel was downgraded to neutral at Soundview. 7:45--McData was upgraded to outperform at Soundview. 7:43--Agilent Tech was downgraded to neutral at Soundview. 7:39--Digi Int’l affirmed its Q4 loss view of 3c-5c/sh which is at consensus. Q1 was guided upward to 0c-2c/sh vs. -1c/sh consensus. 7:39--Wal-Mart’s 2002 market consensus expectation was $1.79/sh, which means they guided full-year down by 1c-3c/sh. Q3 guidance was at expectations. 7:36--Wyeth was downgraded to market perform at Bank of America. 7:34--Walgreen’s Q3 EPS was 24c/sh vs. 25c/sh consensus. 7:32--Wal-Mart reaffirmed its 2002 earnings view of $1.76-$1.78/sh and its Q3 view of 40c-41c/sh. Company said that its weekly sales were below plan. 7:30--August Personal income was +0.4% vs. +0.5% expected. PCE was +0.3% vs. +0.5% expected. July income and spending were both un-revised in July. 7:28--Therma-Wave warned that Q2 EPS would be below estimates. 7:26--Network Associates was downgraded to buy from strong buy at Wachovia. 7:23--Teradyne’s outlook was given cautious comments at Lehman due to anticipation of weaker orders. 7:21--Connetics raised its 2002 revenue outlook to $47M from $44M-$46M previously. 7:20--Cost Plus okayed the buyback of 500,000 shares, which is 2.3% of outstanding shares. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -8.00, Nasdaq -7.00. -Israeli troops have pulled out of Arafat’s compound. Arafat called for a cease-fire. There were 2 injuries at the US embassy in Kabul after a blast went off near the embassy. -Japan’s Yanagisawa was dropped as the head of FSA which is seen as a positive for the government’s disposal of bad loans. He is being replaced by Takenaka. -Chip equipment orders for August in Japan rose 15.6% y/y, which was the lowest rate of increase in 6 months. -West Coast dock workers were locked out and is shutting down most shipping. Positive: -Pfizer’s Inspra hypertension drug was approved by the FDA. -Labor Ready raised Q3 guidance to 15c-17c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. Upgrades: -UBS upgraded private mortgage insurers MTG, PMI, and RDN. -Travelers Property was upgraded to rec list from outperform at Goldman. -FreePort-McMoran was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Goldman. Negative: -Extreme Networks guided Q1 loss to 3c-4c/sh vs. +4c/sh consensus. -Legg Mason filed a $500M convertible debt offering. -Hartford Financial was downgraded to market outperform from recommended list at Goldman. Downgrades: -GE estimates were lowered at Merrill Lynch. -Business Objects was downgraded to market outperform from recommended list at Goldman. -Fannie Mae received negative comments from Lehman. Neutral: -

Aggioniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday September 27th 7:45--Tasty Baking said that Q3 EPS will be “well below” street target. 7:40--Chubb was downgraded to under-perform from outperform at Salomon. 7:38--Tobacco stocks weighting was cut at Salomon to market weight from overweight. 7:30--Q2 final GDP was +1.3% vs. +1.1% expected. The first revision was reported at +1.1%. Real final sales were revised to -0.1% from -0.3%. The upward revision was due to higher exports. 7:25--A US district court judge yesterday denied patients a class-action lawsuit against the HMO’s although it let doctors continue their suits. 7:23--Lowe’s sees Q3 EPS at the upper end of the range. 7:22--Rockwell Automation sees Q4 EPS of 25c-27c/sh vs. 28c/sh consensus. 7:19--Ex-MOF Kato said that Japan wants a G7 statement that will seem to okay a yen fall. Said that Japan will act if the yen rises on its bank plan. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -6.00, Nasdaq -7.00. -Germany is considering raising its VAT. -UK GDP was +0.6% which was as expected. Consumer confidence was +4 vs. +2 previously. Positive: -General Dynamics won a $443M contract with the Navy. -Rent-A-Center guided Q3 EPS up to $1.10/sh vs. $1.09/sh consensus. -Mohawk guided Q3 EPS upward to $1.18-$1.21/sh vs. $1.11/sh consensus. -Solectron Q4 loss was -4c/sh which was as expected. Revenues were $3.12B vs. $2.96B consensus. Said Q1 EPS would be break-even vs. -1c/sh consensus. -Cognos Q2 EPS was 15c/sh vs. 14c/sh consensus. Said Q3 EPS would be about 19c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Revenues were affirmed. -ATA Holdings received a “conditional” okay for an ATSB loan of $148.5M. -New Century lifted its 2002 EPS forecast to $6.75-$6.85/sh vs. $6.35-$6.55/sh previously forecast. Upgrades: -Kerr-McGee was upgraded to overweight at Lehman. -Air Products and Praxair were upgraded to recommended list from outperform at Goldman Sachs. Negative: -SBC announced 11,000 job cuts just after yesterday’s close. That will bring this year’s total to 20,000. SBC cited outmoded regulatory scheme and weak economy for the cuts. Said 9,000 jobs will be cut in Q4. One-third of the cuts will be in management. Company will also cut investment in its network. Company sees CapEx of about $5B-$6B. -Philip Morris guided lower its full-year forecast to a EPS growth rate of 3%-5% vs. 9% outlook given in July. Company cited less volume and more promotional spending. Incidentally, company also guided a penny higher for Q3, saying they see Q3 underlying earnings of $1.26/sh vs. $1.25/sh consensus. -Wyeth cut FY outlook due to sales shortfall. Said 2002 pro forma EPS would be $2.22-$2.32/sh vs. $2.49/sh consensus. -XCel Energy cut its dividend by 50%. -Callaway Golf warned that Q3 EPS would be 13c-15c/sh vs. 18c/sh consensus. Also warned that FY02 EPS would be 85c-90c/sh vs. $1.09/sh consensus. Company said they plan to reduce FY03 EPS later this year. -ATMI warned that Q3 would show a loss of 5c-10c/sh vs. consensus of +1c/sh. -Americredit priced a secondary offering of 67 mln shares. -Flowserve cut its Q3 & 2002 forecasts. -Children’s Place sees Q3 EPS at break-even, which is below estimates. Company also said it sees a weak Q4. -Varian Semiconductor will cut its workforce by 15% due to soft demand. Downgrades: -GE downgraded to equal-weight from over-weight and EPS estimates cut at Lehman. -GE was also downgraded to neutral from outperform at CSFB. -Manugistics was downgraded to hold from buy at UBS. -Corning’s sales and EPS estimates were lowered at CSFB. -S&P 500 EPS estimates were reduced at Merrill Lynch. Neutral: -Citigroup is ready to settle research probes according to the WSJ. -Liberate Tech Q1 loss was -16c/sh which was as expected. Company affirmed Q2 revenues. -Manugistics Q2 loss was -19c/sh vs. -20c/sh consensus. Revenues were $69.9M vs. $71.0M consensus.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday September 26th 8:06--Network Associates estimates were lowered at JP Morgan. 8:06--Symantec estimates were raised at JP Morgan. 8:04--Bisys was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 8:02--Fleming Cos was downgraded to hold at Wachovia. 8:00--Aetna 2,750 jobs and will take a $58M charge. 7:53--RF Microdevices was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JP Morgan. 7:51--Duke Energy completed its share offering and actually boosted the number of shares sold to 54.5 mln shares vs. 52 mln expected yesterday. 7:48--Abbott Labs was downgraded to outperform from strong buy at SG Cowen. 7:46--A.O. Smith said that Q3 EPS would be between 32c-34c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. Said cost-cutting is helping it move above targets. 7:45--Charlotte Russe was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:39--American Greetings Q2 loss was -24c/sh vs. -27c/sh consensus. 7:32--The numbers are negative for bonds and positive for stocks. 7:30--August Durable Goods orders were -0.6% vs. -3.0% consensus. July orders were revised to +8.6% from +9.2%. Orders ex-trans -0.9%. Orders ex-defense +0.6%. 7:30--Initial Claims were -24K to 406K vs. 420K expected. Last week was revised +6K to 430K from 424K. 7:22--American Eagle was downgraded to market perform at Piper Jaffray. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +3.00, Nasdaq +7.00. -Four were killed in a helicopter attack in Gaza. Palestinians cancelled talks with Israel at ending siege. -There were rumors overnight of explosives on a Moroccan jet. -French business outlook fell to 96.0 from 98.0. Euro-zone money supply unchanged. -Treas Sec O’Neill said that terror insurance is critical issue to lifting economy. Positive: -Bed Bath & Beyond Q2 EPS was 25c/sh vs. 23c/sh consensus. Raised FY02 EPS expectations to 95c/sh vs. 93c/sh given in previous guidance. Upgrades: -Paccar was upgraded to equal weight at Lehman. -Dell received positive comments from Merrill Lynch, which said that its quarter is on track. Negative: -Vans Q1 EPS was 30c/sh vs. 25c/sh consensus. However, company warned that Q2 loss would be -20c/sh vs. +1c/sh consensus. Also warned that Q2 sales would miss estimates. -Vulcan Materials guided Q3 EPS down to 74c-82c/sh vs. 86c/sh consensus. -A Merrill Lynch aide will plead guilty and help the Martha Stewart investigation. -Textron faces an FAA probe into problems with its Lycoming aircraft engines that were responsible for two accidents. -Applied Micro Circuits CEO said that business for his company and customers is anemic. -Barrick Gold cut its 2002 earnings forecast. Expects full-year EPS of 33c-35c/sh vs. 42c-47c/sh previously guided. -Redback Networks lowered its Q3 forecast. -Nortel warned that revenues would fall by about 15% in Q3 vs. previous guidance of +10%. Downgrades: -Lehman lowered its ratings on the chemical sector to neutral from positive. -Salomon cut its S&P 500 EPS estimate to $52.50 from $54.00. -Research In Motion received negative comments from Lehman. -JP Morgan’s estimates were lowered at Lehman. -Taiwan Semiconductor estimates were reduced at Goldman Sachs. Neutral: -Nokia said they see global handset sales up 10%-15% this year. In June, company said they see sales growth of more than 10%. There were rumors that they were raising guidance. -Marriott affirmed Q3 guidance. -Constellation Brands Q2 EPS was 53c/sh which was as expected. -Allied Irish Banks agreed to sell Allfirst to M&T Bancorp for $3.1B.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Wednesday September 25th 7:58--Siebel Systems estimates were cut at Goldman. 7:55--El Paso was downgraded to inline at Salomon. 7:54--Sealed Air was upgraded to inline at Salomon. 7:44--Ex-Enron CFO Fastow may be indicted next week according to USA Today. 7:36--ASML backed its shipment outlook for 2H. 7:34--Tobacco sector was downgraded at Morgan Stanley. 7:27--Can you believe that the Tyco CEO said he’s ‘more enthusiastic than ever about the company’ just before he guided Q4 EPS estimates lower. He also said there will be a $2.0B-$2.5B charge. 7:25--OSI Pharmaceutical was upgraded to buy from market perform at Bank of America. 7:22--Cabot Micro’s estimates were raised at Salomon. 7:19--Repeat: Tyco is warning of Q4 shortfall due to new tax rate. Said they see 30c-33c/sh vs. 45c-47c/sh consensus. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +12.00, Nasdaq +13.00. -Yen up slightly. Nikkei was -1.6%. Exports fell for third straight month on strong yen. -German IFO was 88.2 in September vs. 88.8 in August. The high for the year was made in May at 91.6. -UK couldn’t cover a TIPS auction. -S&Ps are higher today. Commentators and analysts are attributing it to the oversold condition, even though there are a decent number of positive factors today. -Fannie Mae is tightening its refinancing standards to close its duration gap and slow refinancings. Standards will be tightened in 2003. -Rumsfeld said that measures against Iraq have not worked. Said there was no snub of the German Defense minister. Said NATO support has voiced for action on Iraq. -Greenspan speaking in UK on policy coordination. So far has joked about UK being a ‘sterling place to do business’ and about the South Seas bubble. He’s not likely to make any comments on monetary policy. Positive: -Autozone Q4 EPS was $1.73 vs. $1.41 expected. Sales also beat expectations. -Ford said they will raise vehicle production slightly in Q4. Ford also said it is getting ready to pay a $400M scheduled dividend. -GE said that Q3 is on track to meet expectations. -RF Microdevices boosted its Q2 forecast to 3c/sh vs. previous guidance of 1c-2c/sh. Expects revenues of $118M vs. $109M-$114M given in previous guidance. -Wells Fargo authorized a buyback of up to 50 mln shares. Company has 1.7B shares outstanding. -International Bancshares will buy back up to $120M of its shares. -Boeing won a $510M avionics upgrade contract for the F/A-18. Upgrades: -Temple-Inland was upgraded to outperform from neutral at CSFB. -Weyerhauser were upgraded to neutral from underperform at CSFB. -Alcon was upgraded to recommended list from outperform at Goldman Sachs. Negative: -Micron Tech Q4 loss was -39c/sh vs. -19c/sh consensus. Company took a 58c/sh charge. Revenues were $748M vs. $683M consensus. -SuperValu said they expect Q2 to disappoint due to the slow economy. Expects Q2 EPS of 42c-44c/sh vs. previous guidance of 48c-53c/sh. Expects ’03 EPS of $2.10-$2.20/sh vs. $2.26/sh consensus. -Tyco having conference at this moment. Said they will oust 9 directors before July. Said scope of internal probe has not widened. Company cut its Q4 forecast. -Eastman Chemical said operational disruptions will hurt Q3 results. -Fleming Cos said they will exit the retail business. Said Q3 EPS will be between 17c-22c/sh vs. 57c/sh consensus. Company also warned on Q4. -Duke Energy will offer 52 mln shares. -Avista cut its full year outlook to 60c-70c/sh vs. 70c-80c/sh previously projected. Consensus is 74c/sh. -Cable companies may cut rates in order to compete with satellite TV providers according to WSJ. -Hewlett-Packard said they will cut 1800 jobs. -Goldman Sachs said they will cut 800 jobs. -Agilent also said they will cut jobs but didn’t specify the number. -Renaissance Learning reduced its Q3 outlook to 22c-23c/sh vs. 30c/sh consensus. -Sonicwall’s Q3 EPS will be between -1c to +1c/sh vs. +4c/sh consensus. Downgrades: -Cisco Systems estimates were lowered at Wachovia. Neutral: -Microsoft is purchasing Rare Software from the UK for $375M in cash. -Scholastic Q3 loss was -$1.11/sh which was as expected. -International Paper said they will match Q3 EPS consensus of 32c/sh. -Veritas Software affirmed Q3 EPS expectations.