Market briefing---Lane (medium)
Nasdaq---Anthony (slow)
>> welcome back to “world financial report”. i’m lane bajardi. now, you would have to go back over 14 months to see the last time the dow and s&p 500 were at today’s closing levels. take a look at the dow jones industrial averages, up 1.1%, 107 points at 9,523. the s&p 500 better by nearly 14 points at 1,021. the nasdaq is at its high elfest level since april of 2002, better by 1.7%, 31 points at 1,841. among the big board’s most actives, lucent technology is at the top of the list, along with g.e. and pfizer. u.s. treasuries fell, sending five- and 10-year notes to their biggest losses since july, as an industry report showed manufacturing grew in august at the strongest pace in eight months. investors have been switching to riskier assets such as stocks and corporate bonds on optimism the u.s. economy is leading global rory. the 10-year note is down a full point, on the shorter end, the two-year and three-year down. in currency trading, now in the pacific rim you can see the latest changes. earlier in new york trading the dollar had its biggest one-day advance investors the euro in eight days. the nasdaq in percentage terms was the best gainer of the major stock indices in the u.s. today. volume was strong as a 1.76 billion shares were traded, eclipsing its three-month daily average. for more anthony massucci is at the nasdaq market site.
>> not only was it high volume at the nasdaq, but a high mark. you have to go back to april 1st of last year to see the nasdaq trading this high. one of the reasons, dell got the market off on the right foot today, goldman sachs analyst laura konigliaro updated dell to an outperform. with that, dell was up 3%. now, merrill lynch in a note said they rebalanced their long short tech index for september, pointing out that historically september has been weak with declining about 1.5%. and merrill is under weight but they don’t want to be too negative, given the better-than-expected forecasts over the last three months for tech stocks . in fact, one of their top ranking stocks , microsoft. let’s look at oral shares sticking with software, raised to an outperform from peer perform at thomas weisel. they like the stock to go to $16. this combination of news helping boost tech. in the goldman sachs report they said u.s. software, for example, is attractive. they like it as an attractive up from neutral rating saying conditions in the u.s. and europe showing signs of improvement at this point.in fact, they feel the software groups specifically have underperformed and they think it will go higher. they like stocks like peoplesoft symantec, microsoft, s.a.p.. so software stocks looking better. hardware stocks looking better. but trucking stocks , not tech names here but truckers looking better today too with the i.s.m. number coming in better than expected. you have crude prices going lower. with that stocks like yellow corporation, roadway which are merging, those two stocks are up arkansas’s best trading higher. you had the truckers getting in the act. the nasdaq, remember, at a 17-month high today closing above 1800. back to you in the studio.
>> anthony massucci. shares of openwave systems are falling in extended trading right now. the maker of wireless web software saying it will sell as much as $115 in bonds that can be converted into stock leading to a 6.5% drop in the shares right now. the sale may increase the number of shares outstanding and dilute their value to existing stockholders, which is why the stock is down. open wave said it will use the money for general purchases and potential acquisitions. as you can see, ahead of this news it was up 6% in nasdaq trading. the world trade organization reached an agreement on giving poor nations access to cheaper medicines today. under the new rules drugmakers such as glaxo smith kline will relax patents on drugs used to treat epidemics such as aids. some american companies including pfizer and merck were concerned that the w.t.o. accord may be misunderstood and the inexpensive treatments will flood the u.s. market. some aid groups worry global patent laws will drive up medicine prices. some groups say the only way to help needy countries is to eliminate taxes and tariffs on treatments. the w.t.o. will meet in can coon to discuss other global trade issues. goldman sachs, citigroup, morgan stanley and merrill lynch are reaping the benefits of the recent revivel in equity markets. they have handled 52% of initial public offerings. i.p.o.’s amounted to 10 billion, below the record pace in 2000 more than four times the total for the first three months of this year. the surge is expected to continue.a merrill lynch executive says wall street could do 25 more u.s. i.p.o.’s by november. merrill is a passive minority investor in bloomberg low pressure, the parent of bloomberg news. sprint chief executive gary foresee is betting on a reorganization to stop a sales decline. prints’s long distance local and wireless businesses rank number fou fourth. he organized sprint inin two divisions, one focused on corporate customers, the other on consumers. in a recent interview with bloomberg news he said the individual tracking stocks which have plunged turnover the last four years will be eliminated. investors are skeptical. some say the telephone industry is badly in need of consolidation and sprint needs a partner to survive. kmart is making changes at an a top in an attempt to stop losses and pick up sales. the retailer picks up three to report 0 julian day who took over in january. kmart reported its first earnings report after coming out of bankruptcy protection in may t company’s second quarter loss narrowed to $5 million while sales fell 2 13r7b9. on an upday in the market kmart down 5%, $1.54 at $29.13. kids often dread september as it signals the end of summer and of course, back to school. investors also have reason to dread this month, as it is the weakest month for stocks historically.
