1/02/06: Dow & Nasdaq Action & Reaction
SUSIE GHARIB: While the stock market had its ups and downs in 2005, it
turned out to be a year when neither the bulls nor the bears held the upper
hand for very long. When trading began last January, the Dow stood at
10,783 and the NASDAQ at 2175. But a sell off soon followed as the price
of oil hit a six-month high of $48 a barrel. The Federal Reserve kicked
off February with its first interest hike of the year. However, good
economic news helped the blue chips to turn around, while tech stocks
continued to languish.
A big gain in new jobs sent the Dow to its highest level in nearly
four years on March 4th but it was downhill from there. A double whammy of
rising oil prices and another Fed rate hike sent both the Dow and the
NASDAQ plunging. The news got only worse in mid-April, with poor earnings
numbers from IBM and GM as well as growing concerns about economic
weakness. That led the Dow to hit its low point of the year on April 20
and the NASDAQ to follow a week later.
But in May, a slide in oil prices to below $50 a barrel offset another
Fed rate hike. The NASDAQ moved well past 2000, while the Dow rebounded to
10,500. There was no summer rally for the blue chips, as oil prices topped
$60 a barrel and the Fed hiked rates again on June 30. But even as the
NASDAQ hit a new four-year high in early August, Mother Nature was giving
investors the jitters. By the end of the month, hurricane Katrina sent oil
prices to a new record of almost $70 a barrel and stock prices began to
weaken.
After a brief rebound, another Fed rate hike on September 20 and signs
of spreading inflation led to a broadly-based sell off in October. But
when the Fed moved rates to 4 percent on November first, there was a
different reaction. Instead, stocks rallied strongly as lower oil prices
and signs of a cooling housing market led investors to sense that an end to
rate hikes was near.
By the beginning of December, the NASDAQ was at a new high for the
year while the Dow was not far off. But the momentum slowed after a final
rate hike on December 13. And both averages ended the year not far from
where they started.
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.
01/02/06:
2005 Winners & Losers According To Sam Stovall, Chief Investment
Strategist
JEFF YASTINE: To fill us in on details of the past year`s
market action, joining us is Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist for
Standard & Poor`s. Sam, welcome back to NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT.
SAM STOVALL, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, STANDARD & POOR`S: Happy New
Year, Jeff.
YASTINE: Same to you. Let`s begin by taking a look at the relative
performance of the major averages. And in the Dow, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average underperformed the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ. How much of
that is just due to General Motors being a component in the Dow?
STOVALL: Well, I think certainly General Motors` sharp decline had a
big impact on the Dow because it is one of only 30 stocks. Of course GM is
in the S&P 500 as well. However its decline was diffused by the 499 other
companies in the S&P.
YASTINE: All right, we`ll turn to some individual winners and losers
in stocks. We`ll start with the biggest gainers among the Dow components,
first Hewlett-Packard, CEO Carly Fiorina, she left in February and then it
was after she left that the stock took off.
STOVALL: Well, I think certainly investors were pleased that a new CEO
Mark Hurd had taken over, but more so because he followed through,
increasing sales and productivity.
YASTINE: And Boeing was another of the literal highfliers here for the
Dow.
STOVALL: That`s right. Catalyst being soaring book orders for
airplanes from foreign and U.S. clients as well as the introduction of the
787 jet.
YASTINE: On the other side of this Dow losers, again a terrible year
for General Motors stock.
STOVALL: Certainly it started with the Adelphia bankruptcy. We had
lower debt ratings on the company. We had lower overall volume sales,
increasing health care costs and the loss of market share to Japanese and
European car manufacturers.
YASTINE: Verizon Communications another one that just doesn`t appear
to be able to get out of its own way despite sporting quite a good
dividend.
STOVALL: That`s right. Certainly investors might be concerned with
the pending acquisition of MCI and also it is spending quite aggressively
to compete with the cable companies and possibly they won`t win.
YASTINE: Now turning to the S&P 500, for the second year in a row,
Apple Computer had a very nice gain.
STOVALL: I think it was pretty much iPod centric. Not only did you
have the existing iPod, but you had the introduction of the iPod nano as
well as the video iPod, and you also had coattail products and services
such as Tivo`s ability to download to the iPod.
YASTINE: Valero Energy is another one of these S&P gainers. Of course
high oil prices helped that one. They also did a major merger.
STOVALL: That`s right, with Premcor, but certainly because of
worldwide economic growth and also hurricane Katrina, you had a surging
demand for refined products and also as a result, an increase in refined
product margins.
YASTINE: Now among the S&P losers Dana Corp. was one of the largest,
had a very rough year as an auto parts maker.
STOVALL: That`s right, so falling in sympathy with the other auto
parts manufacturers but also because of lower output volumes, as well as
higher raw material costs.
YASTINE.: Now turning to the NASDAQ 100, the big winner there Sandisk
Corporation. How did this company get such an incredible run?
STOVALL: Well, by being in the right industry. Basically by making
flash memory devices that can be used for digital cameras, music products,
as well as for handsets, so basically being in the right place at the right
time.
YASTINE: Now among the biggest losers on the NASDAQ, Mercury
Interactive.
STOVALL: Well, here`s a situation with Mercury Interactive where
basically investors were concerned by the ongoing investigations by the SEC
into the company`s option-related practices that resulted in a departure of
three executives.
YASTINE: All right, Sam, we`ll wrap it up there and see what happens
here as we head into the 2006. Thanks for your time.
STOVALL: Good to talk to you Jeff.
YASTINE: Our guest Sam Stovall, chief market analyst for Standard &
Poor`s.
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.
1/02/06: Energy Prices Will Remain On The Rise In 2006
SUSIE GHARIB: For the third year in a row, the story that dominated business
news in 2005 was another surge in the price of oil with a new record high
being reached in early September. As Suzanne Pratt reports, while there
were some special factors driving energy prices in the past year, few
observers expect much of a pullback in 2006.
SUZANNE PRATT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: In U.S. energy
markets, 2005 is likely to be remembered as the year when crude hit $70 a
barrel and the average cost of gasoline topped $3 a gallon at the pump.
IRA ECKSTEIN, OIL TRADER, AREA INTERNATIONAL TRADING: I still think
that 70 number is very big and very significant, even though they say that
as far as inflation goes in 1983 they`re say that inflation adjusted it was
higher. But I still think that`s a huge number.
PRATT: The reason for the sky high prices, a classic imbalance between
supply and demand. Energy markets were already coping with tight supplies
when hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans and the Gulf coast. Katrina
severely cut U.S. oil production, damaging oil platforms in the Gulf of
Mexico and interrupting 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity at one point.
If that wasn`t enough, just a month later, hurricane Rita hit the Texas
coast, doing less damage than originally expected. But the two storms
taught the energy community a valuable lesson.
ECKSTEIN: It shows you how vulnerable world oil markets are,
especially the capacity refinery capacity in the U.S. How we haven`t
really had a successful refinery built in 30 years and how vulnerable we
are to any kind of supply disruptions.
PRATT: Actually the price of crude was on the rise ever since it began
2005 at just $40 a barrel. Growing demand from China and India helped push
the price steadily higher throughout the winter, spring and summer. By the
time the two hurricanes hit, crude was trading comfortably above $60 a
barrel. After the storm-related crunch and in the year`s final months,
prices moved between $55 and $65 a barrel. Experts say crude prices are
likely to remain elevated for the foreseeable future. In fact, most
believe we`re in a long-term trend of higher oil prices.
ROBERT MORRIS, OIL ANALYST, BANK OF AMERICA: If you look at in the
past, everybody thought that oil would revert to around $20 a barrel.
We`re not going back to $20 a barrel. The reason is is that it`s harder and
harder to find oil and the cost to get it out of the ground has moved up.
PRATT: While sky high oil prices made 2005 a tough year for consumers,
it was a different story for oil stock investors. Shares of most oil
companies surged higher last year, as rich oil prices resulted in record
profits for many energy firms. The Standard & Poor`s energy index supplied
a robust return in 2005, particularly when compared to the overall stock
market. Most analysts predict 2006 will be another banner year for oil
stocks.
PAUL SANKEY, OIL ANALYST, DEUTSCHE BANK: Broadly speaking we`re
positive on all the oil stocks again for `06. We think that all elements
allowing for the demand strength remaining will do very well through the
year.
PRATT: Most energy experts agree higher oil prices are here to stay.
Forecasts call for crude to average north of $60 a barrel in 2006. That`s
as long as demand remains strong and supply struggles to keep up. 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.
1/02/06: Mutual Fund Review With Christine Benz, editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds
JEFF YASTINE: As we noted, the fourth quarter was the only part of 2005 when oil
prices did not take off. So as the year drew to a close, what did that
mean for various investment sectors and mutual funds? To help us find out,
joining us from Chicago is Christine Benz, editor of Morningstar Mutual
Funds. Christine, happy New Year and welcome back to NIGHTLY BUSINESS
REPORT.
CHRISTINE BENZ, EDITOR, MORNINGSTAR MUTUAL FUNDS: Hi Jeff, happy New
Year to you too.
YASTINE: Now these are preliminary results, but let`s begin by taking
a look at which fund sectors led the pack during the year`s final three
months. And here`s something that will surprise many of our viewers. The
top gainers during the fourth quarter were funds that invested in Japanese
stocks followed by the precious metals, Pacific Asia, financial and tech
groups. But we don`t see any energy or natural resource groups which had
long been the leaders. Wondering if that indicates perhaps a major shift
in momentum?
BENZ: Well, it could be, Jeff. I would point out though that natural
resources funds, most of which invest heavily in the energy sector did have
a very good year in 2005. The typical fund in this group was up something
more than 35 percent for the year, so quite a good showing.
YASTINE: All right. Let`s move on to the best performing individual
funds with more than $50 million in assets. And leading this list is Pro
Funds Ultra Japan. What was it that led the Japanese stock market to come
back so strongly in recent months?
BENZ: There are a couple of key things there. First of all improving
economic fundamentals in Japan has been a strong propellant of that market.
But perhaps more importantly, what we`re hearing from a lot of fund
managers is that they`re felling like Japanese companies are becoming more
shareholder friendly, more profit-centric. And those have been strong tail
winds for the Japanese market.
YASTINE: Let`s move to the top funds in terms of performance for all
of 2005. Once again, it appears that that leader was Pro Funds Ultra
Japan.
BENZ: That`s right. This has been a fund that has been on an absolute
tear. One thing I would caution investors against, though, is sticking
their neck out with a Japan-specific fund. Most diversified foreign stock
funds own plenty of Japan. I would rather see investors get their exposure
there because such funds will tend to be a lot less volatile than a Japan
only fund will be.
YASTINE: All right. Let`s move on to folks more interested in long-
term performance. The top fund of the past five years was from the
emerging market sector, ING Russia. But Christine, hasn`t this fund been
somewhat volatile considering that nice overall return there?
BENZ: It has been exceptionally volatile. Its five-year return is
absolutely terrific. It`s something in the neighborhood of 48 percent per
year on average over the past five years. But this particular fund
actually has the potential for steep losses and in 1998 the fund loss 83
percent of its value. So I think that this fund isn`t appropriate for most
investors.
YASTINE: You have to be prepared to ride the roller coaster, so to
speak?
BENZ: Exactly. And it`s a group that has already had a big run-up so
you need to be careful.
YASTINE: All right. Let`s turn to the largest funds in terms of
assets. Growth Fund of America clearly led the pack, both over the quarter
and for the full year. What was it about this particular fund that led it
to outperform the competition?
BENZ: A couple of key things. First of all, this is a fund that had a
big position in Google which was one of the year`s winningest stocks. So
that was a big positive. Another thing that it did hold, even though it is
a growth-oriented fund, it had a lot of energy exposure. And that for the
year was a big positive for it.
YASTINE: All right. Now we see almost no return for the only bond fund
on the list, the PIMCO Total Return and I understand its return for all of
2005 was also well below those of the giant stock funds.
BENZ: That`s right. This is a fund that actually performed quite well
relative to other bond funds and intermediate bond funds in particular.
But its absolute return is pretty meager. And what that illustrates is the
difficulties that bond funds had generally in 2005 in a year where the
Federal Reserve was pretty aggressively hiking interest rates. Bond funds
had a big headwind to face.
YASTINE: All right, Christine, appreciate your time on the program.
BENZ: Thanks, Jeff.
YASTINE: Our guest Christine Benz, editor of Morningstar Mutual Funds.
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.
1/02/06: "Market Outlook for 2006"
SUSIE GHARIB: So what is ahead for the stock market and the economy in 2006? I
got some answers from Joe Battipaglia, chief investment strategist at Ryan
Beck and Company, David Katz, chief investment officer of Matrix Asset
Advisors, a New York money management firm and Josh Feinman, chief
economist at Deutsche Asset Management. I began my discussion by asking
Josh Feinman when will the Federal Reserve stop raising interest rates.
JOSHUA FEINMAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, DEUTSCHE ASSET MANAGEMENT: I think
the Fed will stop raising rates when they feel they`ve set in place the
monetary and financial conditions that will enable the economy to move in a
glide path from above trend growth down to trend growth and keep inflation
contained. I suspect that will happen sometime around the spring or so
with a funds rate around 4 and 3/4 roughly.
GHARIB: Now Josh, one market strategist was telling me that he thinks
that Ben Bernanke, the new Fed chairman is going to raise rates much longer
than most people are expected and much more just to prove himself as an
inflation fighter. What are your thoughts on that?
FEINMAN: I don`t think so. I think that he`s going to set in place
monetary policy that he thinks is appropriate. The only way the Fed does a
lot more in terms of raising rates is if the economy is a lot stronger and
inflation pressures are building. But if that doesn`t happen, I see
monetary policy moving under Bernanke very much the way it would move under
Chairman Greenspan.
GHARIB: Joe, do you agree with what Josh is saying and also what does
all this mean for the outlook for the markets?
JOSEPH BATTIPAGLIA, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, RYAN BECK & COMPANY:
I`m actually praying for what Josh is saying because if it is true, the
economy can grow by 3 percent, corporate profits can grow by 7 or 8
percent, confidence recovers. The economy will have a very good profile.
Now let`s remember these rates are lower than where they were in previous
cycles when the Fed finished their work. So it is very exciting what the
potential is.
GHARIB: David, where do you stand on interest rates and stocks?
DAVID KATZ, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, MATRIX ASSET ADVISORS: We agree
with the Fed outlook and the economic outlook. We think that means that
stocks are going to have a pretty good year, about 10, 11 percent. We
think the market is going to be lead by the largest stocks this year and
that is something that hasn`t happened in the last six or seven years.
GHARIB: Josh, people have been talking a lot for a long time the
collapse of the housing market. Is 2006 the year that this is going to
happen?
FEINMAN: I think, you know, there is a lot of concern about that.
But I think conventional metrics of housing valuations like rent-price
ratios and so on may exaggerate the extent to which housing is overvalued.
They don`t factor in the decline and the very low level of real long-term
interest rates. So I think housing has gotten stretched in some locales.
It is surely going to slow down. But I think the worries about a bubble
bursting are a bit overdone.
GHARIB: David, we`ve seen the consumers so resilient in 2005. But
with the housing market cooling perhaps, and also after a winter of higher
energy costs, is the consumer going to feel less wealthy and as a result
spend less and also invest less?
KATZ: We don`t think so. We think if energy prices come down, that`s
going to offset the lower real estate prices. The consumer is going to
keep going, although they`re not going to be as robust and they`re not
going to drive the economy. We think that business spending is going to
pick up the slack there. Within equity investments, consumers have been
taking money out of the stock market in the last year. We think that money
starts to leave real estate, goes back to stocks. And that is a better
thing for U.S. stocks.
GHARIB: What do you think, Joe?
BATTIPAGLIA: I`m in those particular lines. In fact, I think the
consumer is going to enjoy the fact that their incomes are rising, their
asset values are rising. They may well get energy price relief in `06
after a very difficult `05 and as confidence recovers in the face of these
stable interest rates, the consumer will do just fine in the new year.
GHARIB: And how are Americans going to do in the job market? Do you
see a good outlook for job growth, Josh?
FEINMAN: I look for continued sort of consistent gradual improvement
in the labor market, job growth in the early part of the year at or a
little above trend growth, so maybe 150 to 200,000. Allowing a little
further decline in the unemployment rate and then stabilizing in the second
half of the year.
GHARIB: Let`s get some of your stock recommendations, Joe, last year
at this time, you recommended Hewlett-Packard, which was a really good
call. Johnson & Johnson has been kind of in a trading range. That was your
other stock pick. What are your two top recommendations for 2006?
BATTIPAGLIA: We are overweight in technology and health care. In two
stocks that we own currently are Astra Zenica in the health care space,
great product profile, big earnings increases we`re looking for. And the
other is Palm, which is transitioning into in a new product line with
higher margins, a competition from Blackberry. I think it could be a big
winner in `06.
GHARIB: David what about your two top picks for 2006?
KATZ: We also like technology and we like media within technology. We
like Novellus Systems. It`s a semiconductor equipment company. There has
been a lot of under spending from the semiconductor companies. We think
you get a little catch-up this year. The stock has got a lot of upside.
Time Warner is under siege by Carl Icahn who says it`s worth $25 to $27.
We agree with him and we think the stock starts to do better. We own both
these companies and we continue to buy them.
GHARIB: David are there any sectors that you are staying away from?
KATZ: We`re wary about the real estate sector right now simply because
we do think housing slows. We think utilities are very richly priced and
we think that comes down. And we don`t think energy is going to have a
repeat of the last two years. It`s not going to do poorly but it`s surely
not going to be the 50 percent gainer of the last two years.
GHARIB: And Joe, what areas do you find less attractive?
BATTIPAGLIA: We agree. In fact, in the energy area, we are looking
for a barrel price between $40 and $55 which will give some relief to the
marketplace. Beyond that, though, we want to be very discerning among
cyclical industries particularly on the consumer side, de-emphasize those
and go with consumer staples. The valuations are much more attractive and
it could be a very good year for growth-oriented stocks.
GHARIB: I want to ask you about that. We hear all the time growth
versus value, as David mentioned. Large caps are going to do well versus
small caps. We`ve heard that for a long time. What trends do you see in
this area?
BATTIPAGLIA: The two big bulls in that area were the financials on the
one hand and the energies on the other as far as value plays are concerned.
They`ve been played out. A flat yield curve and perhaps a falling energy
price means these stocks are less attractive. Meanwhile technology stocks
and other growth categories have languished. The earnings have come in OK.
The stocks haven`t moved. I think those six could be the year for those
kinds of stocks to reassume some leadership and that would be a welcome
change.
GHARIB: Real quickly, just to wrap it up. You all have a very
optimistic outlook for 2006. Are there any risks out there? What is the
wild card Josh?
FEINMAN: I see 2006 as a transition year for the U.S. economy,
rebalancing away from some of the interest sensitive sectors that have
propelled things like housing, towards business investment, net exports, a
little more saving by the consumer. That transition may not go seamlessly.
And if it doesn`t, the economy could wobble. And I see that as one of the
biggest risks.
GHARIB: David, your thoughts?
KATZ: We don`t think this happens but if you had a repeat in `06 of
higher energy prices, if oil got to $80 or $90 a barrel, we think that
could derail the economy and truly it would hurt inflation. Again, we
don`t think it plays out, but that would make us much less optimistic.
GHARIB: Joe?
BATTIPAGLIA: I think al Qaeda is getting very desperate. There were
three elections in Iraq this year. That country is moving towards a
resolution of their issues. I think al Qaeda wants to make a statement and
they`d have to try to attack the United States. If that were to occur
depending upon its magnitude, the response by consumers and the markets
would be very telling about what happens for the year `06.
GHARIB: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Joe Battipaglia, David Katz,
Josh Feinman, happy New Year, thank you.
BATTIPAGLIA: Thank you.
KATZ: Thanks a lot.
FEINMAN: Thank you.
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.
1/02/06: Market Monitor
Scores for 2005
JEFF YASTINE: One tried-and-true barometer as to where the stock market is
headed is our annual panel of market monitors. But for 2006, this panel is
flashing a weak bullish signal at best. In a repeat of last year, these
professional prognosticators are split almost evenly with the bulls beating
the bears 3-to-2. And leading the bullish pack this year is Alfred Goldman
of AG Edwards. He sees the Dow reaching new heights and ending the year at
12,300. He sees technology stocks making a comeback along with the health
care and financial groups. And among mutual funds, he likes mid-cap
growth. Goldman says he expects investor confidence to improve and price-
earnings ratios to expand as the economy grows and the Fed stops raising
rates.
But for the first time in five years, Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman
Sachs did not take the top spot among the bulls. But she`s still only a
tad less optimistic, projecting a Dow close of 12,000. Like Al Goldman,
she expects information tech stocks to lead this market, followed by the
industrials and stocks involved with energy and commodities. Cohen does
see some big changes coming, with stocks outperforming bonds, an increase
of market volatility and growth stocks beating high-yield investments.
Technician Eugene Peroni of Claymore Advisors is somewhat less
bullish, expecting the Dow to close out the year near its high, at 11,575.
Like his fellow bulls, Gene also lists technology, health care and energy
among his preferred groups and thinks multi-cap mutual funds will do best.
In line with that prediction, he expects 2006 to be a stock picking market.
Last year`s leading bear, Mark Leibovit of VR Traders, now sees a
mixed picture. He expects the Dow to go all the way up to 13,000 before
falling back to close at its low of just 10,000. Leibovit remains bullish
on gold as he was last year, along with uranium, real estate and energy.
And following up on his Dow forecast, Mark says to watch out for a
correction near year-end, which may be severe.
Finally, in what could be a bad omen, James Stack is now our most
bearish panelist, calling for the Dow to close at just 9900. However,
Stack remains bullish on the energy group, as well as health care and
beverage stocks. He also likes international funds and in particular, the
Japan I-shares ETF. Jim says the economy could be hurt by a reversal of
the housing boom, because where housing goes, consumer confidence will
follow.
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.
12/30/05: "Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News"
JEFF YASTINE: And today`s end of the trading year was definitely not one to
remember for the bulls. The Dow fell about 50 points in the first half
hour of trading. Some blamed the decline on that final end-of-the-year tax
loss selling. Volume was of course light, with no economic data. Either
way, the decline put the Dow into the minus column by about 2 percent for
the year. The Dow ended the session down 67 points at 10,717 1/2. And this
week, the Dow fell three times and rose once for a net overall drop of
about 165 points. The NASDAQ Composite fell nearly 13 points to 2205 and
like the Dow, the index rose only once this week for an overall loss of 44
points and the S&P 500 sliding six to 1248 1/3. In the bond market, the
10-year note falling 10/32 to 100 26/32 and the yield at 4.4 percent.
And topping our list, we have Pfizer (PFE) which we`ll see on the
screen I presume in a moment, it slipped $0.13. The Dow component falling
over 13 percent for the year as well.
Lucent Technology (LU) dropping $0.04.
Visteon (VC) dropping $0.13. After the close, that stock replaced by
Viacom in the S&P 500.
General Electric (GE) losing $0.14.
And shares in General Motors (GM) finding some support again today,
gaining $0.41. The troubled auto maker closing out the year with the
smallest market cap of the Dow stocks and down over 50 percent for the year
overall.
Bank of America (BAC) dipping a fraction. The company`s $35 billion
acquisition of MBNA will be finalized this weekend, finalized after the
close for the S&P 500.
Ford Motor Co (F) falling $0.09.
And Viacom (VIA) picked up $0.34. This is the new Viacom with CBS and
the other broadcast properties now trading as a separate when issued (ph)
stock.
ExxonMobil (XOM) slipping $0.07. The oil giant has decided to sell its
25 percent stake in an oil venture in Venezuela due to expensive royalty
payments imposed by the Chavez government.
And bid farewell to MBNA Corp (KRB) as it becomes part of Bank of
America. That stock ended off $0.06 today.
Genentech (DNA) picked up $0.44. The drug maker seeking regulatory
approval for Lucentis which treats a type of macular degeneration, a common
form of blindness in the elderly. Some analysts think the drug could be a
real winner.
McDermott Intl (MDR) climbing over $2. A judge approved a
reorganization plan for the company`s bankrupt Babcock and Wilson unit.
And then we turn to Marinemax (HZO) which drifted over $1 higher. The
company will acquire a Midwest boat dealership for about $27.5 million.
Shares in Noble Corp (NE) rising $0.39. The drilling contractor may
boost its holdings in Smedvig ASA. That`s a Norwegian drilling firm. Noble
already owns a 30 percent stake purchased for about $700 million.
And then turning to the downside, Lamson & Sessions (LMS) falling
$1.07. The shares peaked out at around $30 a week ago with some selling by
insiders and those shares have now declined by about 18 percent.
Now let`s turn over to the NASDAQ, Google (GOOG) dropping over $5, but
it`s more than doubled so far for the year. Of course it came public in
August last year at $85 a share.
Whole Foods Market (WFMI) ending of $0.85, added to the S&P 500 after
the close today.
Apple Computer (AAPL) with a little bit of a gain.
Microsoft (MSFT) dropping $0.12.
Intel (INTC) losing $0.11.
Now we see Cisco Systems (CSCO) falling $0.12.
Yahoo! (YHOO) losing $0.38.
A similar drop for Dell (DELL).
Sandisk (SNDK) gaining $0.15.
And Qualcomm (QCOM) losing $0.46.
Syneron Medical (ELOS) losing nearly $4. A downgrade from CIBC World
Markets on concern that it will not hit its current revenue targets.
And then we see shares of Learning Tree (LTRE) dropping over $1 after
forecasting a fourth quarter revenue shortfall.
Globaltel Communications (GTE) advanced $1.50. Published reports say
the company has a deal to install a wireless communications network in 30
of Russia`s largest cities. It`s worth $600 million.
And finally KFX Inc (KFX) climbing $1.64, completing initial
production runs at a coal processing plant that it`s built in Gillette,
Wyoming.
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.
12/30/05:
Market Stats
NET PERCENT
CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
DOW CLOSE 10717.50 -67.32 - .6
HIGH 10783.86
LOW 10709.42
NASDAQ COMP. 2205.32 -12.84 -.6
HIGH 2209.97
LOW 2200.51
VOLUME 1,109.7
PREVIOUS 1,033.4
UP VOLUME 315.7
DOWN VOLUME 777.5
DOW TRANSPORTS 4196.03 -45.31 - 1.1
DOW UTILITIES 405.11 -1.52 - .4
CLOSING TICK +805
S&P 500 1248.29 -6.13 - .5
S&P 100 570.00 -2.81 - .5
MIDCAP 400 738.05 -4.16 - .6
REUTERS/CRB 331.83 +2.51 + .8
NYSE COMPOSITE 7753.95 -34.19 - .4
VALUE LINE 412.50 -2.16 - .5
RUSSELL 2000 673.22 -4.74 - .7
DJW 5000 12517.69 -59.02 - .5
U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 4.375%
Dec. 15,2010 100 3/32 -5/32 4.36
10-YEAR NOTE 4.50%
Nov. 15,2015 100 26/32 -10/32 4.40
30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031 112 14/32 -14/32 4.54
LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX 1777.77 -.53
DOW CLOSE 10717.50 -67.32 - .6
ADVANCES 1335
DECLINES 1981
NEW HIGHS 42
NEW LOWS 85
NET PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES 4PM CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
PFE Pfizer 23.32 -.13 -.6
LU Lucent Tech 2.66 -.04 -1.5
VC Visteon 6.26 -.13 -2.0
GE General Electric 35.05 -.14 -.4
GM General Motors 19.42 +.41 +2.2
BAC Bank Of America 46.15 -.04 -.1
F Ford Motor Co 7.72 -.09 -1.2
VIA Viacom 32.76 +.34 +1.1
XOM Exxon Mobil 56.17 -.07 -.1
KRB MBNA Corp 27.15 -.06 -.2
NASDAQ CLOSE 2205.32 - 12.84 - .6
VOLUME 1,353.9
PREVIOUS 1,230.5
ADVANCES 1323
DECLINES 1752
NASDAQ ACTIVES
GOOG Google 414.86 -5.29 -1.3
WFMI Whole Foods 77.39 -.85 -1.1
AAPL Apple Computer 71.89 +.44 +.6
MSFT Microsoft 26.15 -.12 -.5
INTC Intel 24.96 -.11 -.4
CSCO Cisco Systems 17.12 -.12 -.7
YHOO Yahoo! 39.18 -.38 -1.0
DELL Dell 29.95 -.33 -1.1
SNDK SanDisk 62.82 +.15 +.2
QCOM Qualcomm 43.08 -.46 -1.1
AMEX CLOSE 1759.08 + 1.54 + .1
INDEX SHARES
DIA DIAMONDS TRUST 106.95 -.73 -.7
QQQ NASDAQ 100 40.41 -.31 -.8
SPY S&P DEP.RECEIPTS 124.51 -.68 -.5
STOCKS IN THE NEWS
DNA Genentech 92.50 +.44 +.5
MDR Mcdermott Intl 44.61 +2.31 +5.5
HZO MarineMax 31.57 +1.23 +4.1
NE Noble 70.54 +.39 +.6
LMS Lamson & Session 25.02 -1.50 -5.7
LTRE Learning Tree 12.83 -1.16 -8.3
PMTI Palomar Medical 35.04 -2.43 -6.5
GTE Globaltel Comm 3.69 +1.50 +68.5
KFX KFX Inc 17.11 +1.64 +10.6
|
