SUSIE GHARIB: Wall street greeted December with some hope: investors were more willing to buy stocks today after suffering brutal losses in November. The NASDAQ posted its first gain in five days, up 47 points, closing above the 2600 level. But the Dow was negative, losing 41. Suzanne Pratt gauges the mood on Wall Street.

SUZANNE PRATT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: After a pretty gloomy week on Wall Street, today, at least for a while, it looked there was going to be a ray of sunshine. But the Dow and NASDAQ were unable to hold on to early triple-digit gains, sputtering in the afternoon, so that by the closing bell, only the NASDAQ was in positive territory. Some experts were disappointed that today's rallies had short legs, while others were relieved that stocks held their own.

TOM GALLAGHER, U.S. EQUITIES DIR., CIBC WORLD MARKETS: I think it's significant that the market was able to at least stop going down. I mean, you were at the point where I think that if the market went down today, you would experienced a panic; almost a crash.

PRATT: Although there was no clear catalyst for today's early upward moves, some experts say more investors are now betting that the economy is headed for a soft landing. Fresh economic data out today supported that thinking. The National Association of Purchasing Management said its Index of Manufacturing Activity slipped to 47.7 in November, from 48.3 in October - a reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector. While it was the fourth straight decline for the Index, experts say it's consistent with an economy that is slowing gradually.

MICHELLE GIRARD, TREASURY MARKET STRATEGIST, PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES: It certainly still looks like a soft landing is the best guess, and while the Fed will likely make a shift in terms of their bias back to neutral in December, it isn't likely we're going to see a rate cut before year-end.

PRATT: Even without a rate cut in the near future and the feeble nature of today's trading, some market pros still say the worst is probably over for stocks.

GALLAGHER: I'm optimistic, meaning that I don't think we're going to experience a lot more on the downside. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the market end right in this area.

PRATT: Despite the lackluster start to the month, history shows that December is actually the best month of the year for stocks. In fact, in the last 15 years the S&P 500 has gained an average of 3 percent in the month of December. Suzanne Pratt, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.  The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. © 2001 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

12/01/00: The Road To The White House Winds Through The US Supreme Court

SUSIE GHARIB: The battle for the presidency intensified today. Late today Florida's Supreme Court denied Vice President Gore's request for an immediate recount of some disputed ballots. The Court also certified as legal those so-called butterfly ballots in Palm Beach County. But the real showdown was in Washington, at the highest court of the land. As Darren Gersh explains, the U.S. Supreme Court must decide if Florida's high court changed the state's election rules.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: There was nothing usual about this case, from the number of protesters outside to the unprecedented audio released of the proceedings inside. The arguments began almost immediately with a skeptical Justice Anthony Kennedy challenging the Bush campaign to explain why it had come to the nation's highest court.

ANTHONY KENNEDY, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: We're looking for a Federal issue.

GERSH: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out the Court had a long history of reading state supreme court decisions in a favorable light.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: And I do not know of any case where we have impugned a state supreme court the way you are doing in this case.

GERSH: That prompted an explanation from Governor Bush's lawyer.

THEODORE OLSON, BUSH CAMPAIGN ATTORNEY: I don't mean to suggest, and I hope my words didn't, that there was a lack of integrity or any dishonesty by the Florida Supreme Court. What we're saying that it was acting far outside the scope of its authority.

GERSH: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor seemed to agree, saying the Florida Court should have known it was inviting constitutional trouble when it changed the election rules set out by the Florida legislature.

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: Well, it certainly did, by enacting that date. Here is the certification date. How could it have been clearer?

GERSH: But the Vice President's lawyers said the Florida Supreme Court was not making a new law.

LAURENCE TRIBE, GORE CAMPAIGN ATTORNEY: What they did was say we have to find a date which will accommodate these conflicting statutory provisions and policies in light of what our constitution tells us.

GERSH: For investors, today's arguments did nothing to remove the election worries weighing on the markets.

GREG VALLIERE, POLITICAL ANALYST, SCHWAB WASHINGTON RESEARCH: The chances of a genuine constitutional crisis dragging well into December has risen a lot and I think for the markets, now, this is a big, big concern.

GERSH: It now appears the markets will be wading through election uncertainty for some time. The Supreme Court could issue its decision as early as next week, but analysts say its ruling could focus on narrow constitutional grounds, leaving the bigger battle to Florida's courts, the Florida legislature, or even the U.S. Congress. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.  The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. © 2001 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.



12/01/00: Medical Technology That Saves Lives & Makes Money

SUSIE GHARIB: Aging baby boomers are pushing medical technology in a variety of new directions these days and the race to diagnose and treat their ailments is bringing healthy profits for some medical device manufacturers. Diane Eastabrook has details.

DAVID WILLIS, CLINICAL MARKETING MANAGER, SONOSITE: It's in a docking station right now, but just flipping a quick lever, this is what you take with you when you go portable.

DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: SonoSite's (SONO) portable ultrasound system weighs a fraction of what a conventional ultrasound system weighs, so it can be brought to the patient, rather than the patient being brought to it.

WILLIS: We've been shipping this system for just over a year. Total sales worldwide, we probably have over 3,000 systems out there.

EASTABROOK: The SonoSite system is one of many new cutting edge devices manufacturers are hawking to hospitals and clinics at this radiological conference in Chicago. Most of these gadgets aren't cheap. GE Medical Systems, the largest exhibitor here, is displaying a $1.5 million MRI machine. GE says the so-called High Field Open MRI System is faster and produces clearer images than competing systems. The company also says it is having no trouble finding buyers.

JEFF McCAULLEY, GENERAL SALES MANAGER, GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS MRI: We've got orders, back orders well over 40 units. We expect to have at least 20 of those installed by the end of the year and we expect to see the growth in this segment continue to be well over the double digits well into next year.

EASTABROOK: The medical device industry is about a $130 billion market and while it hasn't attracted the attention from investors that biotechnology has, analysts say the industry is relatively stable and is growing steadily. Analysts say an aging population and strong product development will keep the medical device industry growing in the low double digits, despite moves by many hospitals to contain costs.

BRUCE JACOBS, MEDICAL DEVICE ANALYST, DEUTSCHE BANC ALEX BROWN: There's no question that there has been some constraints put on hospital spending, but I think what is unique about the medical device industry is that many of the technologies are not part of the problem with health care, they are actually part of the solution, where they actually minimize costs and make procedures faster, make procedures less invasive.

EASTABROOK: Jacobs says the market opportunities for medical device makers are immense. He says the challenge is coming up with new and innovative products that will take advantage of those opportunities. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Chicago.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.  The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. © 2001 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.



12/01/00:"Market Monitor"- Alan Ackerman, Senior Vice President of Fahnestock & Company

PAUL KANGAS: My guest market monitor this week is Alan Ackerman, Senior Vice President of Fahnestock & Company. And welcome back, Alan.

ALAN ACKERMAN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FAHNESTOCK & COMPANY: Paul, always good to be with you. We had a nice rally going this morning and it just dissipated, very disappointing to watch that. Do you think we would have been better off if we saw a continuation of the washout that was under way yesterday?

ACKERMAN: I don't think we're quite ready for a washout yet. The market can't really make up its mind. Each day is a new adventure. And my sense is that one of the things that's got this market off balance is the results of the election which, frankly, has taken this nation and divided it over a dimple.

KANGAS: You think it's that large a factor here in the negativity?

ACKERMAN: I think it is because I think it has a lot to do with what the Fed may do. It has a lot to do with what government spending will be like and I think that the market hates uncertainty. And we clearly have four areas of uncertainty. One is the election. Two is energy. Three is the Euro. And fourth is really corporate earnings, which seem to be tailing off very rapidly.

KANGAS: So the economy is being helped along on its slowdown by the market itself, is it not?

ACKERMAN: Well, I think it's making the market, the market and the economy are both on sale. I think when you go into the retail stores, as we did on Sunday, you'll see big discounts. People are not buying, they're browsing. I think they're waiting for these prices to come down. And I think people are doing just that with the market. We've got a temporary buyers strike. People are waiting for prices to get a bit lower.

KANGAS: Do you think Chairman Greenspan of the Federal Reserve, who hated irrational exuberance, might be quick to act on irrational weakness in the market?

ACKERMAN: Can we call it irrational abstinence? It seems to me that's what's happening.

KANGAS: True.

ACKERMAN: Yes, I think that, in fact, Greenspan, who is going to be in office till 2004, has been a little bit slow to pull the trigger to ease up on the Fed and my sense is at the next meeting they may move to neutral, but I don't see rates coming down until the beginning of next year.

KANGAS: From the technical standpoint, Alan, do you see any promise of a near term market bottom?

ACKERMAN: I'm hopeful we'll see a bottom. I think we'll be testing the bottom once again on NASDAQ. The risk of recession is rising. There's tax selling going on. So I think with these complex cross currents, the market will have some downside pressure ahead.

KANGAS: How much?

ACKERMAN: Tough to tell, but I'd say that it would not surprise me to see NASDAQ get down to 2200, 2300 although I hope it will stay closer to that 2500 range.

KANGAS: On your last visit with us June 16th of this year, you had recommended GE (GE) long prior to that, said stay with it. It's still well above where you recommended it then. IBM (IBM) is still about five points above where it was, and Oracle (ORCL) is about double where it was. Those were good calls. You had one real clinker, Nextera (NXRA) which was around 5. It it's now about $1. Are you staying with that?

ACKERMAN: Well, Nextera got caught with the vortex of the dot.com stocks and my feeling is that the stock is oversold at the moment and it yesterday put out a very positive outlook for the next year.

KANGAS: OK. All right, Nokia (NOK) was one you were looking at. You said if it got into the 40s, it was in the high 50s then, you'd buy it. It's certainly in the 40s and been to the 30s. Did you buy it?

ACKERMAN: We're getting awfully close to a buy point on Nokia.

KANGAS: OK.

ACKERMAN: And a couple of the other stocks that I like that are selling closer to 13 times earnings and give us a little bounce into the new year are Wilmington Trust (WL), which could be a takeover candidate. There's been a rumor out there talking about a price takeover of 70.

KANGAS: Where does that trade?

ACKERMAN: That trades on the New York.

KANGAS: OK.

ACKERMAN: And the other is Ocean Energy. It also trades on the New York, symbol OEI. This is a company with value and growth in the energy area and I thinker they're about to prove that the Gulf of Mexico reserves may be bigger than expected.

KANGAS: OK, back then in June, you liked Washington Mutual (WM). The stock went from 27 to 46. Are you still with it?

ACKERMAN: Still with it, still like it.

KANGAS: How about Citigroup ? You liked it at a cost basis of 40. It's now around 50 after the 4-3 split. Do you still like it?

ACKERMAN: Like it even better now, especially if the interest rates are going to come down.

KANGAS: All right, we have a little less than a minute for some other ideas on the buy side or on the sell side.

ACKERMAN: Well, there's a small company, it's traded on NASDAQ and on the Toronto, called Namibian Minerals. The symbol is NMCOF. Shares came down sharply when the markets sold off.

KANGAS: Do you have a position personally in the stock?

ACKERMAN: I have a personal position in the stock. The company is one of the leading producers of diamonds from offshore and my sense is that they're going to launch with a major new piece of technology shortly and I think that stock could double or triple from here.

KANGAS: All right, well, let's hope it turns out to be just the gem you hope it does.

ACKERMAN: Touché, Paul.

KANGAS: Thanks very much for being with us again, Alan.

ACKERMAN: You bet. Always a pleasure.

KANGAS: My guest, Alan Ackerman, Senior Vice President of Fahnestock & Company.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.  The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc., Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. © 2001 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.


12/01/2000: Paul Kangas' Wall Street Wrap Up

PAUL KANGAS: Stocks on Wall Street opened nicely higher today in an extension of yesterday afternoon's comeback rally, which cut a 310-point mid-session deficit in the Dow Industrial Average to a 214-point closing loss and as much as a 170-point decline in the NASDAQ Index to a 109-point closing deficit. At the outset of trading this morning, the Dow rose 56 points, and the NASDAQ was up about 70. But less than impressive volume undermined the upturn a bit, and by 10 a.m., the Dow faded to only a 20-point gain; the NASDAQ to a 57-point advance. The hard-hit tech sector got new life in late morning as buyers sought out what they viewed as oversold stocks, but the blue chips lost some of their early luster as many traders moved to the sidelines to listen to the Supreme Court proceedings regarding the presidential election. We'll have more on that in just a moment, incidentally. At noon, the Dow was up only 16 points; the NASDAQ up 91. The market weakened considerably in afternoon trading, partly due to normal pre-weekend selling pressures, coupled of course with those Supreme Court hearings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped to a closing loss of 40.95 at 10,373.54. The Dow rose twice this week, but fell three times, and had an overall loss of 96.69 points. The Nasdaq Composite today edged up 47.36 ending at 2645.29. This week, the Composite Index fell four times, and only rose once; had a net overall decline of 259.09 points, that's 8.9 percent to the downside.

Big board volume today well down from yesterday's record at 1.192.9 billion shares today. About a 7 to 4 ratio of up volume over down volume.

The Dow Transport Index up nearly 12 points.

But the Utility Index fell exactly 3 1/2 points.

Yet the Closing Tick fairly bullish at +544.

Standard & Poor's 500 edged up just over 1/4 point.

A loss of just over 1 1/4 in the S&P 100.

And the MidCap 400 up 10.14.

Bridge Futures Price Index fell 1.13.

New York Stock Exchange Composite up nearly a point and three-quarters.

Value Line rose 6.16.

The Russell2000 Small Cap Index up nearly 11.

And the Wilshire 5000 up 61.20.

After about three weeks of steady gains, the bond market moved moderately lower today on profit taking, which was partly triggered by the rally in stocks, despite the late fade. The market was also slightly undermined by that decline in the Purchasing Managers

Manufacturing Index because it wasn't as big a drop as generally expected.

In any case, tax-free and corporate issues closed down 1/4 to 3/8 of a point on average.

And the Treasury market ended lower across the board.

The 5-year notes dropping 2/32.

10-year notes down 6/32, bringing the yield up to 5.52 percent.

30-year bond down 16/32.

And the Lehman Brothers Long-Term Treasury Bond Index down 9.69.

The Dow Industrial Average was up over 100 points at one stage and then ended with that 41 point loss in the late fade. But the broader market still nicely higher. For every 19 stocks on the up side, about 10 on the down side. 101 new yearly highs; 93 new lows.

Motorola (MOT) topped the active list on 21.7 million shares, down $1.50 to a new yearly low.

Compaq Computer (CPQ) up $1.30 on news the company plans to buy back up to $1 billion of its stock.

Lucent Technologies (LU) wedged up $0.13.

General Electric (GE) rising $1.44. The company's Capital unit is getting out of the auto financing ballots.

Nortel Networks (NT) was unchanged today.

Nokia (NOK) edged up $0.81.

While Pfizer (PFE) lost that much.

And then AT & T (T) down $0.13.

EMC (EMC) up $3.88 after First Boston Brokerage repeated a "buy."

Texas Instruments (TXN) gained $0.50, 10th in big board volume.

Quaker Oats (OAT) up $1.69 on news that the company has resumed talks with PepsiCo (PEP) about selling out, maybe to around $14.3 billion in PepsiCo stock. And, of course, PepsiCo dropped 3 on the news.

PepsiCo (PEP) down $3.50 there. What happened, UBS Warburg Brokerage downgraded it from "buy" to "hold."

Robert Half International (RHI) closed up $0.13. But after the close, Standard & Poor's said this stock will be added to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, replacing Associates First Capital (AFS) on a date to be announced. In after-hours trading, Robert Half was $34 a share.

Schering-Plough (SGP) down $2.44. UBS Warburg downgraded this stock from "strong buy" to just a "buy."

And Scientific-Atlanta (SFA) moving up $3.25 after the Josephthal Brokerage repeated a "strong buy."

TNPC (NPW), a power company, up $1.44. First Boston issued a "strong buy" there. The company stands to gain as many as 300,000 new customers thanks to a ruling from the Pennsylvania Utility Commission.

USX-U.S. Steel (X) up $1.75 on news the company's considering measures that could result in the sale of Marathon (MRO) oil or possibly a tracking stock on that unit. China Unicom Limited (CHU) up $2.44.

China Mobile Hong Kong (CHL) was up $3.31. Both stocks were upgraded by Merrill Lynch from "accumulate" to "near term buy" and it didn't hurt that the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 3.3 percent today.

Raytheon (RTN.B), big loser, down 525, the company forecasting lower than expected 2001 earnings of $1.55 to maybe $1.70. The high end on the Street estimate was $1.75.

And Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) down $2.44, probably just plain old profit taking after the stock just recently ran up to nearly 30.

NASDAQ trading, a gain of 47 1/3 points in the Index. Of course, it was down 259 points on the week, almost nine percent. Trading volume down to 2.2 billion shares. 24 stocks up for every 15 on the down side.

Intel (INTC) topped the active list, losing $3.94. First Boston cut 2001 earnings estimates by $0.09, down to $1.66, and that is a new 52 week closing low, incidentally.

Cisco (CSCO) edged up $0.63.

Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.75.

JDS Uniphase (JDSU) up $6.13.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) was up $7.25, fifth in NASDAQ dollar volume.

Broadcom (BRCM) also up $7.25.

Sun Micro (SUNW) edged up $0.88.

SDL (SDLI) a gain of $20.23.

Veritas Software (VRTS) up $11.38.

And Brocade Communications (BRCD), 10th in volume, down $0.06.

Oplink Communications (OPLK) had a good day, up $4.19.

CIBC World Markets Brokerage issued a "buy" recommendation.

Micron Electronics (MUEI) losing $1.25. The company issued a second quarter profit warning, said it'll come in with earn