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U.S. stocks traded lower today. The Dow fell 59.41 points to close at 10,745.10. Also, the Nasdaq fell 16.06 points, closing at 2,034.98. Furthermore, the S&P extended its losses as oil price rose. The index closed at 1,197.75, after falling 9.08 points. Oil futures for April delivery rose 0.2 percent to $55.05 a barrel.

U.S. stocks fell after the Washington Post reported earlier that there were traces of anthrax at a Pentagon mailing center. A U.S. army lab is still testing samples to confirm the presence of live anthrax in Pentagon mail hubs after four facilities closed down because of fears that bio-terrorists had resurfaced in the U.S. On the other hand, the anthrax test results boosted shares of Cepheid Inc., the maker of anthrax-detection equipment for the U.S postal service. Cepheid climbed 88 cents to $10.39.

According to the Commerce Department, U.S. retail sales increased 0.5 percent in February. Retail sales represent about half of U.S. consumer spending, and about a third of gross domestic product. Economists said that a surge in tax refunds and steady job growth are propelling sales. In February, sales at electronics, and appliance stores increased 1.6 percent after a 2 percent gain in January. Also, sales at food stores increased 0.4 percent, while sales at restaurants and bars increased 1.2 percent.

Bernard Ebbers, former Chairman of WorldCom Inc., was convicted of directing an $11 billion fraud that triggered the largest bankruptcy in the U.S. Ebbert testified that he didn’t know subordinates were cooking the books. But, he was convicted of all charges: conspiracy, securities fraud, and lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, Ebbers may spend about ten years in prison. WorldCom lost more than $180 billion in market value before its bankruptcy filing in July 2002.

Lehman Brothers climbed $2.87 to close at $96.19. It gained 3 percent after reporting quarterly earnings that rose from a year earlier and beat estimates. The brokerage attributed its gains to strength in its bond business and revenue from investment banking. Total revenue increased 21 percent to $3.8 billion in the quarter, while income from fixed-income trading was up by 29 percent to $2.1 billion.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

U. S. Stocks rose today, but bonds decreased from seven-month highs. Although stocks scratched out gains, another rise in oil prices increased concerns in investors about inflation, and rising interest rates. The Dow rose 30.15 points to close at 10,804.51. Besides, the Nasdaq and the S&P had gains. The Nasdaq closed at 2,051.44, after rising 9.44 points, while the S&P rose 6.75 points to close at 1,206.83. 

Walt Disney Co.’s board announced Sunday that Iger would take control of the company on September 30, when Michael Eisner exits. Investors seemed to have liked the news, since Disney shares closed higher by 43 cents, or 1.6 percent to $28.02. One of the challenges coming ahead for Iger will be whether he can retain ABC’s and ESPN’s contract with the National Football League, since other networks have already negotiated their deals.

IBM agreed to acquire Ascential Software Corp. for $1.1 billion in cash. This acquisition pushed the tech stocks into positive territory. The deal protects IBM’s position in the market for providing data-integration software geared to enterprises. IBM shares rose 0.4 percent to $91.90, while shares of Ascential Software soared nearly 16.5 percent to $18.29.
 
Genentech Inc, the world’s second biggest biotechnology company, said that its Avastin drug prolonged survival in patients with lung cancer. According to a study, patients who received Avastin plus chemotherapy lived about 12.5 month, in comparison with 10.2 months for those who only got chemotherapy. The new data will help double the market for Avastin sales to about $4 billion a year. Sven Borho, a partner at Orbimed Advisors in New York, said that Avastin may help to transform the company into the largest U.S. seller of cancer treatments by 2010.

Crude oil rose to $54.95 a barrel in New York, which is 22 cents short of the record close. This high price was due to speculations that demand will outstrip the ability of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to increase supply. Last week, New York oil prices came within 2 cents of the intraday record of $55.67 a barrel, since rising demand from China, India, and the U.S. strained the ability of the OPEC to keep pace.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

This was a week of losses for the market as a spike in oil prices, worries over inflation, and rising interest rates decreased confidence in investors about the outlook for the economy. The Dow fell 77.15 points to close at 10,774.36. Besides, both the Nasdaq and the S&P fell today. The Nasdaq fell 18.12 points to close at 2,041.60, while the S&P closed at 1,200.08, after falling 9.17 points.

According to Robert Pavlik, portfolio manager at Oaktree Asset Management, the poor performance of the stock market this week was due to “the price of oil, a weaker dollar, and Treasury yields backing up to 4.60 percent.” Among the Dow components, American International Group (AIG), Intel (INTC), and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were the worst performers. On the other hand, Honeywell International (HON), Exxon Mobil (XOM), and Alcoa Corp (AA) were among the blue-chip barometer’s best performers.

According to the Commerce Department, the U.S trade deficit widened by 4.5 percent in January to a seasonally adjusted $58.3 billion, which is the second highest in record. Besides, imports rose 1.9 percent to a record $159.1 billion, while exports gained 0.4 percent to $100.8 billion. Besides, there was a high in oil prices. Crude futures traded higher after falling to a low of $52.50 a barrel. The April contract ended up 89 cents at $54.43 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Kmart Holding Corp. surged $14.89, or 13 percent, to $127. UBS AG analyst Gary Balter upgraded Kmart to “buy” from “neutral” and said that shares may reach $160 over the next 12 months. The move powered Kmart’s shares to a peak of $128.88, which is a nearly 15 percent jump before closing today at $127.61, up $15.51. Kmart is expected to complete its buyout of Sears at the end of the month.

U. S. stocks dropped as Intel Corp.’s sales forecast failed to lift computer-related shares. Intel dropped 65 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $24.20 after earlier gaining 1 percent. The stock may had fallen because its 20 percent rally in the past five months already accounted for expectations of accelerated growth. The euro was up 0.1 percent against the dollar to $1.3453, while the dollar traded little changed against the Japanese yen at 103.87 yen.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

Although there are still many investors with concerns about crude, falling dollar, Treasury rout, and inflation, the Dow stays positive. Today, the Dow rose 45.89 points to close at 10,851.51. Besides, the S&P rose 2.24 points to close at 1,209.25. However, the Nasdaq closed at 2,059.72, after falling 1.57 points. The dollar was flat against the Japanese yen at 104.04, but was down 0.4 percent against the euro at $1.3430.

Intel Corp. said first quarter sales will be at the high end of the company’s forecast and boosted its estimated profit margin as development costs drop. Sales will rise to $9.2 billion to $9.4 billion compared with a January prediction of $8.8 billion to $9.4 billion. Intel shares rose 58 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $25.43 in extended trading after the report. According to a survey by Thomson Financial, analysts expected first-quarter sales of $9.15 billion. Sales in the same period a year earlier totaled $8.09 billion.

Microsoft Corp. agreed to buy Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie’s software company, Groove Networks Inc., and to hire Ozzie as a chief technical officer. Ozzie’s notes, which are one of the earliest document-sharing e-mail programs, changed the way business managed projects. Shares of Microsoft rose 12 cents to $25.43. They are little changed in the past year. According to Bill Gates, Microsoft will make purchases to add products or capabilities in new geographic regions.

According to the Labor Department, initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 17,000 to 327,000 last week, which is the largest level of claims since the week ended January 8. But, economists were expecting a drop in initial claims to about 309,000. Besides, the Commerce Department reported that inventories of U.S. wholesalers increased 1.1 percent in January. Sales at wholesalers increased 0.5 percent, the smallest increase since June. Although economists were expecting inventories to rise 0.6 percent, the inventory to sales ratio rose to 1.15, matching a one-year high.

Finally, TiVo reported a loss that nearly tripled in its fourth quarter. It lost $33.67 million, or 42 cents a share, in its just-completed quarter. In contrast, the company lost $12.36 million, or 18 cents a share, in the last year period. On TiVo’s after-hours report, shares recently were up 2 cents to $4.36. TiVo attributed the big loss to its plan of offering greater rebates to attract new subscribers. As a consequence of that plan, the firm added 698,000 net subscriptions in the quarter, giving it nearly 3 million at the end of the quarter.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

U.S. stocks fell today, while 10-year Treasury notes reached the highest yield since July. For this reason, investors favored bonds instead of stocks. The Dow fell 107 points to close at 10,805.62. Besides, both the Nasdaq and the S&P posted losses. The Nasdaq fell 12.26 points to close at 2,061.29, while the S&P erased its gains for this year closing at 1,207.01, after falling 12.42 points. April crude closed down 14 cents at $54.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among the Dow components that gained today were Intel, DuPont, Merck & Co., Wall-Mart, IBM, and Verizon Communications. However, notable decliners included Exxon Mobil. Exxon slid $2.31 to $60.79 as 68.1 million shares traded. Merrril Lynch & Co. bought $897 million of Exxon stocks in a single trade. Exxon’s decline helped sense a gauge of energy producers down 3 percent for the steepest drop among 10 industry groups in the S&P 500, even with the gain in oil prices.

Bonds extended their losses after the Fed’s “Beige Book” report on the economy showed signs that companies are facing higher costs. U.S. 10 year Treasury notes declined the most since July. According to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald, the benchmark 4 percent note due in February 2015 fell about a point to 95 27/32 in afternoon trading. The yield rose about 13 basis points, or 0.13 percentage point, to 4.52 percent, which is the highest since July. Today, the U.S. treasury sold $15 billion of 5-year notes at a yield of 4.08 percent, which is the highest since almost three years.

The inflation concerns caused fear on Wall Street, though there was positive news in the semiconductor sector, since Xilinx Inc. boosted its quarterly sales outlook, and said that it expects to reduce inventory as planned. It forecasted that its fourth-quarter sales will be 5 percent to 8 percent higher than the third quarter, or between $373.2 million and $383.8 million. Xilinc Inc. had climbed as high as $32.30 before succumbing to selling in the broader market to close down 0.6 percent.

Following in the steps of rival chipmaker Xilinx Inc., Altera Corp also boosted its revenue target. Altera said first-quarter sales will be $254.4 million, or 6 percent higher than the fourth quarter. Although, it projected earlier that sales would only climb 1 to 3 percent. Altera makes chips, known as programmable logic devices, or PLDs, and it counts Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks, Lucent Technologies, Samsung, and Sony among its customers. Wall Street estimated Altera would produce revenue of $224.97 million and earn 13 cents a share. Today, shares of Altera closed down 46 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $20.37.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

U.S. stocks fell today with the technology sector hurt the most, since reduced guidance from Texas Instruments and near-record oil prices discouraged investors. The Dow closed at 10,912.62, after falling 24.24 points. Besides, both the Nasdaq and the S&P had big losses. The Nasdaq fell 16.66 points to close at 2,073.55, while the S&P fell 5.88 points to close at 1,219.43.

Among the Dow components, McDonalds Corp. had a big loss. It dropped 73 cents to $33.48. The 2.1 percent decline was the sharpest in the Dow Average. The world’s largest restaurant chain reported February sales rose 1.6 percent, which is the smallest gain in almost two years. Nevertheless, United Technologies Corp. kept the Dow from falling even further. Shares of the maker of Otis elevators and Carrier air conditioners added 96 cents to $102.26. On the other hand, among the S&P components, Capital One Financial Corp. had the biggest gain. The fifth U.S. credit card issuer increased $2.75 to $78.75, or a 3.6 percent gain.

Texas Instruments fell 3.8 percent after lowering the top end of its earnings and revenue guidance for the first quarter, mentioning dull sales of chips for digital televisions. Texas Instrument slid $1.03 to $26.34. First quarter sales will be $2.91 billion to $3.03 billion, compared with a January forecast of $2.9 billion to $3.14 billion. Net income will be as much as 24 cents a share, which is down from a forecast of as much as 26 cents.

Higher oil and commodity prices increased concerns on investors that inflation may accelerate, prompting the Federal Reserve to step up its pace of interest rate increase. Today, oil rallied since crude oil for April delivery gained 1.3 percent to $54.59 a barrel in New York. This was a consequence on speculation that OPEC will do little to rein in prices at a meeting next week. Futures reached a record $55.67 on October 25.

Finally, U.S. dollar fell broadly today, reaching its weakest level against the euro since January 4th. The euro traded to above $1.3360 because investors continued to speculate whether the Federal Reserve would be the only central bank that would tighten interest- rate policy over coming months. The dollar was down 0.5 percent at 104.66 yen. Tomorrow, the Federal Reserve will release its “Beige Book” survey of the health of U.S regional economies for additional hints on the scope of U.S interest-rate policy.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

It was a mixed day for the market since technology shares moved higher, but blue chips lagged due to the news of dismissal of Boeing Co.’s chief executive. The Dow fell 3.69 points closing at 10,936.86. Nevertheless, both the Nasdaq and S&P posted gains today. The Nasdaq rose 19.60 points to close at 2,090.21, while the S&P closed at 1,225.31, after rising 3.19 points.

Boeing Co. ousted Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher because of his affair with a female executive of the firm. Boeing said it had asked for and received the resignation Sunday. The stock ended the day down 8 cents to $58.30 with 6.2 million shares changing hands. However, the ouster of Stonecipher is an internal matter at the aerospace company. The dismissal will have no effect on the Air Force’s decision Friday to lift Boeing’s 20-month ban on rocket-launch contracting after the company was caught with related documents from rival Lockheed Martin.

Internet, software, networkers, and semiconductors were among the market’s best performing sectors. Qualcomm Inc. was among the tech gainers because it rose5.3 percent and also lifted the low end of its expectations for phone chip shipment, as well as its overall expectations for shipments of CDMA/WCDMA units.

Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft were among the best performers on the Dow. Besides, McDonalds also climbed 0.7 percent, after the shares were upgraded to “overweight” at Prudential Equity Group. Shares finished the session at $34.21, after rising 25 cents. According to analyst Larry Miller, “McDonald’s U.S. business continues to impress”. Even Europe is “showing signs of life again”.

Sony said today that Sir Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO of its American division, would become chairman and CEO of the entire company as of June 22nd. Besides, there will be a promotion of two other executives, the resignation of seven board members, the nomination of three director candidates, and the demotion of one prominent insider. Analysts and investors reacted positively to the report. In recent trading, Sony ADRs were up 80 cents, or 2.1 percent to $39.34.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

Thanks to solid economic data, which included a February employment report that exceeded investor’s expectations, U.S stocks ended sharply higher this week. This rise helped the S&P to erase its losses for the year to close at the highest since July 2001. However, a four percent spike in crude-oil prices over the last week provoked concerns in investors. The Dow rose 107.52 points closing at 10,940.55. The Nasdaq and S&P ended higher today. The tech-rich index rose 12.21 points to close at 2,070.61, while the S&P closed at 1,222.12, after rising 11.65 points.

The February employment report saw the largest monthly increase in payrolls since October as the 262,000 new jobs created came in above the average estimate of 221,000 jobs forecast by economists interviewed by Marketwatch. However, the unemployment rate rose to 5.4 percent from 5.2 percent in January, which surprised economists that expected this rate to maintain unchanged. Another positive economic report included order to U.S. factories. According to the estimate of the Commerce Department, orders increased 0.2 percent to 380.5 billion in January.

Four investments firms, such as Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS agreed to pay a combined $100 million into a growing settlement fund. These Wall Street firms were the lead underwriters on a May 2000 bond offering by the telecommunications firm, now called MCI. Worldcom emerged from bankruptcy as MCI last April. Of the remaining banks that have not settle with investors yet, J.P Morgan is believed to have the biggest potential liability.

Martha Stewart left a federal correctional facility in Alderson, W. VA., shortly after midnight on Thursday. She had been granted a slightly early release, and headed to a local airport where she took a private jet home to Bedford, N.Y. Now, Stewart will serve another five months in home detention. Shares have tripled since the day she was sentenced but were trading down $2.75 at $31.19 today. The diva’s own stock is also on the rise with commitments for her two new television shows.

Crude futures ended today’s session on the New York Mercantile Exchange up nearly 10 percent on the last two weeks. Crude futures for April delivery settled at $53.78, up 21 cents on the session and up 4.4 percent for the week. Still, energy traders remain focused on signs of what the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may do when OPEC members meet in Iran on March 16.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

Blue Chips ended higher on gains for Boeing and Wall-Mart, while the Nasdaq fell due to the weakness in semiconductor stocks in the middle of a late-day pullback in oil prices. The gains of the Dow today were based on solid retail returns and positive economic news. The Dow ended up 21.06 points to close at 10,833.03. Meanwhile, the S&P closed at 1,210.47, after climbing 0.39 points. However, the Nasdaq fell 9.10 points to close at 2,058.40. In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

Economic reports helped to ease concerns of investors about inflationary problems. According to a survey, the unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 5.2 percent during the month, which is in line with January’s rates. Also, the fourth-quarter productivity was revised upward to a 2.1 percent gain versus expectations for a rise of 1.5 percent and a previous read of 0.8 percent. On the other hand, jobless claims fell to 310,000 last week from a downwardly revised 311,000 the previous week, which is in line with expectations.

Among the Dow components, Boeing shares broke higher today, hitting levels untouched since the events of September 11, 2001 devastated the sector. Boeing’s stocks ended up $2.12, or 3.8 percent to close at $57.42. According to technical analyst, Jack Rothstein, “as long as the Republicans are in power, companies like Boeing, Lookheed-Martin, and General Dynamics will continue to do very, very well”.

Besides, the shares of Wall-Mart ended the session at $52.86, up 91 cents, or 1.7 percent, which is their best showing in a month. Wall-Mart delivered its best monthly sales results since January and hiked its dividends 15 percent. February’s sales from the namesake Wall-Mart stores were higher by 11.1 percent to $15.1 billion, while warehouse division Sam’s club produced sales of $2.8 billion, up 5.4 percent, helped most by fuel sales.

Apple Computer Inc. dragged the Nasdaq lower because of concerns that offerings from Intel Corp. and Napster Inc. may undercut its personal computer and online music sales. Apple had the biggest drop in the S&P, sinking $2.33, or 5.3 percent, to $41.79. Besides, Intel showed a PC design that resembles Apple’s book-sized Mac mini, while the Napster raised its sales forecast on demand for an online music service, urging concerns the company may be taking sales from Apple’s iTunes.

Crude for April delivery closed up 1 percent at $53.57 a barrel in New York. Prices earlier had spiked to $55.20, just shy of the all-time trading high of $55.67 a barrel hit since October 27.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter

Today was a day of losses for the market since crude spiked to a four-month high. This event urged investors to lock in recent gains on concern rising energy prices will hurt the economy. The Dow fell 18.03 points to close at 10,811.97. Besides, both the Nasdaq and the S&P ended down today. The Nasdaq fell 3.75 to close at 2,067.50, while the S&P fell slightly 0.33 points to close at 1,210.08.

The Dow ended down due to the congressional testimony from Fed chief Alan Greenspan. The Chairman’s testimony to Congress was notable for the lack of any remarks on interest rates or inflation. Greenspan told the House Budget Committee that the U.S. fiscal budget is unlikely to improve in coming years “unless major deficit-reducing actions are taken. Also, the Federal Reserve Chairman gave his support again, for private retirement accounts to bolster Social Security. Because of the lack of economic reports, investors fell back on the latest layoff data from international outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. According to Challenger, layoffs at U.S companies jumped 17 percent in February to 108,387, with nearly 40 percent of those layoffs directly due to mergers.

Crude oil for April delivery gained $1.37 or 2.7 percent to $53.05 a barrel, the highest close since October 26. Prices are up 45 percent from a year ago. Then, oil company stocks advanced with oil prices. For example, Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company, rose 58 cents or 0.9 percent to $62.68 in New York Stock Exchange Composite Trading. OPEC will discuss production targets of oil at a meeting in Isfahan, Iran, in March 16.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a $521 million patent infringement ruling against Microsoft Corp. and ordered that the case be retried. Last year, Microsoft had also won a ruling which invalidated a claim by the plaintiffs to the browser technology that allows other mini-applications to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer. Microsoft said it will present its case in a later date for a retrial. Microsoft shares edged higher in after-hours trading from their closing price at $25.26 on the Nasdaq.

Verizon Communications will discuss with Qwest Communications Internationals about their rival bid until March 17. Qwest and Verizon have already engaged in public dispute about the nature of backroom merger discussions and the suitability of each merger. Verizon’s original offer valued MCI at $20.75 a share in cash, stock and guaranteed dividend payment. Instead, Qwest’s offer was $24.60 per MCI share, and it hinted that it may raise that bid. If MCI chooses to accept a Qwest offer, it would have to pay Verizon a $200 million breakup fee. Today, shares of MCI rose 9 cents to $23.45, shares of Qwest fell 12 cents at $3.93, and Verizon’s shares gained 22 cents to close at $36.47.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter