Market briefing---Matt (slow)
NYSE---Bob (fast)
Nasdaq---Julie (slow)
>> welcome to “world financial report.” i’m matt nesto. well, as we said, the u.s. economy grew at a weaker than expected 4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter. consumer spending slowed from the so-called blowout performance of the third quarter. that was 8%. but growth was weaker than expected following that record that we saw in the third quarter. that was the strongest at 8.2% that we had seen in two decades. for all of 2003, the economy expanded 3.1%, the most since 2000, after growing 2.2% the previous year. also today, customer spending grew at a 2.―consumer spending grew at a 2.6% annual pace compared to 6.9% in the third quarter. the national association of purchasing managers in chicago also out wits latest read saying the factory index advanced to 65.9. that is the highest since 1994. the production index surged to 76.5, that’s within that index. that is the best reading since january ‘84. new orders rose to 69.7. that’s also a 10-year high. consumer sentiment also out today about the u.s. economy, rose this month to the highest level since november of 2000. the university of michigan’s final index of consumer sentiment for january, 103.8, up from 92.6 in december. a lot of economic numbers and a lot heading in different directions. some good, some bad. but that weaker than expected rise in u.s. g.d.p. didn’t shake the president’s confidence in the economy. president bush was meeting with private sector economists today at the white house when that data was released.
>> these economists are optimistic about our future and so am i. and the american people can know that we’ll continue to work hard to make sure this economy is vibrant and robust and strong so our fellow citizens can find good jobs.
>> bush also told reporters that if congress, quoting here, doesn’t make the tax cuts permanent, they’ll have raised taxes on the working people of this country at the exact wrong time. bush will project the fiscal 2005 budget that he sends to congress on monday, that this year’s budget deficit will reach a record $520 billion in fiscal 2004, about 10% more than previous estimates. well, u.s. stocks fell on news that the economy last quarter grew at a slower than expected pace. slower growth may mean slimmer corporate profits and that’s pressuring stock prices. let’s look at the closing numbers here today. .2% for the s&p and the dow. the nasdaq, little changed, falling just .1% in today’s action. and we look at the new york stock exchange volume, again, strong. 1.6 billion. that average number has to be creeping higher. we’re beating that 1.3 billion number consecutively this week. and the nasdaq volume also strong, approaching the two-billion-share level. broader index, no surprises here, really, except for the amex and the russell, which managed to eke out little gains and the total share market index, the wilshire 5000 also trading slightly lower here today. on to bonds we go. rising here. again, really no surprise that is 10, five, three and two, all on the rise and this, of course, with weak economic data coming out on the g.d.p. and that allows bonds to rise. look at the currencies here today. a mixed picture right now t. dollar up across the board. euro and pound both higher and the yen actually―the dollar buying less yen. the dollar down verses the yen. let’s talk about the markets a little bit more. bob bowdon down at the new york stock exchange with a look at the best and worst stocks of the day. bob?
>> matt, did you ever read “a tale of two cities” bies dickens?
>> oh, yes.
>> ok. i have a tale of two stocks for you on this friday. the worst investment of the s&p 500 on the day. the losing stock that kept on losing and the stock that did well last year keeps winning. we begin with the loser and ironically the biggest percentage loser in the s&p 500 today that is symbol win. the only way to have won in this stock was to have shorted it or own puts, i suppose. winn-dixie shares down 28% in one session over one fourth of its market cap disappearing. it is a continuation for a losing trend of shares for this supermarket stock . it is down 53%, one year chart, the worst performer in the s&p 500. of all 500 stocks last year and again today the worst of all 500 stocks . shares at their lowest levels since ‘82. the operating loss of 31 cents a share didn’t help matters. not even closes to the analyst estimate of nine cents on a profit. net loss basis, by the way, there was a 57-cent net loss. the c.e.o. was there and admitted to the company’s troubles saying this, quote -- we have long standing problems that require a long-term fix. this company needs to change. and he outlined a number of sweeping changes structurally to the company, including cutting costs. now we switch gears to the winning stock on the day, gateway, which used to be gateway computers, but now sells plasma tvs and digital cameras. the stock was up 15% on the day and this is a stock up almost 70% over the last 12 months for gateway. so, this is showing you how the trend the last 12 months for both of these two stocks continue today. gateway, which has not been profitable for eight consecutive quarters announced on the day it is buying e-machines that sells at best buy, circuit city and wal-mart. they use a.m.d., advanced micro devices chip, unlike gateway, which mostly uses intel chips in its machines and e-machine, unlike gateway, the acquiree, if you will, is profitable. also on the day, delta airlines shares down over 8%. in fact, over 9% after an analyst downgrade at csfb. analyst james higgins cutting his rating on d.a.l. to an underperform and that really dragged all the airlines lower. air tran for example down 6% on 2 day. continental down 24%. and southwest probably the least hit in the group on the lagging airline sector. but to wrap it up here, matt, for you, i was an up month, january as a month was up. for people who believe in the january effect, that predicts a good 2004. on the week, shares were lower. back to you.
>> bob bowdon, thank you very much. always like the litz rare references to keep our audience sharp. as well as the anchor. the nasdaq finished lower in today’s trading for a look at the week’s best and worst as well as the action, we go to julie hyman at the nasdaq market site in times square.
>> the nasdaq finishing down .1% and the nasdaq was down 2.7%, the second declining week for the nasdaq. we haven’t had two weeks in a row on the decline since about mid november. however, it was a positive month at the nasdaq. a month―for the month, up 2.8%. actually the fourth straight month we’ve seen an increase. if you look at the past year in the nasdaq, since the beginning of 2.3, only declining months in the index. now have let’s take a look at the best and worst group performers for the week and for the month. insurance was the best performer for the week, though not by much. ended the week just about flat. trppings did the worst -- transportation did the worst for the week and the month. as for specific companies, the worst in the nasdaq 100 this week was ryan air. on wednesday, it said its 2004 profit would drop 10%. also, gilead one of the worst performers. this company coming out and saying that its h.i.v. drug, this year its sales will miss analyst expectations. as for the best perform per, we head medimmune, even after the company said its fourth quarter profit fell earlier in the week making that announcement. but the shares down about half since july. so, they rebounded. flextronics, its sales and profit this year will exceed estimates. so, it was another strong performer. now a couple of things to look forward to for this coming week, cisco reports its earnings on tuesday. of course, known as a technology bell weather and actually analysts expect that their average forecast for earnings per share is 17 cents. but in the past four weeks, the analysts who have boosted their estimates have boosted them to 18 cents. so it could indicate there are some folks who are becoming more and more positive as we get closer to that report. so, that’s a look at this past week and this coming week. back to you.
>> well, folks. a little bit of a reference to our top story f. you take the markets as a proxy for investor expectation of the economy, corporate profits and possibly there could be some trouble signs ahead. you heard the president say that economists are optimistic about the economy. what i’ve done is put together a chart here. in the white line, that is the median average survey estimate of the g.d.p. done by bloomberg news and then there is the actual number below that and the orange line. so, anytime you see white line above orange line equals an overestimate. and what we saw today, that 1% overestimate of g.d.p. was the biggest north american international auto show we’ve seen in four and a half years. we haven’t seen another miss like that since the second quarter, as i said, four years ago. stay with us. lots more to come after the break.
