09/24/04:
US Airways Wants Workers To Pay
SUSIE GHARIB: US Airways is trying to
clip the wings of its union employees` paychecks. The airline
is expected to ask the bankruptcy court to impose wage and
benefit cuts in a filing tonight. The request comes after
the unions refused $800 million in contract concessions. Stephanie
Woods reports.
STEPHANIE WOODS, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT
CORRESPONDENT: US Airways wants the court to impose immediate
23 percent pay cuts on its unionized pilots, flight attendants,
machinists and reservation agents. The company also wants
to stop contributions to employee retirements plans. Analysts
say the company can`t wait to complete negotiations with the
unions.
PHILLIP BAGGALEY, AIRLINE ANALYST, STANDARD
AND POOR`S: It`s a short-term measure to stop the bleeding,
or at least minimize the bleeding. WOODS: The pilots union
says it will oppose the request, but continue to negotiate
cost concessions with management. Even if US Airways can dramatically
lower its labor costs, the company still has a lot to do to
navigate its way out of bankruptcy.
BAGGALEY: They have to reach deals with
some of their key creditors, the Air Transportation Stabilization
Board, GE (NYSE:GE) and so forth, and then lastly, if they
can fix all this, then they have to attract exit financing
to get out of bankruptcy and while all this is going on, they`re
going into the weak winter season and have limited cash liquidity.
WOODS: The airline is hemorrhaging cash.
There`s uncertainty about meeting its loan obligations to
the government and it lost financing for as many as 100 regional
jets. All that makes the prospect of liquidation more likely.
KEVIN SCHORR, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, CAMPBELL-HILL
AVIATION: The regional jets were an integral part of their
restructuring plan. They were going to use the regional jets
to feed hubs, to fly to new cities from their focus cities
and to do things that other airlines have been doing for a
while, but US Airways just hasn`t had the opportunity to do.
WOODS: Still, it`s possible for the airline
to turn it around, which loyal customers are rooting for.
ROSE SCONIERS, US AIRWAYS CUSTOMER: As
long as they`re flying, I`m going to be flying USAir.
WOODS: Even as some move to cash in on
frequent flier miles.
BRENDA KLEVOS, US AIRWAYS CUSTOMER: With
all the restrictions they have on bonus miles I haven`t been
able to.
WOODS: Analysts say whether US Airways
can fly at out of bankruptcy a second time will depend on
how much progress the airline makes with its creditors and
its unions over the next month and a half. Stephanie Woods,
NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport.
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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television
Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms
of use.
09/24/04:
Diesel Fuel Prices Are On The Fast Track
GHARIB: With gasoline prices back on the rise these days on
supply concerns, some consumers are thinking of switching
to vehicles that use a different fuel: diesel. But if the
idea is to save money, they can forget about it. As Scott
Gurvey reports, diesel prices are rising faster than gas prices.
SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS
REPORT CORRESPONDENT: While most motorists have been focused
on the gas pumps and noting with some relief that the price
of gas seems to have peaked, the price of diesel fuel has
continued to rise. It has gained 32 percent over the last
year while unleaded gas prices are up only 16 percent. Diesel
now on average costs $1.91 a gallon, more than gasoline. Diesel
powers the nation`s trucks and the nation`s trucks move 87
percent of the nation`s commercial freight. Diesel powered
railroads carry another 5 percent, so the immediate impact
of higher diesel prices has been to drive up the cost of shipping
which in many cases has been immediately passed on.
ANDREW WEST, TRANSPORTATION
ANALYST, STANDARD & POOR`S: This year overall demand for
has been strong for transportation, so the supply demand equation
has allowed the bigger companies to pass along the costs.
However, the smaller transportation companies that have perhaps
less competitive position, they`ve been squeezed in terms
of their margins so a lot of them haven`t been able to pass
along their fuel costs.
GURVEY: That squeeze will
only tighten the market, which means the higher transportation
costs will stick. Economists say that could knock a half a
percentage point off the gross domestic product over a year`s
time. Long-term futures prices are expected to remain high
due to fears of supply disruptions. But near-term prices could
fall, the experts say, as a result of the seasonal adjustments
refiners make to the amount of diesel fuel they produce.
BILL O`GRADY, FUTURES ANALYST,
A.G. EDWARDS: There is a seasonal tendency for heating oil
prices to peak at the wholesale level in the first week or
so of October. And then you tend to see a pretty dramatic
decline in heating oil prices. That will signal refiners they
can make a little bit more diesel fuel. That will probably
help.
GURVEY: Price pressures
will also be reduced as damage from hurricanes in the Gulf
is assessed. Many experts believe the market has overreacted
to the supply disruptions which have occurred and will correct
as imports return to pre-storm levels. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television
Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms
of use.
09/24/04:
High Speed Train Pollution Solution
SUSIE GHARIB: While high speed trains are offered as a solution
to pollution and traffic woes, the idea has had trouble catching
on here in the United States But that`s not the case in Japan,
where ultra-fast trains powered by magnetic levitation are
getting a warm reception. Lucy Craft reports.
LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS
REPORT CORRESPONDENT: It was Americans who invented a system
of superconducting magnets to lift trains inches above their
tracks and send them hurtling along a guideway. But it took
the Japanese, creators of the enormously successful high-speed
bullet train, to perfect a floating train repelled by super-cooled
magnets. In effect, the Maglev "flies" at low altitude,
zooming at speeds of up to 361 miles per hour. That`s more
than twice as fast as America`s quickest commuter train. On
heavily traveled corridors between cities a few hundred miles
apart, the Maglev is speedy enough to provide serious competition
to airlines.
SATORU SONE, PROF., ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING, KOGAKUIN UNIV. (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The Maglev
consumes only half as much energy as an airplane and with
only about one quarter the carbon emissions. For distances
of 300 miles or less, traveling by Maglev actually saves time,
because you don`t have to get to and from an airport. So it`s
definitely faster than a plane.
CRAFT: Unlike the U.S.
and much of the rest of the world, railways still thrive across
compact and densely populated Japan, a prime means of transit
for commuter and vacationer alike. Leading operators like
central Japan railway, which is testing the Maglev, are cash
cows. Analysts say the rail operator is financially sound
enough to absorb much of the staggering cost of funding a
Maglev system on its own.
NAOTO HASHIMOTO, TRANSPORTATION
ANALYST, NOMURA SECURITIES (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The company
has quite a strong cash flow today.
CRAFT: Building concrete
guideways, tunnels and rolling stock for the levitated train
system could hit a mind-boggling $90 billion, although researchers
are struggling to trim billions by stretching out the snout
to cut wind resistance and mass-producing parts. The national
government hasn`t yet decided to provide critical startup
financing. But Japan`s rail-friendly constituency seems pre-
disposed to support the plan. Given Japan`s aging and shrinking
population and uncertain prospects for the economy ahead,
some argue Japan doesn`t need a Buck Rogers floating train.
Maglev advocates, while conceding there`s still no guarantee
the system will ever be built, remain confident the project
will stay on track.
NORIYUKI SHIRAKUNI, GEN.
MANAGER, YAMANASHI MAGLEV TEST CTR. (THROUGH TRANSLATOR):
Around the world, man has always sought ways of getting from
point "A" to point "B" quicker. So as
long as mankind harbors a desire for faster travel, the Maglev`s
day will definitely dawn.
CRAFT: Japan`s Maglev system
is being studied in the U.S. But the only place on the planet
sufficiently rich and crowded enough to support it may be
the few hundred miles of real estate between Tokyo and Osaka,
Japan`s two largest cities. If and when the Japanese decide
to go ahead with their futuristic train technology, the project
will take at least 10 years to complete. Lucy Craft, NIGHTLY
BUSINESS REPORT, Yamanashi, Japan.
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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television
Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms
of use.
09/24/04:
"Market Monitor" Elaine Garzarelli, President, Garzarelli
Capital
KANGAS: My guest "Market Monitor"
this week is Elaine Garzarelli, president of Garzarelli capital
and welcome back to NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT Elaine. Great
to see you.
ELAINE GARZARELLI, PRESIDENT, GARZARELLI
CAPITAL: Nice to see you.
KANGAS: On your last visit with us in
February, you were very impressed by the corporate earnings
scenario along with things like inflation-free environment.
Why hasn`t the stock market reacted to all this good news
in a more positive way?
GARZARELLI: Because the Fed began tightening
shortly after my visit and that caused a little bit of confusion,
fear that these long-term interest rates would go up and curtail
growth in the economy. Also problems in Iraq and looked like
Bush was losing there for a while. And the oil prices, oil
prices went up 50 percent.
KANGAS: You know, job growth you said
last time was clearly disappointing and you said it`s probably
not going to get a whole lot better and it hasn`t. Are we
going to see more disappointment?
GARZARELLI: No, I think it will get better,
more in the service area than manufacturing. We`re on an up
path.
KANGAS: OK, how about the budget deficit,
is that a major problem for the stock market?
GARZARELLI: It will be if it continues
for five or six years at this rate, but that`s one of the
best things we can do when we`re in a recession to get out
of it. It`s an economic theory (INAUDIBLE) deficit.
KANGAS: How much of a drag on the market
is the Iraq war?
GARZARELLI: I don`t really think that`s
as much as the oil prices going up and the fear that the Fed`s
tightening and that might ruin housing and it might slow the
economy down.
KANGAS: But on the whole you`re still
bullish on the market?
GARZARELLI: I am. My indicators are at
43 1/2 percent in a correction mode. And in many of the indexes
we`ve already corrected 10 to 15 percent. So we should be
finished with this very soon and it looks familiar to another
period in time and that is 1994, the last time the Fed tightened,
in a trading range for 10 months and then we broke off to
the outside.
KANGAS: You see Dow 11,000 or better
by the end of the year?
GARZARELLI: Well, I think the stock market
is more than 20 percent, that`s the S&P 500, under valued
at this point.
KANGAS: Last time you were with us in
February, you gave us five recommendations. We see General
Electric up 2.1 percent. Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) a real
winner, up 32 percent, congratulations are in order there.
And two more that you gave us were Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which
is up over 6 percent. And then the exchange rated fund having
to do with construction materials and that is up one tenth
of a percent. There was only one loser out of the five and
that was Delphi (NYSE:DPH), the auto parts maker and it was
down 14 percent.
GARZARELLI: Yes. We took that off in
June for a gain of about 3 percent.
KANGAS: OK, so overall you`re up about
8 percent on those five selections and that`s a lot better
than the major averages. I congratulate you.
GARZARELLI: The S&P is down about
3 1/2.
KANGAS: Right. How about some new recommendations?
GARZARELLI: OK, I`ve got some and they`re
really a lot more than I have here. But the first one is an
exchange traded fund, it trades all day long, so just like
a stock and that`s the energy sector, which includes things
like Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), the natural gas
stocks and some of the oil service stocks. The next one is
called pharmaceutical holders, that is 20 stocks.
KANGAS: This is another exchange traded
fund.
GARZARELLI: That`s right, the same thing.
All day long you can buy and sell.
KANGAS: On the American exchange I might
add.
GARZARELLI: On the American.
KANGAS: OK. Let`s go for number three.
GARZARELLI: And then number three would
be XLK, another exchange traded fund, that`s technology. That`s
the only one I currently own. I`ll probably buy the others
Monday, but anyway, that`s down 71 percent from its high.
And of course the big stocks are in there, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT),
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Dell (NASDAQ:DELL).
KANGAS: You like the diversification
of these exchange-traded funds obviously?
GARZARELLI: Absolutely, I think it`s
fabulous. If a sector looks good, most of the stocks in the
sector will move up with it.
KANGAS: OK, any other selections?
GARZARELLI: I like the Russell 2000.
I think the small stock will continue to lead, not by the
giant percentage that they did, but still continue to be better
than the S&P and that`s corrected 15 percent in its correction
and I also like McDonald`s (NYSE:MCD).
KANGAS: The golden arches.
GARZARELLI: Down 40 percent from its
high and I think with the economy continuing strong, we have
three and a half percent GDP growth next year. That should
catch up.
KANGAS: All right, so basically bullish,
but you like the diversification of these exchange traded
funds.
GARZARELLI: Love them.
KANGAS: OK. There we have it. Our time
is up, but thanks very much for being with us Elaine.
GARZARELLI: My pleasure.
KANGAS: My guest "Market Monitor
Elaine Garzarelli, president of Garzarelli Capital.
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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television
Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms
of use.
09/24/04:
Last Word - Canine Cinema
SUSIE GHARIB: And finally
tonight, some people think the movie industry is going to
the dogs, but probably not this literally. Tomorrow night,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, will play host to the "dog film
festival" showing nothing but canine cinema for both
dogs and their owners. Twenty five aspiring filmmakers have
submitted entries. All are about dogs, have dogs in them,
or make you think of a dog when you watch it. Hundreds of
dogs and their humans are expected to turn out for the screening,
which has a $500 prize for, shall we say, "best in show."
And Paul, as you might expect, there will be popcorn and "pooch"
snacks available to the audience.
KANGAS: Pooch snacks! Our
dog, our little Pierre poodle lived to be 18, would never
eat a pooch snack. He considered himself to be a human.
GHARIB: You only gave him
good filet mignon.
KANGAS: That`s right.
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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television
Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms
of use.
09/24/04:
Paul Kangas' "Stocks In The News"
KANGAS:
Wall Street edged slightly higher this morning thanks to bargain
buying
after two days of steep losses. News that August durable goods
orders fell 0.5
percent while existing home sales declined 2.7 percent, kept
buyers very
cautious. At mid-day the Dow was up 11 points, NASDAQ up only
1 point. An
afternoon rally attempt was undermined by another rise in
oil futures and
normal pre-weekend selling pressure. The Dow Industrial Average
closed up only
8 1/3 points at 10,047.24. This week, the Dow rose twice and
fell three times
for a net loss of 237.22 points. The NASDAQ Composite lost
7 points to 1879.48
today. It also rose twice and fell three times this week and
lost 30.61 points
overall. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index was up 1 3/4
to 1110.11 today. Over in
the bond market, the 10-year note fell 3/32, putting the yield
at 4.03 percent.
Most active big board issue on
22 1/2 million shares was Fannie Mae (FNM) and
the stock down another $1.64. This firm has been named in
a purported class
action lawsuit alleging the company artificially inflated
its stock price with
false and misleading statements.
Pfizer (PFE) down $0.27. The company is asking
a New Jersey court to prevent Alpharma Corp. (ALO). from launching
a generic version of Pfizer`s Neurontin drug. Late today,
the judge refused that request but will take up the matter
again on Monday.
Lucent Technologies (LU) $0.07 loss.
Citigroup (C) moved up $0.27.
Texas Instrument (TXN) fifth in volume, down
$0.76 a share.
AT&T Wireless (AWE) managed to gain $0.02.
But Calpine (CPN) down $0.15
Motorola (MOT) a $0.06 drop.
NorTel Networks (NT) lost a dime.
Tenth in big board volume was Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ), down $0.26 a share.
Valero Energy (VLO) did well, up $2.08. The
Morgan Keegan brokerage says oil
exploration firms like Valero are coming into vogue these
days because of
strong demand for oil and gas. Let`s have a look at some of
the stocks in the
sector. They fared well today.
Cabot Oil & Gas (COG), Marathon Oil (MRO)
and Tesoro Petroleum (TSO) all
fractionally higher.
Vintage Petroleum (VPI) was up $1.12. Separately,
Vintage is going to sell its
Canadian interest for $270 million in cash to Midnight Oil
and Gas of Calgary,
Alberta.
And then XTO Energy (XTO) up $1.19. The Smith
Barney brokerage upgraded that
one from "hold" to a "buy," very strong
segment of the market today.
St. Jude Medical (STJ) gained $2.23. The company
is going to discontinue its
symmetry bypass aortic connector line due to lower sales.
Also the company
plans to acquire Endocardial Solutions Corporation (ECSI)
for $11.75 a share.
Endocardial stock was up $1.58 to $11.58 today.
JLG Industries (JLG) up $1.87. This company
makes those aerial work platforms
and it had higher earnings today, fourth quarter, $0.35, up
from $0.13 last
year and revenues soared 82 percent. Standard & Poor`s
repeated a "hold"
recommendation.
Armor Holdings (AH) rising $1.50. The company
yesterday got a $23 million order
from the U.S. Army for heavy truck armor kits and also today,
Goldman Sachs
started covering the stock with an in line ratings.
Then Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) up
$4.58. That`s a new high I believe.
That`s up on heavy derivatives trading volume this month,
which could mean
higher third quarter earnings. As a matter of fact, Merrill
Lynch and Morgan
Stanley both boosted the company`s third quarter earnings
outlook. Hard to
believe that stock went public back in December of 2002 at
only $35 a share, up
nearly fivefold since then.
Microsoft (MSFT) topped the active list on
NASDAQ losing $0.06.
Followed by Intel (INTC), $0.25 drop.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) was off a half a dollar.
eBay (EBAY) down $0.88.
And Applied Materials (AMAT) a $0.51 loss.
And we see Google (GOOG) down nearly $1, a
little profit taking there.
Research In Motion (RIMM) managed to gain
$0.16.
And Dell (DELL) was up $0.15.
QUALCOMM (QCOM) $0.47 drop.
Yahoo! (YHOO) fell $0.46 and was tenth in
volume.
We had an initial public offering today
that went very well, Cogent (COGT).
This company is in the fingerprint ID business, 18 million
shares offered to
the public at $12 a share. Stock opened at $16.02 and had
a high of $19.03 and
then backed off a bit from there.
Elsewhere, PalmSource (PSRC) down $4.47. The
company did cut its first quarter
loss to only one penny versus a $0.38 loss last year, but
analysts are
cautioning the company, cautioning the investors about the
second quarter
outlook for earnings. This company provides software for mobile
phones, among
other things.
Those are the "Stocks in the News"
tonight, Susie.
09/24/04:
Market Stats
NET PERCENT
CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
DOW CLOSE 10047.24 +8.34 + .1
HIGH 10081.30
LOW 10034.85
NASDAQ COMP. 1879.48 -6.95 -.4
HIGH 1897.42
LOW 1879.48
VOLUME 1,250.8
PREVIOUS 1,286.5
UP VOLUME 669.7
DOWN VOLUME 567.3
DOW TRANSPORTS 3202.11 +28.14 + .9
DOW UTILITIES 292.98 -.10 - .0
CLOSING TICK +67
S&P 500 1110.11 +1.75 + .2
S&P 100 534.37 +.17 + .0
MIDCAP 400 588.50 +3.21 + .6
REUTERS/CRB 277.77 -2.29 - .8
NYSE COMPOSITE 6531.37 +9.94 + .2
VALUE LINE 356.31 -.17 - .1
RUSSELL 2000 565.97 +.17 + .0
DJW 5000 10838.30 +17.40 + .2
U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 3.375%
Sept. 15,2009 100 7/32 -4/32 + 3.33
10-YEAR NOTE 4.25%
Aug. 15,2014 101 24/32 -3/32 + 4.03
30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031 108 15/32 -6/32 + 4.81
LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX 1784.35 +11.01
DOW CLOSE 10047.24 +8.34 + .1
ADVANCES 1814
DECLINES 1456
NEW HIGHS 143
NEW LOWS 31
NET PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES 4PM CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
FNM Fannie Mae 65.51 -1.64 -2.4
PFE Pfizer Inc 29.66 -.27 -.9
LU Lucent Tech 3.18 -.07 -2.2
C Citigroup 44.15 +.27 +.6
TXN Texas Instrument 21.69 -.76 -3.4
AWE AT&T Wireless Svcs 14.77 +.02 +.1
CPN Calpine Corp 3.28 -.15 -4.4
MOT Motorola 17.83 -.06 -.3
NT Nortel Networks 3.41 -.10 -2.9
HPQ Hewlett-Packard 18.58 -.26 -1.4
NASDAQ CLOSE 1879.48 - 6.95 - .4
VOLUME 1,362.4
PREVIOUS 1,402.3
ADVANCES 1465
DECLINES 1556
NASDAQ ACTIVES
MSFT Microsoft 27.29 -.06 -.2
INTC Intel 20.13 -.25 -1.2
CSCO Cisco Systems 18.40 -.50 -2.7
EBAY eBay 89.22 -.88 -1.0
AMAT Applied Matl 16.65 -.51 -3.0
GOOG Google 119.83 -.99 -.8
RIMM Rsch In Motion 74.57 +.16 +.2
DELL Dell Inc 35.05 +.15 +.4
QCOM Qualcomm 38.25 -.47 -1.2
YHOO Yahoo! 32.58 -.46 -1.4
AMEX CLOSE 1264.97 + 3.51 + .3
INDEX SHARES
DIA DIAMONDS TRUST 100.72 +.27 +.3
QQQ NASDAQ 100 34.81 -.13 -.4
SPY S&P DEP.RECEIPTS 111.46 +.51 +.5
STOCKS IN THE NEWS
VLO Valero Energy 77.67 +2.08 +2.8
COG Cabot Oil Gas 45.07 +.71 +1.6
MRO Marathon Oil 40.52 +.93 +2.4
TSO Tesoro Petroleum 29.85 +.62 +2.1
VPI Vintage Peteoleum 20.32 +1.12 +5.8
XTO XTO Energy 32.59 +1.19 +3.8
STJ ST.Jude Medical 73.43 +2.23 +3.1
JLG JLG Industries 16.25 +1.87 +13.0
AH Armor Holdings 39.60 +1.50 +3.9
CME Chicago Mercant 157.62 +4.58 +3.0
COGT Cogent 17.98 +5.98 +49.8
PSRC PalmSource 20.59 -4.47 -17.8
|
