LINDA O'BRYON: A roller coaster of emotions on Wall Street today as investors dealt with reports of a new case of anthrax, this time in New York City. The news initially sank the Dow over 200 points. But investors got a grip on their fear late in the day and trimmed that loss to just 66 points. An NBC news employee tested positive for anthrax after handling mail at the New York City headquarters. Darren Gersh looks at the latest case of anthrax and just what kind of impact these biological threats have on investors' emotions.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The NBC news employee was infected with the less serious skin form of anthrax after handling suspicious mail. The employee is expected to recover, and President Bush reassured the public the government is responding to a case that is clearly causing concern.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation is still in danger, but the government is doing everything in our power to protect our citizenry.

GERSH: The FBI says this latest case does not appear to be connected to the more lethal inhaled form of anthrax found in Florida, and officials urged the public not to overreact. But when the news first broke, it unsettled a stock market that was already headed lower. At one point, the Dow was down over 200 points. After authorities said the latest anthrax infection did not appear to be a terrorist attack, stocks recovered quickly. But traders say they are learning to live life on constant alert.

BRIAN FINNERTY, MARKET STRATEGIST, CE UNTERBERG, TOWBIN: I think that the impact will be less and less each time. There was an initial shock. It is like you bang your thumb with a hammer. It went away quickly. The markets recovered. They did what they were probably going to do anyway, which was to have a bit of profit-taking.

GERSH: Some traders called the markets' initial reaction to the bad news remarkably mild, a sign that investors are ready to focus on picking stocks that might benefit from an economic recovery. But analysts caution the cloud of worry has not lifted yet.

GREG VALLIERE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SCHWAB WASHINGTON RESEARCH: If the markets focus on the economic fundamentals only, those look pretty good down the road with all the stimulus that's coming from Washington. But the markets have to focus on that great unknown, the emotional factor, the anxiety that things like anthrax scares bring to all of us.

GERSH: The president once again urged Americans to go about their work, vowing the terrorists will not take this country down. But as one investor put it, it is hard to say there is anything very normal about this environment. Darren Gersh, "NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT," Washington.

KANGAS: Stocks on Wall Street opened broadly lower today as sellers locked in some profits from the sharp rally over the previous two sessions. Helping to trigger the selling was the early report of a larger than expected 0.4 percent rise in September producer prices along with a steeper than anticipated 2.4 percent drop in retail sales last month. Economists were caught off-guard by that retail sales report.

STEVEN RICCHIOTO, CHIEF US ECONOMIST, ABN AMRO: I'm a little bit surprised how steep the drop was, especially given the pattern of activity we had prior to the September 11th period, as well as the fact they tried very hard down in Washington to adjust the data through their seasonal factors for the events of September 11.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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.

10/12/01: America Rebuilds-Small Businesses Get Back To Work

LINDA O'BRYON: Well, when you think about New York City's financial district, images of bankers and stockbrokers most often come to mind. But there are many people on Wall Street who have nothing to do with high finance. Tonight Scott Gurvey looks at how Wall Street's small businessmen and women are doing as we wrap up our series, America Rebuilds.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Slowly but surely, one by one, the small businesses that dot the landscape of lower Manhattan are reopening their doors. It hasn't been easy. George's Diner has been serving up lunch to the Wall Street crowd for more than 20 years.

GEORGE KOULMENTAS, OWNER, GEORGE'S DINER: When I came back here, I didn't recognize my place. It was very difficult. We got some people to start cleaning up the place. It took us almost two weeks before we could open up.

GURVEY: Much of the media attention has focused on the displaced traders, brokers and money managers, people who work for big name companies. But New York's financial district also plays host to thousands of small businesses with tens of thousands of workers, and some 30,000 people call lower Manhattan their home. So the rebuilding effort must consider the busboys and cooks of the area restaurants, the newspaper vendors, the clerks at the drugstores and the barbers at the hair salons. As much as 30 percent of New York's downtown office space has been destroyed or severely damaged. Some residential properties are still off limits. A lot of small business customers worked in those spaces. There is no way of knowing when or even if they will return.

RUDY ALI, MANAGER, NEWSTAND AT NASSAU: We have a lot of regular customers and we haven't seen most of them yet.

SY SYMS, CHAIRMAN, SYMS CORPORATION: We lost an awful lot of customers in the World Trade Center. Most of them were our customers and, you know, that's a big, big loss.

GURVEY: The downtown Manhattan Syms was number five in sales among the chain's 45 stores nationwide. Same day sales are now half what they were one year ago.

SYMS: It seems there's a milieu over the whole country about well, I'll due with last year's product, not knowing what the future holds.

GURVEY: As the area struggles to get back to business, potential customers face an obstacle course of checkpoints and roadblocks, closed subway lines and truncated bus routes. Whitehall Hardware has been doing business on Wall Street for 55 years.

GERARD TILTON, OWNER, WHITEHALL HARDWARE: There's no one down here. We got some business from the Trade Center area. I guess the checkpoints hurt a lot in the beginning. And it seems like there's more tourists looking at the site than there are customers.

GURVEY: Even when customers have access, store owners find utilities unreliable. Wall Street Jewelers has been doing business across from the New York Stock Exchange for 21 years.

MARVIN RAFELD, PRESIDENT, WALL STREET JEWELERS: We still have no phones, unfortunately. So that's a big deficit for us. We need our phones. But I am definitely trending upward, so that's a good thing.

GURVEY: There are no reliable estimates as to how much business has been lost. Many small merchants report their landlords and suppliers have been sympathetic, offering reduced rents and longer payment plans. For many, this plus government small business loans will be the key to survival.

KOULMENTAS: I've been very fortunate with my landlord. He says not to worry about the rent for a couple of months, which, that's a tremendous help.

ALI: I'm hoping we could stay down here if the landlord, you know, relaxes our lease a little bit. Maybe, you know, he gives us a little break on the rent. Maybe he could do something like that.

GURVEY: For some, like the Ermitagge Hair Salon, relocation may be the only solution to the crisis.

INGRED MISEVITCHEN, OWNER, ERMITAGGE SALON FOR MEN: We are thinking, we are thinking to relocate possibly maybe closer to Broadway. It seems like there's a lot more people in that area now.

GURVEY: But for others, that option is out of the question.

RAFELD: Never will we relocate, period, end of story. This is where we live and no terrorist is going to make us live somewhere else.

GURVEY: Wall Street merchants say the next few months are critical. If they can stay afloat while the wreckage is cleared, they can rebound while the area is rebuilt. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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.

10/12/01: "Market Monitor"-Mark Leibovit, Chief Market Strategist for VolumeReversalTrader.com

PAUL KANGAS: My guest market monitor this week is Mark Leibovit, the Chief Market Strategist for VolumeReversalTrader.com. And welcome back, Mark.

MARK LEIBOVIT, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST,VOLUMEREVERSALTRADER.COM: Thank you, Paul. Thanks for having me.

KANGAS: The stock market was making an impressive comeback this week until today, and many analysts were convinced the relatively high volume and solid gains on the rally were signs the market bottom was behind us. Now, I know you look very close at volume in your analysis. Have we seen the bottom?

LEIBOVIT: Well, so far that appears to be the case, Paul. We had, as I call them, volume reversals here in the last several weeks. We have failed down side projections. It came within a time frame where you would expect to see a huge sell-off and bearish sentiment was running at a very, very high pace even despite the September 11th tragedy. So, not to say we're not going to have our choppy periods and not to say when we came into this morning, Friday, we weren't looking for a pullback anyway but so far except for a normal pullback in this pullback we saw today, though it recovered into the close-

KANGAS: So we won't get to the lows anymore?

LEIBOVIT: I don't believe so.

KANGAS: OK.

LEIBOVIT: But there's always a chance. You can retest them but our models and the volume shift says we should be to the plus side.

KANGAS: Right. Now, your annual forecast models have been amazingly accurate in recent years, so let's look at what it was for this year and tell us about it a little bit here. Everything was going fine. You were right on up until the end of August and early September, weren't you?

LEIBOVIT: Well, you know, things started to change. You know, we could always get into the conspiracy theory that somebody knew the market was going to sell-off in September. We've heard a little bit about that already. But the model was indicating a low in March, a rally in May, a pullback, as you defined it, and then a year end rally. So we've been off sync here a little bit, but it's still leaning a little more positive here and it has been on track. But, of course, nobody can predict acts of god or acts of terrorism.

KANGAS: Right. Well, do you think that they have rendered your forecast model for the rest of the year all but useless?

LEIBOVIT: I don't know that to be the case. You know, I'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt because the market still appears more positive than negative to me. But obviously the factors that were taken into consideration when we put it together aren't what has occurred.

KANGAS: Right. Now, give us a little bit about your investment strategy currently.

LEIBOVIT: Well, I'm positive, Paul. I think we're going overall a lot higher. I think on a six month, 12 month basis you're going to see a big advance here. Looking at NASDAQ in particular, we have a NASDAQ target of between 2,300 and 2,500. and that doesn't mean it can't go higher than that. So, that's a six month, 12 month comment. And with that view, considering how depressed NASDAQ stocks are, I'm very positive there, and the rest of the market, as well. So we're going to get our chops. We're going to get the kind of sell-offs we saw today. And my short-term view is you might even see a little bit more of a pullback into early next week.

KANGAS: Right. OK.

LEIBOVIT: But I think we're going overall higher.

KANGAS: Well, the last time you were with us in late February you gave us some stocks that are still higher despite the sharp sell-off we've had recently. You gave us Phillips Petroleum (P), Waste Management (WMI), Allied Waste (AW), Republic Services (RSG), Intergraph (INGR), AT&T (T) was at $15 then and it's up around $20 now. So those were good calls. Are you still with them?

LEIBOVIT: I still like all those stocks.

KANGAS: OK.

LEIBOVIT: I love AT&T. I love the Waste Management stocks. Every name there sounds great.

KANGAS: OK. Now, you had a couple of clinkers.

LEIBOVIT: We did.

KANGAS: The worst was IBIS Technology (IBIS), which was in the mid $20s. It's now about $6. What do we do with that?

LEIBOVIT: Well, we were stopped out. Generally, we keep a stop below where volume shifts or at 10, 15 percent below our price. So we were stopped out a ways back on that.

KANGAS: And with Corning Glass, also. That was around $30 at the time.

LEIBOVIT: Also, I mean, you know, when they don't follow through after our volume shifts we're out. That doesn't mean we don't like them now, though. They may be buys here. We'll have to look at them.

KANGAS: Well, let's look at them right now. What do you like?

LEIBOVIT: Well, you know, I like a lot of names. I like the names that you just gave me. I like Scholastic (SCHL), SCHL, which is, of course, the Harry Potter play.

KANGAS: OK.

LEIBOVIT: And, you know, I would go with some of these high tech names. But, you know, Paul, I mentioned this before in our previous broadcast, I would go with the QQQ, the NASDAQ 100. It's currently trading around the 33, 34 area. I see this going to the mid 50s in the six to 12 months and that's a conservative way of playing the whole NASDAQ.

KANGAS: OK. We only have about 20 seconds left. Any other thoughts on this market, Mark?

LEIBOVIT: Well, you know, I haven't given up on some of the gold shares, too, Paul. I mentioned that, I believe, on our previous broadcast. I think you're going to see a little bit more inflation in this economy as the Fed stimulates and as the market moves higher. So I'm keeping a little trading eye on the Neumonts (NEM) and the American Barracks as well. I'm not forgetting about those.

KANGAS: OK. But basically positive for the rest of the year?

LEIBOVIT: I think we should still get more of a recovery into year end and I'm looking for six to 12 months substantially higher in this market.

KANGAS: OK.

LEIBOVIT: So we're buyers on dips.

KANGAS: And put those stop loss orders about 15 or 20 percent under the current market of these stocks?

LEIBOVIT: Particularly when you're playing high techs.

KANGAS: I got you.

LEIBOVIT: Correct.

KANGAS: OK, Mark, thanks very much for being with us.

LEIBOVIT: My pleasure.

KANGAS: My guest Mark Leibovit, Chief Market Strategist for VolumeReversalTrader.com.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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.

10/12/01: Paul Kangas' Wall Street Wrap Up

PAUL KANGAS: At the outset of trading, then, the Dow Industrial Average fell 124 points and the NASDAQ Index was down 23 points. The market recovered partially in mid-morning thanks to an unexpected rise in the University of Michigan's latest consumer sentiment survey, and the tech sector was braced up by better than expected earnings from Juniper Networks (JNPR). The budding upturn, however, was stopped abruptly by that midday report of a case of anthrax exposure in New York City. By 1:00 p.m. the Dow fell to a 213-point loss. NASDAQ was down 46 points. Bargain hunters came to the rescue as afternoon trading progressed with the tech sector making a strong recovery. The Dow Industrial Average slashed its closing loss to 66.29 points putting it at 9344.16. This week the Dow rose twice, fell three times, but still had a net overall gain of 224.39 points or 2.5 percent. The NASDAQ Index edged up with a gain at the close of 1.93, putting it at 1703.40. And for the week, the Composite Index rose in four of the five sessions for a net overall gain of 98.10 points, that's 6.1 percent on the upside.

Trading volume today simmered down a bit from yesterday to 1.33 billion shares and about an 8 to 5 ratio of down volume over up volume.

Dow Transport Index off just over 80 points.

Utilities down about 1/2 a point.

The Closing Tick still modestly bullish at +739.

Standard & Poor's 500 down 5 3/4 points.

A loss of nearly 2 2/3 in the 100.

And the MidCap 400 fell just over 4 points.

Bridge Futures Price Index jumped up 2.23.

New York Stock Exchange Composite down 3.81.

Value Line off nearly 2 points.

The Russell2000 Small Cap Index off nearly 2 1/2 points.

And the Wilshire 5000 dropped just about 60 points or 6/10 of a percent.

The bond market had a bouncy session with signs of strength appearing on news of much lower retail sales, but the jump in the Consumer Price Index and the surprise increase in consumer confidence pushed prices back down. Then, another rally began on news of the New York City anthrax case, but pre-weekend selling pressures quashed that upturn, and tax-free and corporates finished with very little change, while the Treasury market ended mostly lower.

Not the 5-year notes which edged up 3/32.

But the 10-year notes down 2/32.

30-year bond off 11/32.

And the Lehman Brothers Long-Term Treasury Bond Index fell exactly 1 1/2.

Today's watchword obviously volatility. But we certainly pulled well up from the lows of the day with a drop of only 66 ¼ points on the Dow. When it was over 200 down. And the broader market, about 18 stocks lower for every 12 higher. 41 new yearly highs; 27 new lows.

EMC (EMC) topped the active list, down $0.53, giving back about half of yesterday's gain. Today, Robertson Stevens Brokerage cut earnings estimates.

Lucent Technologies (LU) was up $0.31.

NorTel Networks (NT) edged up $0.28.

And then the big loser of the day percentage wise, Providian Financial (PVN) tumbling $6.90. The company sees third quarter earnings at only $0.19 to $0.21 versus an earlier estimate of $0.82 to $0.84 a share. The Alex Brown Brokerage cut a "strong buy" down to "market perform."

General Electric (GE) a $0.05 gain.

And then Citigroup down $0.69.

AOL Time Warner (AOL) down $0.71.

Hewlett-Packard (HWP) edged up $0.25.

Compaq Computer (CPQ) a $0.03 gain.

Tenth in big board volume Pfizer (PFE) gaining $0.04.

Agilent Technologies (A) dropped $0.76. The Morgan Stanley Brokerage downgraded a "strong buy" to just an "outperform" rating.

AMR (AMR), parent of American Airlines, down $1.69. It was just starting to rally nicely earlier in the week and gave back most of the gain.

No change in Eastman Kodak (EK) today, although the company is increasing its quarterly dividend by $0.01 to $0.45 a share. However, it'll start paying dividends next year semiannually rather than quarterly. There'll be two payments of $0.90 rather than four payments of $0.45. But the total will still be $1.80 next year.

Fedex (FDX) down $1.61 on growing concern about anthrax being concealed in packages being shipped.

Great Plains Energy (GX) fell $1.80 after the UBS Warburg Brokerage downgraded a "strong buy" to just a "hold" rating.

And then IBM (IBM) in there with a gain of $1.44. It was the biggest point gainer in the Dow Industrial Average.

Storage Technology (STK) one of the better percentage gainers of the session, up $2.03. The company sees third quarter earnings above the Wall Street estimate of $0.09 a share.

Accenture Limited (ACN) up $1.39 on top of a $1.49 rise yesterday. That was on better than expected fourth quarter operating earnings of $0.12 a share, a $0.01 above the Street estimate. Today, First Union Brokerage upgraded it "market perform" to a "buy" and has a $20 a share target.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (GAP) up $1.22. The company's second quarter loss was narrower than expected, only $0.08. The Street was looking for a loss of $0.26.

Pediatrix Medical (PDX) down $3.88. It traded as low as $24 during the session. The company says a previously disclosed criminal probe into its billing practices in the state of Colorado's Medicaid program is still active.

Americredit (ACF) down $5 a share. Of course, this is big into auto loans and it was off $8.50 yesterday on concern about consumer credit quality. Today, Alex Brown Brokerage downgraded it from "buy" to "market perform" and cut second quarter earnings estimates by $0.02 a share, down to $0.84.

Metris Companies (MXT) down $3.13. This is a credit card issuer and, of course, here again the worry about consumer credit quality hurting that one.

NASDAQ trading, a gain of 1.93 so we're still above the pre-attack level on that Index. Volume down a bit from yesterday to 2.18 billion shares. 16 stocks higher for every 19 lower.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) moved up $0.49. It got a boost from Juniper Networks (JNPR) and we'll see why in just a moment.

Microsoft (MSFT) was up $0.06.

Intel (INTC) gained $0.51.

And then Juniper (JNPR), the star of the day, up $4.42. As I touched on earlier, the company had better than expected third quarter earnings of $0.10 a share. That was versus $0.09 in the previous quarte