Nasdaq---Anthony (slow)
G.E.---Bob (medium)
>> software news dominated at the nasdaq this week. peoplesoft rejecting oracle’s $19.50 offer for peoplesoft shares. oracle saying that peoplesoft, they would still like to talk to peoplesoft. peoplesoft is planning to buy j.d. edwards. they will go through with that acquisition. three stocks not moving much today. let me give you more software news. cognos, canada’s largest software maker, the c.e.o. on bloomberg television earlier, saying second quarter profit being hurt by the stronger canadian dollar, that weakened their quarter by $2 million. he he said they’ll make that up with cost cutting over at cognos. siebel systems estimates were raised at sound view but rated a new underperformance. smith barney would like it to go higher than where it closed today. tidco software, second quarter sales missing fbs forecasts. webmd selling 30 million in convertible debt. asia information falling initially as second quarter sales may miss previous forecasts the company said. but there is strength here in the chinese technology companies. asia rebounded on the day as did china.com, sina corporation and so hugh. they have been rebound strong, each up more than 100% since the march lows here at the nasdaq. let me show you shares of r.f. monolithics, they make radio frequency parts, poised to double in a year according to business week and the company sales are on the rise.
>> anthony massucci at the nasdaq. now, a day after five wall street analysts lowered their 2003 profit forecasts for general electric, the company said its earnings are still on target. that prompted a rally in g.e. shares. bob bowden has been following the story with much more.
>> lane, general electric fortunes often considered a proxy for the u.s. economy. they were declared unchanged by the company, despite what c.f.o. described in the conference call as a slow growth economy. on the call with analysts general electric reiterated their profit forecast in range of $1.55 and $1.70, a reitration of the may’s forecast. the consensus fell to $1.60 a share. general electric suggested weakness in some of its businesses will be made up by strength in the consumer finance unit and jet engine units. g.e. said may orders for plastic fell as much as 20% and appliance orders down as much as 5%. lighting orders rose as much as 10%. industrial products up as much as 15%. improving sales were also reported in g.e.’s power business and nbc television. caldwell asset management says g.e. shares should outperform the market.
>> it’s like the old comment they made about the c.e.o. of general motors made half a century ago. what’s good for america is good for general motors and vice versa. i think g.e. has very 67 replaced general motors in that position. so i think that general electric should do better than the market going forward, and if the economy is at all strong, if the market is at all strong, general electric should be better than both.
>> five analysts cut their g.e. earnings estimates yesterday. analysts from merrill lynch, j.p. morgan, banc of america securities and prudential. they saw the weakness in the plastic division as a sign a weak economy would result in lower than expected earnings for the company overall. g.e. currently trades at 19 times this year’s earnings, the same price to earnings multiple as the s&p 500. tom layer its who follows shares for banc of america capital management says g.e. growth will improve after this year.
>> when you look at the near term situation the company is dealing with, you know, the problems of the power systems, aerospace, etc. so there is near term headwinds so we are expecting 3% growth this year, 3% to 5% growth this yoor. we expect growth to accelerate to get back into double digits going into 2004 and 2005.
>> banc of america capital management owns 1.5 billion worth of g.e. shares. g.e. shares up a half a percent on the session. g.e. shares have almost doubled, by the way, the performance of the market, almost doubled the s&p. g.e. up 24% year to date. s&p 500 up 13% so far this year.
>> lane bajardi.
>> bob bowden.
>> still to come we’ll ask one fund manager why he’s buying out-of-favor stocks right now. forest irvine from philadelphia corporation.
