Thursday, April 15, 1999
Markets
If there was a
stealth bull trend beneath the recent technology selloff, it just showed up on radar. After suffering sharp losses amid respectable volume for the better part of two days, the
Nasdaq Composite Index
rallied late to finish in the black. Cyclicals kept the
Dow Jones Industrial Average's
tenor positive. But the Net sector never got it going.
The Nasdaq added 14.75 to 2522.03; the Dow gained 51.06 to a record 10,462.72; the
S&P 500
lost 5.52 to 1322.92; the small-cap
Russell 2000
hopped 0.38 to 417.77; and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index shed 15.45 to close at 678.72.
Major European indices finished lower, while Asian markets were mixed overnight. Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
gained 128.10 to 11,962.23, while Japan's
TheStreet Recommends
Nikkei
lost 37.60 to 16,727.08.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
Genentech
(GNE) - Get Genie Energy Ltd. Class B Report
will pay a $50 million fine to settle
Justice Department
charges that the biotechnology firm illegally marketed the synthetic hormone
Protopin
between 1985 and 1994 for uses not approved by the
FDA
.
General Dynamics
(GD) - Get General Dynamics Corporation Report
last night withdrew its $1.4 billion bid for
Newport News Shipbuilding
(NNS)
after the
Defense Department
rejected the takeover.
First-quarter numbers for the Big Two are in:
Ford Motor
(F) - Get Ford Motor Company Report
earned $1.46 a share, 7 cents a share above expectations;
General Motors
(GM) - Get General Motors Company Report
made $3.04 a share, well above the $2.86-a-share
First Call
estimate.
Mattel
(MAT) - Get Mattel, Inc. Report
said it will cut 3,000 jobs and close some of its plants after it reported a first-quarter loss of 7 cents a share, a penny better than analysts expected. The company also set plans to invest $50 million in an Internet venture, a portion of which the company said may be offered to the public.
Shares of
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Pfizer Inc. Report
are reeling after the company reported first-quarter
Viagra
sales of $193 million, down from $236 million the previous quarter. Overall, Pfizer earned 62 cents a share, meeting the First Call estimate. Its shares closed down 14 5/8 to 130.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
Advanced Micro Devices
reported a first-quarter loss of 88 cents a share, results that Chairman
W.J. "Jerry" Sanders
called "horrific" despite beating the First Call consensus of a loss of 92 cents a share.
TheStreet.com
reported on the AMD conference call last night.
Driven by strong
iMac
sales,
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report
last night posted second-quarter earnings of 60 cents a share, 3 cents above the 18-analyst First Call estimate.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
General News
The
Labor Department
released figures showing initial jobless claims at a three-month high of 316,000 for the week ended April 10, up 14,000 from the previous week.
NATO
continues to bomb Serbian targets today. Meanwhile, the alliance acknowledged that a NATO aircraft mistakenly bombed a civilian vehicle in a convoy in Kosovo, adding that Serbian vehicles may have been in or surrounding the convoy.
Pakistan has let fly another nuclear-capable missile, its second test in two days. Today's fare was a
Shaheen 1
, a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 miles, considerably less than the 1,200-mile reach of the
Ghauri II
tested yesterday by Pakistan.
International
After posting flat first-quarter profit,
Deutsche Telekom
(DT) - Get Dynatrace, Inc. Report
set plans to sell as much as $12.7 billion worth of stock to fund international acquisitions.
The U.K.'s
Imperial Chemical Industries
(ICI)
is selling four chemicals units to closely held U.S. chemical company
Huntsman
. The deal will nearly double Huntsman's size.
Rebranding at work: Japan's
Ministry of Finance
will be renamed the
Treasury Ministry
as part of that country's revamping of its ministries and agencies in 2001.
Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa
has yet to respond to
TSC
reporter
Dave Gaffen's
suggestion that he change his name to
Robert Rubin
.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
In the Papers
The Chicago Tribune's
Greg Burns
dissects the turmoil on the floor of the
Chicago Board of Trade
caused by the rumor that new
Chairman David Brennan
is looking to oust
CBOT President Thomas Donovan
.
Boeing
(BA) - Get Boeing Company Report
today reported first-quarter earnings of 50 cents a share, 7 cents above the First Call estimate. Today's
Seattle Times
takes a look at the thickening profit margins behind the aerospace giant's strong numbers.
As
Korea Development Bank
prices its $1 billion debt issue,
The South China Morning Post
looks forward to
China Development Bank's
planned $500 million global bond offering, the largest mainland debt issue since the
Ministry of Finance's
$1 billion sale last December.
Elsewhere
Some late spring training for
Darryl Strawberry
turned sour last night when the
New York Yankees
outfielder was arrested in Tampa Bay on charges of possessing 0.3 grams of cocaine and soliciting an undercover officer for sex for a princely $50.
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