US Financial News - Gzibordi

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Monday January 14th 8:33--Vodafone upgraded at ABN Amro to add from hold. 8:30--Ford Motor downgraded to underperform from market perform at DB Alex Brown. 8:28--Paychex is considered the best investment idea for 2002 according to Robertson Stephens. 8:25--Dow Chemical downgraded to hold from strong buy at UBS Warburg due to asbestos concerns. Price target reduced to $30 from $45. 8:21--Verisign received positive comments from SG Cowen. 8:18--FleetBoston will delay its release of Q4 results due to economic and political developments in Argentina. 8:15--Salomon said that Intel sees Q4 & Q1 market estimates too low. 8:10--Tyco rebounding today after it denied that it was interested in Honeywell. 7:24--America West closed a $429M loan deal. The amount was revised down from $445M. The airline has arranged $600M in concessions. They will issue $120M in 7yr debt. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P -4.00, Nasdaq -15.00. -Dax -1.84%, FTSE -1.00%, Hang Seng +0.38%, and Japan was closed. Weakness in European stocks and strength in European bonds is being blamed on Friday’s Greenspan comments, which dampened expectations of a U.S. recovery. -Merrill Lynch recommended investors hold less stocks in favor of bonds and said that the rally represented an overly optimistic expectation of a recovery. Stock weighting goes to 50% from 60%, Bond weighting to 30% from 20%, cash still at 20%. -About 650 U.S. soldiers will join Filipino troops in S. Philippines in an anti-terror exercise. Positive: -ABN Amro positive on CSCO, EXTR, & RBAK saying that they should meet or exceed estimates. TLAB and CIEN are still at risk for negative trends. -Worldcom received positive comments from Salomon. -Kraft Foods received positive comments from Prudential, which said that the food company was trading at prices that are below other consumer-products companies. The comments were made on Wall Street Week. -Ariba upgraded to outperform from perform at Goldman Sachs. -Handspring upgraded to buy from market perform at Banc of America Securities. -Micron upgraded to buy from market perform at Lehman. Negative: -Exxon Mobil said that a federal appeals court would not reconsider the record $5B punitive damage settlement stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. -KMart’s debt ratings were cut three levels to B2 by Moody’s. Moody’s said that the outlook remained negative as well. -Miravant and Pharmacia’s development of a drug to combat macular degeneration didn’t meet efficacy targets in Phase III trials. -Wachovia is cautious on wireless stocks. AWE, PSCA, APS, NXTP were all downgraded. Lehman is downgrading AWE, APS, PCSA, PCS, WWCA, DCEL. -Sears downgraded to market perform from recommended list at Goldman Sachs. Neutral: -L3 will buy the aircraft integration division from Raytheon for $1.13B. L3 will sell $1B in debt and equity in the first half of the year.

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Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Friday January 11th 8:21--William Ford is currently speaking and unveiling a revitalization plan for the company. 8:18--JP Morgan upgrading apparel today--Intimate Brands, The Limited, and Claire’s Stores all upgraded to buy. 8:06--Goldman Sachs downgraded cellular names USM and DCEL to market perform from Market outperform. 8:05--Sandisk received cautious comments from Merrill Lynch. 8:04--Americredit downgraded to attractive from buy at Bear Stearns. 8:02--Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich sees the majority of technology stocks as overvalued. Expensive names include MSFT, CMVT, LLTC, MXIM, ORCL. 8:00--Ford cuts dividend to 10c/sh from 15c/sh. 7:45--FedEx was cut to neutral at Salomon. 7:37--Fed Pres. Minehan said that the data suggest that the economic slowdown is bottoming out. She said “it is right to expect a short and shallow recession.” She said that business inventory cuts are likely to ease. The unemployment rate is likely to rise more. Consumer spending may slow some. Price pressure is likely to be more stable. Her comments are fitting with the growing theory that the economy has bottomed. The economy-weak comments about the unemployment rate and consumer spending should be ignored because they are usually seen as lagging indicators. Her comments could be a prelude to Greenspan’s comments today, which could suggest an end to the interest rate-cut cycle. 7:30--Dec PPI -0.7% vs. -0.2% expected. Core PPI -0.1% vs. -0.1% expected. The weaker than expected headline number will be slightly positive for the credit markets. The headline PPI was the biggest drop in 15 years. Energy -4.0% on a -8.2% decline in gasoline and -14.2% decline in fuel oil. Consumer foods were -0.1%. In core PPI, autos were -0.7%, tobacco unchanged, and capital equipment -0.1%. Intermediate Goods -0.9%, Crude goods -9.5%. 7:27--Weyerhaeuser was raised to add from hold at ABN Amro, Coise Cascade raised to add from hold, and Georgia Pacific cut to hold from add. 7:22--Sears upgraded to outperform at Morgan Stanley. 7:20--General Dynamics cut to outperform at Morgan Stanley. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +1.00, Nasdaq -2.00. -Yen up after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called for Japan to curtail the currency's 3 1/2-month slide. -Argentina has reopened trade in its currency this morning. Positive: -Borders raised guidance on Q4 to $1.31-$1.34 from $1.21-$1.29. -Rambus had profit of 6c/sh, which was more than the company’s estimate. -Rational Software said it will have profit of 7c/sh vs. 6c/sh previously thought. -Northwest Natural Gas is a takeover target according to Business Week. -Dell computer received positive comments from Merrill Lynch, which said that Q4 is tracking to beat Q4 estimates due to strong holiday sales. Strong buy rating was reiterated as well as $35 price target. -Intel doubletalk--EPS estimates were raised by Lehman’s Dan Niles, but he recommends taking profits before Jan 15th earnings release. Negative: -Cree missed EPS estimates by 1 cent and earned 8c/sh. -EcoLab said it will cut 350-450 jobs and close some factories. They also said that they expect Q4 profit of 30c/sh vs. 32c/sh previously. -Ford is expected to lay off 20,000 workers and end production at five factories. -Cabot Micro doubletalk--Stock was downgraded to outperform from buy at Salomon based on valuation. EPS estimates were lowered, but surprisingly, the price target was raised. -KMart was downgraded to neutral from attractive at Bear Stearns. -Network Appliance received negative comments from Lehman, which said that enterprise customers still showing no sign of increasing spending. -CheckPoint Software downgraded to buy from strong buy at UBS Warburg. Neutral: -United Technologies said it would freeze the salaries of workers. About 45% of the company’s 154,000 employees are salaried. -Cisco will be on the cover of next week’s Business Week. The article questions Cisco’s accounting and is said to make many of the same points as a Barron’s article about six months ago.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Thursday January 10th 8:06--Salomon is reducing its weighting in U.S. stocks and said that Europe offers better value and more upside. 7:51--Barnes & Noble expects Q4 net to be at the upper end of estimates. 7:50--Rite Aid posted larger-than-expected loss of 23c/sh vs. 14c/sh loss expected by the markets. 7:49--Sears is expected to top Q4 EPS estimates. 7:48--Target Stores said that they see Q4 moderately higher than street views of 65c/sh. They said they will increase their dividend to 6c/sh from 5.5c/sh. 7:43--Dec import prices -0.9% vs. -0.6% expected. Prices ex-oil were -0.3%, with Petroleum prices -6.3%. The number typically does not move the markets much. 7:41--KMart said that its Dec same store sales were down 1%. The company said that it won’t meet street’s 2001 net EPS views. They also said that they are in talks with lenders and are reviewing their liquidity position. 7:38--GM said that global automotive operation will be profitable in 2002. Sees Q4 net around 60c/sh, which is above earlier 50c/sh guidance. Said they see ‘significant’ cost cuts. Said they will cut overall capital spending 11%. 7:36--AT&T and WorldCom were upgraded by ABN Amro to add from hold. Price targets are $23 & $18 respectively. 7:35--Veritas Software received positive comments from SG Cowen which said there was evidence of solid Q4 demand. Strong buy rating was maintained. 7:34--Brocade received positive comments from Goldman Sachs. 7:31--Williams-Sonoma reported stronger-than-expected 12.2% increase in holiday sales. Company is remaining cautious in its outlook, however. 7:30--Initial Unemployment Claims -56K to 395K vs. 420K expected. Last week was revised to 451K from 447K. Looks like there was no “California effect” that caused some in the market to worry. 7:28--Ford cut to reduce from hold at UBS Warburg. 7:23--Initial claims coming out this morning--keep in mind the “California effect.” California increased benefits on new claimants to $330/week from $230/week, but only on claims started in 2002. That suggests some people held out late last year to begin claims this year and could artificially pump up this morning’s claims number. 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +2.00, Nasdaq +10.00. -BOE left o/n rates unchanged at 4.0%. Slight demand is seen in GBP based on expectations of possible interest rate hikes later this year and also based on an Italian company’s interest in a British oil company. -European bonds slightly higher this morning after moderate weakness in European stocks. DAX -1.5%, FTSE -0.6%. -Argentina has another bank holiday today; its fourth since it scrapped the dollar peg last weekend. -Enron is under criminal investigation according to the Justice Dept. Positive: -One of the reasons that stocks were down heavily late in yesterday’s session was rumors that three major Japanese banks would be downgraded by Moody’s. Since that didn’t happen, it may offer slight support. -WSJ is positive on steel makers, saying that imports are down and domestic makers are raising prices while gaining market share. -Both Limited Stores and Intimate Brands said they would exceed Q4 profit forecasts after holiday sales were better-than-expected. Expectations for each company are 51c/sh and 43c/sh respectively. Negative: -After Cigna’s announcement yesterday morning of a pact with Yahoo, it later announced it would cut 2,000 jobs. -American Eagle said profit would be 56c-60c/sh, which is below expectations of 61c/sh. -TECO Energy said it is selling $400 million in convertible securities. -Daimler Chrysler said that meeting 2002 goal for Q4 profits will be difficult. -Bristol-Myers-The Justice Dept. said that the company should not be immune to antitrust claims in its struggles with generic drugmakers MYL and WPI. -In-Focus downgraded by DB Alex Brown to market perform from buy. -Apple Computer received cautious comments from Merrill Lynch. Neutral rating maintained.

MERCOLEDI' TUTTO QUELLO CHE SUCCEDE IN AMERICA ------------------------------------------- 7:15--Stocks are: S&P +2.00, Nasdaq +18.00. -Crude oil lower this morning after yesterday’s API showed that inventories rose due to warmer winter. -Japanese yen recovering this morning after officials said that the decline was occurring too fast. -Bonds down on debt issuances in Europe adding to supply. Portugal & Belgium were two countries issuing. -Another clash in the Gaza strip this morning left four Israelis and two Palestinians dead. -Fed Pres. Poole said that short rates must rise sometime to curb money growth. Said that economy has “bottoming out feel to it.” Positive: -Brocade said at Morgan Stanley’s internet conference that the business environment is improving. Said that Dec qtr was strong with no “budget purge” from customers. 2002 looks to have robust growth. -Parametric Technology guided 2002 EPS higher to 28c-38c/sh vs. 26c/sh. On Jan 3rd, the company warned of weak Q1 revenues. -Hutchinson (disk drive components maker) guided Q1 EPS higher to 8c-13c/sh vs. -0.03c/sh. Said gross margins improved. -RPM reported Q2 earnings at 24c/sh vs. 21c/sh expected. -Intel estimates raised at SG Cowen. -Coach is raising guidance for Q2 to 96c/sh vs. 92c/sh. -Bob Evans raised Dec qtr guidance to 42c-44c/sh vs. 35c/sh previously. -Best Buy is raising Q4 EPS outlook. Saying they expect 18%-21% EPS growth in FY03. -Lennar (homebuilder) beat EPS expectations. -Accenture matched raised Q1 forecasts. -Skechers said Q4 & 2001 revenue will exceed estimates. -Aetna raised to strong buy from market perform. -Citigroup defended against concerns about Argentina by Lehman. -Gilead Sciences upgraded to recommended list from market outperform at Goldman Sachs. Price target maintained. -Oracle upgraded to buy from market perform at Thomas Wiesal. Negative: -Cisco said they are gaining market share, but there is no forward visibility. Said it will return to traditional approach of not talking about quarter during quarter. Said they will acquire 8-12 companies this year. -Merrill Lynch will take a $1.7B charge to pay for 9,000 job cuts. Said most layoffs are now over. -Gateway’s senior unsecured debt was lowered to junk status by Moody’s. -Walmart was cut at JP Morgan. -Sprint PCS received cautious comments from Bear Stearns. Neutral: -Pfizer said it was maintaining prior profit forecasts through 2004. -Verizon reiterated 2001 EPS guidance. Modificato da - gzibordi on 1/9/2002 14:42:2

11:48--Fed’s McDonough said that strong banks are vital to Argentine Economy. Sees no contagion to Argentina neighbors. Said that the U.S. consumer and the U.S. housing market are still strong. Said U.S. data signal economy is at or near a bottom. 11:46--Treasury official Fisher said “don’t count on another emergency auction.” That may be a little positive, but I’m not sure who was looking for another auction. Fisher is making additional comments on the auction process. 11:05--Ciena CEO said he sees no sign of a recovery in telecom equipment. This is big news considering S&P’s are down only 4.00 points right now and Nasdaq is +6.00. 11:00--Royal Carribean said that bookings in the last ten weeks of last year were +46% vs. prior year. Said that bookings were returning to normal levels. 9:07--Factory orders down 3.3% vs. -2.6% expected. That should lend slight support to the bond market. 9:06--NVidia said that with introduction of new iMac, NVidia graphics are now standard across all Macintosh platforms. 9:04--IBM received positive comments from Soundview, which said that checks met expectations. 9:02--Oracle received cautious comments from Bernstein, which said that company is overinvesting in low-return apps. 9:01--Comarco warned that Q4 earnings would be between 15c-20c/sh vs. 24c/sh currently expected by the market. 9:00--Gateway was cut to hold at UBS Warburg. 8:49--AG Edwards is supporting wireless this morning. They upgraded Qualcomm and Sprint PCS.

Aggiorniamo il commento finanziario americano migliore che abbiamo: Tuesday January 8th 8:18--Zale Corp. upgraded to buy from market perform at Robertson Stephens. 8:16--Brocade’s buy rating was reiterated at ABN Amro. Price target was raised to $45-$50 from $40. 8:12--Siebel Systems received positive comments from Soundview, which said that company closed significantly more business than the $210M consensus license number. Rating maintained, but EPS targets raised. 8:10--Computer Associates upgraded to strong buy from buy at Soundview. Price target goes to $50 from $36. 8:08--AK Steel upgraded to strong buy from outperform at Morgan Stanley. 8:03--UBS Warburg is negative on semiconductors, saying that there is risk due to lower backlogs, limited visibility, and high probability of lackluster March quarter. No names mentioned. 8:02--Valero Energy upgraded to recommended list from market outperform at Goldman Sachs. 8:00--Redbook retail sales -3.5% from November. BTM/UBS sales were -0.6% from last week. Redbook noted that latest week’s sales were above target. 7:50--Stocks are: S&P +1.00, Nasdaq -1.00. -Philadelphia Fed President Santomero said that the economy will recover from recession by mid-year because rising unemployment may curtail consumer spending. -Yen is down after Kuroda and Takenaka said that the yen’s price reflects that the second biggest economy is in recession. They essentially signaled that the government will not halt the slide. Positive: -Celestica received a $2.5B contract from NEC for assembly work. - AFLAC guided higher by seeing Q4 operating net at 34c/sh. -Altera said Q4 loss was less than expected. -Gateway sees a return to profits. They also guided higher. -BMC Software is guiding higher. Says it sees Q3 results above consensus estimates. -Tiffany said profit will be in the upper end of estimates. -Entergy said that Q4 operating profit exceeded analysts expectations. -Hollywood Entertainment said that Q4 earnings will meet or exceed expectations. -Invitrogen upgraded to strong buy from buy at Merrill Lynch. -IDEC Pharmaceutical received notice from FDA that its BLA submission for Zevalin is deemed approvable and no further clinical data are required. -Scientific Atlanta upgraded to buy from hold at ABN Amro. Negative: -Wendy’s founder, Dave Thomas died at his home in Florida this morning. -Goldman Sachs-Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp said it will sell its remaining 1.8% stake in GS. -AOL Time Warner said EPS will match expectations, however, it will take a charge of as much as $60B in Q1. -Massey Energy (coal producer) said that sales this year will be less than previously forecast. -Merrill Lynch reiterated cautious view on wireless sector, and especially Nokia. Said handset demand will be weak through Q1 2002. They did not change estimates for Nokia, however. -Affymetrix downgraded to buy from strong buy. -Qualcomm downgraded to add from buy. Edited by - Giorgia (webmaster) on 1/8/2002 15:30:49