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Ciena Soars, Rate Cut Odds Fall

TSC Staff

Despite a weaker-than-expected headline, Thursday's GDP report actually points to lesser odds of a Fed rate cut, Aaron Task says on "The Real Story" podcast. In addition to the PCE remaining above the Fed's "comfort zone", the upward revision to consumer spending, downward revision to housing's negative effect and inventory adjustments point to faster economic growth going forward, he says.

Moreover, the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index was stronger than expected, and its employment index points to a possible upside surprise for Friday's payroll data. A strong jobs report would further lower odds of a rate cut but might give the market a boost because "the market doesn't really need a rate cut," Task says.

Task's first guest, Bob Faulkner, author of TheStreet.com Telecom Connection came on to discuss Ciena's (CIEN Quote) upbeat quarter and guidance.

"This is a lumpy business. Don't extrapolate" this quarter's gains going forward, Faulkner says. Still, Corning (GLW Quote) and Cisco (CSCO Quote) have also made positive comments about demand for fiber optics, he notes. "Business isn't booming, but I don't want it to be booming. I want nice, steady growth."

Speaking of booming, Apple's (AAPL Quote) stock continued its ascent Thursday. While Faulkner is long the stock and "loves Apple," he is buying some puts to protect his gains from a "sell-the-news reaction" to the pending release of the iPhone.

Regarding another long position, Dell (DELL Quote), Faulkner says the company's postclose earnings are one thing, but the endless internal investigation of its accounting means it's still impossible to get a true sense of the PC maker's plan and the benchmarks it should be judged upon.

Task's second guest, David Peltier, came on for a bonus edition of "Should You Buy It?" and discussed the outlook for Corning and Loews (LTR Quote).

In the remainder of the podcast, Task reviewed the day's corporate news, including strength in regional brokers such as Raymond James (RJF Quote) in the wake of Wachovia's (WB Quote) bid for A.G. Edwards (AGE Quote); mixed results from retailers, including Sears (SHLD Quote), Big Lots (BIG Quote) and Chico's FAS (CHS Quote); and big moves for biotech Dendreon (DNDN Quote) and Critical Therapeutics(CRTX Quote).

Click here to listen to the entire podcast.