24 Oct 2003

Posted at 10:55h in The Friday Brief by
The Dow Jones index has given up about 1.7% so far this week, while the S&P 500 has declined a little over 1%.  The technology concentrated NASDAQ is down 2%.  The declines are most likely the result of investors’ disappointment with the earnings reports that have been pouring from Wall Street this week. 

18 Oct 2002

Posted at 12:49h in The Friday Brief by
Is the rally of the last few days for real – is the market bottom in place – do stocks rise from here – is the Bear dead?  Earnings drive stock prices in the long run and those reported so far this quarter suggest substantial improvement.  Nokia, for instance, said that they saw earnings stabilize in the second quarter and now believe by third quarter results that the turnaround is for real.  IBM reported an earnings increase of over 10% in a very difficult information technology-spending environment.  UnitedHealthcare said its earnings rose over 53% on cost-cutting and increased premiums.  Numerous others today and the preceding several days have beaten their earnings goals.