Market briefing --- Matt (slow)
Nasdaq --- June (slow)
NYSE --- Bob (fast)
>> welcome back to “world financial report.” i’m matt nesto. the weekly winning streak is over for the s&p 500. six weeks of gains over this week. but today, both the dow and the s&p finished higher on a friday. the nasdaq down, lead loser by semiconductors. bonds also lower for the second day in a row t. 10-year low yield inching back above 4%. similar gains for the five and the two with strong durable goods numbers giving investors the belief that the feds is more likely to raise rates. hurricane jeanne may cause $2 to $4 billion of damage in florida this weekend, according to a loss estimate by storm modeler equi-cat. insurers also face $14 to $17 billion of losses from charley and frances and ivan. and if jeanne hits, it would mark the first time in florida’s recorded history that four hurricanes have battered the state the same year. still, companies are better table withstand storm losses thaten a decade ago because of a catastrophe fund, rate increases, higher deductibles and more reinsurance for themselves. well, chicago’s largest money manager was fired by the state of illinois today, the board of investment. ending a 20-year relationship with three of the state’s five public pensions. northern trust lost the job after the illinois board said the money management firm incorrectly reported commissions. northern trust allegedly overstated the percentage of fees paid to minority and women-owned brokerage firms. it denies any misreporting. the illinois board hired state street as the new custodian and index fund manager. the business generates about $3.5 million a year in fees with the funds holding a combined $2.4 billion in assets. the nasdaq closed down for the first time in three days. june grasso has details on today’s trading with this report from the nasdaq market site.
>> tech stocks pulled the nasdaq down to snap a two-week-long winning session. some of the tech stocks were imclone shares, down after s.g. cowen said erbitux sales may be hitting a wall. analyst eric smid says a survey of 27 oncologies show sales of drug in august fell 27% compared with july. it’s imclone’s only product. and some tech shares have been losing ground today after coming out with disappointing forecasts. palmsource, the maker of software for palm hand held computers says it will miss analyst estimates because of reduced orders. sales may fall as low as $18.9 million. it was cut to hold from buy at stanford group. electroscientific industry shares fell the most in four years after the maker of equipment to test electronics components said first quarter profit was less than analyst estimates. the company earned 36 cents a share in the quarter, 10 cents lower than the average analyst estimate. there were some stocks and companies that did well today. one of them was peoplesoft. it gained. the european trades commission will rule on oracle’s nearly $8 billion hostile bid takeover for peoplesoft before the end of october. now earlier this month, oracle won permission for a u.s. judge toll proceed with the hostile takeover that peoplesoft said was designed to kill the company. another company that gained on individual news was monster worldwide. it is the most used internet site for help wanted advertising and, according to piper jaffray report, it will report better-than-expected earnings this quarter as profit margins increased. i’m june grass doe, bloomberg news at the nasdaq market site in times square.
>> accept core helps to get its sleeping pill astora, approved by the f.d.a. later this year. once that happens, the drug will probably debut in january, join ago $4 billion marketplace to treat insomnia. sepracor has never made a profit since it started selling shares to the public 13 years ago.
>> it is possible we’ll be profitable next year. we expect to be for 2006. the launch costs with launching a drug like astora are going to be significant and we obviously want to do a lot of direct-to-consumer advertising and we don’t want to be constrained by profitability next year as we try to maximize the sales of drug.
>> inform, he says, they’re not concerned about competition from other branded sleeping drugs such as ambien. sales up 70% since march when it received a letter from the f.d.a. scug suggesting that the drugging is near full approval. california will require a new cars and trucks emit less carbon monoxide, becoming the first state to regulate exhaust tied to global warming and, at the same time, setting the stage for a fight with automakers such as general motors. the rules are aimed at cutting carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles 30% by 2016, beginning with model years sold in 2000 9. governor arnold schwarzenegger has said he backs the regulation, but the alliance of auto manufacturers representing g.m. and ford say the program will cost california’s consumers $6 billion a year for modifications and do little to slow global warming. feds exis looking to china for further growth. the company requesting permission to add six flights a week to southern china starting in two years. that’s on top of 12 weekly flights they expect to add shortly. the u.s. department of transportation must approve the question and fedex may also add a regional base in southern china. more than 40% of the nation’s exports come from that area. well, coming up next, we’re going to get previews of likely market moving events from our bureaus in london and tokyo. so, stay with us. the next continues.
