Program: Monday, November 28, 2005

Merck's Prescription For Restructuring
"Market Outlook" With Alan Skrainka, Chief Market Strategist of Edward Jones
Cybershopping's Black Monday
China's "Road" To Success
Commentary: Ben Bernanke Speak
Last Word-The Price of The 12 Days of Xmas
Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Market Stats

11/28/05: Merck's Prescription For Restructuring

SUSIE GHARIB: Merck announced a massive restructuring today and the stock tumbled more than 4.5 percent. The pharmaceutical giant will eliminate 7,000 jobs, 11 percent of its workforce and the biggest reduction in the company`s 114-year history. And more cuts could be on the way. As Suzanne Pratt reports, the restructuring got a mixed reception on Wall Street.

SUZANNE PRATT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Merck`s new CEO, Richard Clark, took the first step today in fulfilling a promise made months ago to cut costs at the struggling drug maker. Clark`s restructuring program includes 7,000 job cuts by 2008, equal to 11 percent of the company`s global workforce. It also calls for the sale or closing of five manufacturing facilities. Merck figures the moves will result in cost savings of as much as $4 billion in the next five years. Many on Wall Street were unimpressed with the plan.

LES FUNTLEYDER, HEALTHCARE STRATEGIST, MILLER TABAK: It`s clear that they took a cautious stance. They don`t want to over-cut right now. But what we know, it`s still a healthy amount of restructuring. So for the time being we`ll say it`s enough even though it appears some people are a little disappointed that Merck wasn`t more aggressive.

PRATT: The announcement comes as Merck faces patent expirations in the next few years for some of its top-selling drugs, including Zocor and Fosamax. On top of that, Merck has been hit hard by its decision last year to pull Vioxx from the market and litigation costs from related liability lawsuits.

FUNTLEYDER: It`s a big question mark, an unknown, and we probably won`t know for at least another decade what the total is. But it`s something that overhangs the stock.

PRATT: Merck`s significant troubles are well-reflected in the company`s stock. In the last five years, it has plummeted 70 percent. And in spite of today`s restructuring news, many Wall Street analysts are still cool on the shares. Tony Butler of Lehman Brothers, which has done business with Merck this year, has it rated a "neutral."

TONY BUTLER, PHARMACEUTICAL ANALYST, LEHMAN BROTHERS: If you have a long-term view, a 5 percent dividend yield is very attractive. If you are very short-term oriented, I would avoid it because you need to have that revenue growth and you don`t have it in Merck in the near term.

PRATT: Merck plans to provide further details of its restructuring at its annual analyst meeting on December 15. At that time, analysts also expect to get a better sense of what Merck has in its drug pipeline. Suzanne Pratt, 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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.


11/28/05:"Market Outlook" With Alan Skrainka, Chief Market Strategist of Edward Jones

SUSIE GHARIB: As we reported, the major market averages pulled back today and the Dow failed to cross the 11,000 level. But our guest tonight says investors should focus on investing in high quality stocks and stop keeping score of the Dow average. Joining us now Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist of Edward Jones. Hi Alan.

ALAN SKRAINKA, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, EDWARD JONES: Hi, Susie, good to be with you.

GHARIB: Well, so are you saying that your advice to investors will be no different if the Dow were at 11,000 or 10,000?

SKRAINKA: That`s right. Our advice has pretty much been the same all along. If you own good quality securities, you`re well diversified, continue to stay the course, continue to invest and stay focused on your long-term goals because no one can predict the market short term.

GHARIB: Now, there`s considerable discussion among market pros about the outlook for the economy and the investing climate, whether we`re talking about oil prices or interest rates or corporate profits. What`s your take on all of that?

SKRAINKA: Well, there`s always disagreement about all of these things, but I think today is sort of an unusual period in that people seem to be so focused on the negatives. High oil prices, the Fed hiking rates and so forth. And you can`t ignore the good news: unemployment`s at 5 percent. Interest rates are still near a 40-year low. We have an economy that`s growing at better than 3 percent for 10 consecutive quarters. That hasn`t happened since 1984 and finally we`ve had double digit profit growth for the companies in the S&P 500 for the last two and a half years. I think that`s a pretty good environment.

GHARIB: But there have got to be some risks out there, something that worry you. What are they?

SKRAINKA: There are always things to worry about. The Fed seems to be concerned about inflation, so they seem to be continuing to hike interest rates. We could have additional problems in the economy next year if oil prices instead of falling, reverse course and go back up. But, again, this is conjecture, this is guess work, this is what economists do. I think investors are better off focusing on the things they can control, like the quality of the investments they own and the diversification of their portfolio.

GHARIB: Now, Alan, there`s been so much talk, as you know, about speculation that the Federal Reserve is just about done raising interest rates. If that is, indeed, the case what would be your outlook for the markets and the investing climate in 2006?

SKRAINKA: Well, I think the outlook would really improve because today we`re right at the point where economists start to worry about a big slowdown in the economy. And we get that tip from the yield curve itself. When short-term rates are just about equal to long-term rates, that tends to be a concerning thing. So I think the Fed is paying some attention to that. The latest minutes indicate that. And after another hike or two, they`re probably done for this part of the cycle and I think the economy will respond to that.

GHARIB: So you said investors should focus on high-quality stocks. Tell us, I know you don`t name stocks, but tell where they should be looking, if you`re looking for a long-term investment.

SKRAINKA: Well, I think you have to have good balance and, you know, there are times when the economy is doing very well and things like technology, capital goods, consumer discretionary sectors do very well. And there are times to be defensive. Who would have thought that energy and utilities, for example, would have been top performers in the past two years? So if you`re buying individual stocks, work towards building that balance and of course you should only do that after laying a foundation in your portfolio of some good growth and income mutual funds.

GHARIB: Real quickly, Merck was the headline story today. Would that stock fall into any of these categories you`re talking about?

SKRAINKA: Well, I think the big pharmaceutical companies have some serious short-term problems, but for a long-term investor, I think it`s an interesting place to look for opportunities.

GHARIB: All right, Alan, thank you very much. We appreciate you coming by. We`ve been speaking with Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist of Edward Jones.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05:Cybershopping's Black Monday

JEFF YASTINE: After a long Thanksgiving weekend, Americans headed back to their jobs today to work and to shop, but not in stores. Today is billed as cyber Monday, the biggest shopping day of the year for online sales. But as Diane Eastabrook reports, web retailers have been getting a jump on the holidays for weeks.

DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: For consumers who hate lines at checkout counters, online retailing is increasingly becoming the way to shop. And analysts predict this will be the best holiday season in history for Internet merchants.

ROBERT BUCHANAN, RETAIL ANALYST, A.G. EDWARDS: We`ll do $26 billion in Internet sales this holiday. I think the tremendous growth in the Internet is shaving about 1 percentage point off of bricks and mortar comps every year.

EASTABROOK: Internet tracking service Comscore says online sales for the first 25 days of November were up 24 percent this year versus the same period last year. Internet retailing consultant Lauren Freedman believes web retailers are being much more aggressive in courting customers.

LAUREN FREEDMAN, PRESIDENT, THE E-TAILING GROUP: I think one of the biggest trigger mechanisms I know for myself is email, and there is so much email activity coming from the merchants, reminding people of the promotions that are available. In the same way you might get the circulars on Friday in your local paper, you`re going to get those same types of promotions online.

EASTABROOK: Industry watchers say the most popular items selling on the Internet this season are the same ones that are popular in traditional stores: electronics, jewelry and apparel. They say so-called bricks and mortar retailers who have strong Internet sites will be among the biggest winners this year. Many are increasingly letting customers order online, then pick up and return merchandise at stores. Others are using the Internet as a way of extending inventories.

FREEDMAN: I know if you go to the Circuit City or the Best Buy in our neighborhood, you can actually place your orders right then and there. For preorders you see a lot of it. I`ve seen examples of I`m interested in a particular pair of jeans at the Gap and they no longer have it. They use it as a shelf extender, so basically what you find is they say go online; you can find the product.

EASTABROOK: Internet retailers could also benefit this year from higher gasoline prices. Analysts say since fuel is taking a bigger bite out of many consumers` budgets, some might be more likely to point and click to shop rather than drive to a mall. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Chicago.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05: China's "Road" To Success

SUSIE GHARIB:The Bush administration said today that China is not manipulating its currency to gain economic advantage. But the administration still wants China to let the yuan`s value be set by market forces. Also in China, that government has begun a drive to improve its transportation system by building new roads and highways. Beijing is pledging hundreds of billions of dollars for 26,000 miles of new highways over the next 15 years. As Nick Mackie reports, the boom offers opportunities for U.S. suppliers and investors.

NICK MACKIE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Mountainous southwest China and new bridge piers reach for the sky. Throughout the country`s interior, old, worn transit routes are being replaced by a modern national road grid, which should total 55,000 miles of four-lane highway by 2020. This will connect today`s predominately rural economies to the wealthier markets by the sea and beyond. And it`s hoped that new roads will draw investment further inland, including capital to build and operate the highway system.

TRANSLATION OF: LI ZUWEI, GENERAL MANAGER, CHONGQING EXPRESSWAY DEV. CO.: The west of China could be regarded as virgin land. There is a great potential for growth if investors eye a medium to long-term return and invest in infrastructure. At least in, say, 10 years, you could get a return.

MACKIE: Chongqing is eager to strike its first highway deal with an outside investor, one that`s interested in building 800 road of major roads planned for the next five years. Like other regions, the authorities here say everything is negotiable, including development rights along the highway, even a guaranteed return. Success, however, depends on strong takings at the toll booths and these road fees are controlled by government. Also, as average incomes in the west are five times lower than Shanghai, the market here is less developed. Since this highway from Chongqing to Fuling opened four years ago, revenues have yet to reach 10 percent of the original cost. Nonetheless, every road opening is a celebration. With 20 years experience, Chinese companies now handle most design and construction operations in some of the world`s most challenging environments. But given the size of the highway construction program, opportunities exist for foreign experts like tunneling engineers. And there`s a sizeable market for firms at the cutting edge of road-building technology.

CHRISTOPHER BENNETT, SENIOR TRANSPORT SPECIALIST, WORLD BANK: For specialist materials, there are foreign companies. For example, this pavement here contains polymer modified asphalt supplied from caulk industries in the United States. So, once again, specialists` materials they`ll import; otherwise they`ll produce it domestically.

MACKIE: With so much earth to move, old-line U.S. brands have also established technology transfer deals with Chinese manufacturers. Caterpillar, for example, sold its first machine here in 1975. Now the company has 10 production lines in China and a design center. As the saying goes, where there`s muck there`s money. Over the next 15 years, every city of 200,000 people should be connected to China`s highway grid. As work progresses, markets are opening and developing for foreign business and investment. Nick Mackie, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Chongqing.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05: Commentary: Ben Bernanke Speak

SUSIE GHARIB: In tonight`s commentary, cheers for Federal Reserve chairman nominee Ben Bernanke. Here`s Alan Blinder, partner in the Promontory Financial Group and former vice chair of the Federal Reserve.

ALAN BLINDER, PARTNER, PROMONTORY FINANCIAL GROUP: Sherlock Holmes might have called it the case of the dog that didn`t bark. About a month ago, Ben Bernanke, a former Princeton professor, was nominated to be chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Two weeks ago, Bernanke had his Senate confirmation hearing and vote. Neither event was treated as a story, either by the media or by the financial markets. This is at once surprising and highly complimentary to Bernanke. After all, Alan Greenspan has been chairman of the Fed for over 18 years. During that time, he has achieved almost mythical status in the financial markets and has become a kind of national guru on all things economic. There was reason to be worried that the markets might be jittery over losing their security blanket, but apparently not. That`s a strong vote of confidence in Bernanke, who is a superb choice for the job. What changes should we expect under Bernanke`s leadership? I start with another non-barking dog. Don`t expect much change in monetary policy decisions. Like all of us, Bernanke admires the Greenspan record and he`s also way too smart to abandon a successful strategy. But talking about monetary policy will change. To this day, Greenspan steadfastly refuses to speak English. He`s made the markets learn to understand "Greenspanspeak" instead. Bernanke will be quite different. He is plainspoken, has an amazingly clear and logical mind, and believes deeply in transparency. Get ready for explanations of policy decisions that you can actually understand. I`m Alan Blinder.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05: Last Word-The Price of The 12 Days of Xmas

SUSIE GHARIB: And finally tonight, if you`re planning to buy a loved one all those gifts in the "12 Days of Christmas," get ready to shell out some big bucks. The price of maids a milking, swans a swimming, pipers piping, lords a leaping and all the rest, will cost more than $72,000. The number crunchers at PNC Financial say that`s nearly 10 percent more than last year and some gifts will be almost impossible to find. For example, French hens are in very short supply and that`s due to concerns over avian flu. If you think you can save money by ordering the items over the Internet, forget it. Ordering all 364 things online Jeff will run more than $123,000 and that`s mostly due to shipping costs.

YASTINE: So what you have to do is do substitutions. Instead of partridge in a pear tree, it`s pigeon in a pear tree. You just go down on the street and get it.

GHARIB: What would you do for the five golden rings?

YASTINE: I don`t know. Zinc.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05: "Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News"

And starting things off, there`s Merck & Co (MRK) down $1.42 on that major restructuring we just told you about. Wall Street saying perhaps not aggressive enough.

AT&T (SBC) gaining $0.31 and by the way, it will continue to trade under the SBC symbol until December 1st where it will go back to that venerable "T" symbol that it`s had for so many years on the big board.

Pfizer (PFE) down $0.08.

Liberty Media (L) up a fraction.

Time Warner (TWX) losing $0.19.

Lucent Technology (LU) slipping a fraction.

General Electric (GE) falling $0.22.

ExxonMobil (XOM) down $1.37 due to the pull back in oil prices which fell $1.35 to $57.36 a barrel in New York trading today.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) dropping $0.49, some profit taking here. Early readings showing November same store sales running at the high end of retailers` projections.

Motorola (MOT) losing $0.69.

And there`s a look at General Motors (GM) rising $0.36. GM is cutting its parts supplier Delphi a break. Delphi will not have to come up with significant price cuts on components that it supplies to GM for its 2006 models. The two sides have reportedly accelerated their negotiations over a bail out of Delphi, which is in bankruptcy protection, of course it was spun off of GM a while ago.

Newmont Mining (NEM) gaining $0.62. Gold notching another new high, $498 a ounce today and against that background, Newmont is considering a merger bid for Placer Dome. Placer already rejected a buyout offer from Barrick Gold last week.

Energizer (ENR) rising over $3. An analysts at Prudential equity thinks that stock is under valued.

And shares in First Data Corp (FDC) climbing $2. The chairman and CEO, Charles Fote is retiring. Henry Dukes is coming back to lead that company. Dukes was its CEO for 10 years until he left in 2002.

Shares in Pier 1 Imports (PIR) climbing $1.63. Another analyst there thinks that November same store sales appear stronger than expected based on surveys with store managers.

Conseco (CNO) rising $1.10. UBS upgrading the insurance company based on improved business prospects.

And Thor Industries (THO) jumped over $2. Heavy demand from hurricane storm victims needing temporary housing led the RV maker to report stronger than expected first quarter profits.

And in the minus column, CBOT Holdings (BOT), of course that`s the Chicago Board of Trade, tumbling over $9. A pair of analysts say the stock valuation is not justified at current levels. Shares of the Merc also fell 6 percent today.

And Giant Industries (GI) sliding over $3. Authorities investigating the cause of an explosion at a company refinery in Virginia note injuries, but the refinery will be off line at least a month.

Now over to the NASDAQ, Google (GOOG) losing a little over $5.

Apple Computer (AAPL) gaining $0.32. The video iPod still a big seller for holiday shopping. Piper Jaffray raised its price target on the stock to $79 a share.

Intel (INTC) up a nickel.

Microsoft (MSFT) losing a fraction.

Yahoo! (YHOO) down $1.02, Legg Mason downgrading the stock.

Ebay (EBAY) falling $1.34.

Sandisk (SNDK) gaining $1.71.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) down a fraction.

Qualcomm (QCOM) also down a fraction.

And Amgen (AMGN) losing $1.46.

Finally, American Pharmaceutical Partners (APPX) tumbling over $8. The company is buying out its largest shareholder, American Bioscience, but the deal calls for significant share dilution which means a more than doubling of the float on the stock and obviously investors not liking that idea of the dilution.

And those are our stocks in the news tonight.

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) 2005 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

11/28/05: Market Stats

				  
				  


                                      NET    PERCENT
                         CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE

DOW CLOSE             10890.72     -40.90       - .4
HIGH                                        10951.93
LOW                                         10881.63

NASDAQ COMP.           2239.37     -23.64       -1.0
HIGH                                         2264.06
LOW                                          2239.34

VOLUME                                       1,498.7
PREVIOUS                                       541.9
UP VOLUME                                      397.4
DOWN VOLUME                                  1,086.5

DOW TRANSPORTS         4121.80     -57.34      - 1.4
DOW UTILITIES           401.97      -2.04       - .5
CLOSING TICK                                    -607

S&P 500                1257.46     -10.79       - .9
S&P 100                 579.13      -4.11       - .7
MIDCAP 400              730.76     -11.94      - 1.6
REUTERS/CRB             312.72      -1.95       - .6

NYSE COMPOSITE         7687.42     -60.10       - .8
VALUE LINE              410.13      -5.14      - 1.2
RUSSELL 2000            671.50     -12.08      - 1.8
DJW 5000              12573.66    -128.75      - 1.0

U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 4.50%
Nov. 15,2010         100 25/32      +2/32       4.32

10-YEAR NOTE 4.50%
Nov. 15,2015         100 23/32      +7/32       4.41

30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031        111  4/32     +19/32       4.62

LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX        1759.11      +6.42


DOW CLOSE             10890.72     -40.90       - .4
ADVANCES                                        1129
DECLINES                                        2225
NEW HIGHS                                        132
NEW LOWS                                          87

                                      NET    PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES    4PM CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE
MRK   Merck & Co         29.56      -1.42       -4.6
SBC   AT&T               25.08       +.31       +1.3
PFE   Pfizer             21.59       -.08        -.4
L     Liberty Media       7.73       +.02        +.3
TWX   Time Warner        18.09       -.19       -1.0
LU    Lucent Tech         2.88       -.01        -.4
GE    GE                 35.98       -.22        -.6
XOM   Exxon Mobil        58.74      -1.37       -2.3
WMT   Wal-Mart Stores    50.00       -.49       -1.0
MOT   Motorola           24.08       -.69       -2.8

NASDAQ CLOSE           2239.37    - 23.64      - 1.0
VOLUME                                       1,606.0
PREVIOUS                                       652.2
ADVANCES                                         917
DECLINES                                        2181

NASDAQ ACTIVES
GOOG  Google            423.48      -5.14       -1.2
AAPL  Apple Computer     69.66       +.32        +.5
INTC  Intel              26.86       +.05        +.2
MSFT  Microsoft          27.75       -.01        -.0
YHOO  Yahoo!             41.11      -1.02       -2.4
EBAY  eBay               45.37      -1.34       -2.9
SNDK  SanDisk            51.93      +1.71       +3.4
CSCO  Cisco Systems      17.48       -.07        -.4
QCOM  Qualcomm           46.04       -.14        -.3
AMGN  Amgen              81.33      -1.46       -1.8

AMEX CLOSE             1697.85     - 9.87       - .6

INDEX SHARES
DIA   DIAMONDS TRUST    109.03       -.30        -.3
QQQ   NASDAQ 100         41.54       -.35        -.8
SPY   S&P DEP.RECEIPTS  126.23       -.90        -.7

STOCKS IN THE NEWS
GM    General Motors     23.22       +.36       +1.6
NEM   Newmont Mining     47.68       +.62       +1.3
ENR   Energizer          53.35      +3.02       +6.0
FDC   First Data Corp    43.65      +2.01       +4.8
PIR   Pier 1 Imports     13.36      +1.63      +13.9
CNO   Conseco            22.23      +1.10       +5.2
THO   Thor Industries    37.93      +2.24       +6.3
BOT   CBOT Holdings      94.80      -9.20       -8.9
GI    Giant Industries   53.25      -3.17       -5.6
APPX  Am Pharma Ptnrs    39.25      -8.36      -17.6