De daling kwam gisteren goed op gang bij zowel de Dow Jones, de S&P 500 en de Nasdaq, alle 3 deze indices sloten ruim onder hun zeer belangrijke steun. Vandaag kan daar naar alle waarschijnlijkheid een vervolg op komen, of de markt laat een consolidatie zien rond de lows.
Vrijdag 30 april:
Vandaag krijgen we een aantal economische cijfers te verwerken, o.a. het March Personal Income & Spending, het herziene Consumer Sentiment, en de Chicago PMI Index over de maand april. Er komen vandaag bedrijfsraporten van Biogen Idec (IDPH), ChevronTexaco (CVX), Cigna (CI) en Procter & Gamble (PG) voorbeurs.
- 18:12 ET Thursday After Hours : prices levels vs. 4 pm ET: A relatively quiet session in the after hours as buyers remain a reluctant bunch despite the relative value opportunities created by the past two days' sell-off. Earnings reports have come in mostly better than expected, and they have, once again, not done much to inspire the efforts of buyers. Presently, the S&P futures, at 1114, are 1 point above fair value, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1433, are flat with fair value.
- Avon Products (AVP) UNCH : Cosmetic products giant beats the Q1 (Mar) Reuters Research EPS estimate by $0.03 after guiding estimates higher on Mar 25; Avon also increased its FY04 (Dec) EPS outlook to a 'range of $3.30' from $3.18-3.20 earlier; Briefing.com has been positive on AVP in Story Stocks for over a year, and the stock has moved higher by 38%
- Business Objects (BOBJ) -12%: Provider of business intelligence software misses the Q1 (Mar) consensus EPS estimate by $0.05 and goes on to warn for Q2 (June) and FY04 (Dec); Briefing.com noted in its In-Pla y, a Platinum product, Earnings Preview that 'many analysts have cited concerns over the lack of visibility regarding the growth prospects and cost synergies from the Crystal Decisions acquisition'
- Electronic Arts (ERTS) +2%: Video game maker delivers upside in its Q4 (Mar) report, but issues weaker than expected guidance for Q1 (June); Could be a case of the company trying to manage expectations as it also gave in line FY05 guidance; Market could be also taking comfort in Electronic Arts's unchanged game hardware sales forecast (versus Sony, which sees a decline)
- Foundry Networks (FDRY) -27%: Maker of telecom equipment disappoints the Street with a Q1 (Mar) report that falls short of top and bottom-line estimates; Management noted revenues in Japan were below expectations due to the timing of several orders from its largest customer, Mitsui; Foundry then warned for Q2 (June); Stock was down 2% today, and then down an additional 3% yesterday on competitor NT's restatement/management re-shuffling news
- Gateway (GTW) UNCH : Computer seller reports its 9th consecutive quarterly loss with Q1's (Mar) ($0.22) result; The figure was actually $0.02 shy of the Reuters Research estimate; Company indicated that it should report another loss in Q2 (June) - at ($0.15) - on revenues that are relatively flat with the prior year; Gateway also said it planned to cut an additional 1,500 jobs
Guy Boscart,