Nasdaq Closes Up While Dow, S&P 500 Post Losses
Dropping 100 points in 30 minutes will not help a rally. After jumping into the green during the late afternoon, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
free-fell into the close. Somehow, the
Nasdaq Composite
and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index knocked out gains.
So which sectors did well? The
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Computer Box Maker Index
,
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Oil Service Index
,
TheStreet.com E-Finance Index
and the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Gold and Silver Index
, that's who! Box makers built up 9.65 to 315.23. Oil servicers gushed up 3.28 to 85.15. E-Financiers rang up 1 7/32 to 60 31/32. Gold and silver were just precious, up 2.09 to 67.34.
On the flip side, the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Forest & Paper Products Index
,
Philadelphia Stock Exchange Phone Index
and the
S&P Retail Index
were not doing anything well. Forest and papers were pulped and dropped 12.99 to 333.58. The phones fell off the hook and made that horrible bleating noise, down 11.42 to 448.80. Retailers were sold all day, down 20.30 to 817.30.
"Brains! Brains!" No, not the zombies from
Night of the Living Dead
, but
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
, which announced a $2 billion strategic alliance with
IBM Global Services
. As part of the deal, Cisco will purchase portions of
IBM's
(IBM) - Get Report
networking intellectual property. IBM shook off the shotgun blasts, up 1 7/16 to 124 5/8. Cisco clawed through the front door, up 1 to 67 13/16.
"Everybody's laughing, sunshine day! Everybody's laughing, sunshine day!"
Sun Microsystems
(SUNW) - Get Report
sang along with those perky
Bradys
as it announced the purchase of
Star Division
, a privately held developer of office software.
Merrill Lynch
joined in on the fun and added Sun to its Focus One list, raising its price target to 95 from 90. Sun warbled its way to 79 1/2, up 3 7/8, or 5%.
Web telephony
Net2Phone
(NTOP)
should rename itself "Money2Bank" after rising 12 1/2, or 17%, to 85. The rise stemmed from news that
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
signed a five-year deal expanding the company's network to 17 countries with an option for 12 more. AT&T was just "BA&D," falling 1, or 2%, to 45.
Employee office supply graft must be off this month, because two leading retailers took hits from analysts today. Big Board volume leader
Office Depot
(ODP) - Get Report
got clipped by a quartet of analysts:
PaineWebber
,
Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown
,
ABN Amro
,
Morgan Stanley
and
Brown Brothers Harriman and Co.
In heavy trading,
Staples
(SPLS)
was cut by PaineWebber and nearly bled to death, down 1/4, or 1%, to 21 3/4. Office Depot found the Band-Aids in time, up 1/8 to 10 5/8.
Johnson and Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Report
was down 1/8 to 102 1/4.
On the
New York Stock Exchange
, decliners were beating advancers 1,662 to 1,304 on 843 million shares. On the
Nasdaq Stock Market
, losers were beating winners 1,967 to 1,861 on 964 million shares.
On the NYSE, 100 issues had set new 52-week lows while 20 had touched new highs. On the Nasdaq, 82 issues had set new 52-week lows while new highs totaled 61.
Earlier...
3:02 p.m.: Stocks Mostly Lower as Internet Sector Recovers
"Don't call it a comeback?"
LL Cool J
was last seen walking on Wall Street looking for someone his mama said to knock out. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and the
Nasdaq Composite
rocked
Kangols
and looked for
Kool Moe Dee
.
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index was walking with a panther, up 4 to 555.
1:59 p.m.: Stocks Lower Amid Tumble in Internet Sector
If you wear
Journey
t-shirts, live at home and hang out at high schools to pick up "chicks," then you're a loser. You're also a loser if you're the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
, the
Nasdaq Composite
, or
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index.
1:11 p.m.: Midday Musings: Inflation Fears Slap Stocks, Bonds Lower
12:14 p.m.: Stocks Lower in Volatile Trading
For the most part they're gone. With the loss of enthusiasm for Treasuries, so did, in part, vivacity for stocks, in what has been a choppy session so far. Major market averages were all lower heading into the lunch hour on Wall Street.
