| 5:22PM Lehman Brothers names Christopher O'Meara C.F.O. (LEH) 84.52 -0.28: Co announced that Christopher M. O'Meara, has been named C.F.O.. Mr. O'Meara succeeds and reports to Dave Goldfarb, who has been named Chief Administrative Officer. Most recently, Mr. O'Meara served as the firm's Global Controller. 5:08PM J.M. Smucker announces strategic actions; net impact on Y05 earnings is not anticipated to be material (SJM) 45.37 +0.54: Co's strategy is to own and market leading N. American icon brands sold in the center of the store. In support of this strategy co continues to optimize its production capacity, improve productivity and operating efficiencies as well as lower its overall cost base and improve its services. As a result, co has announced its intent to sell its U.S. industrial business, discontinue operations at its Salinas, California, facility and restructure its U.S. distribution operations. The industrial businesses will continue to be reported in continuing operations through their divestiture period. The net impact on fiscal 2005 earnings is not anticipated to be material. Industrial sales planned for 2005 are approx $60 million. 4:45PM Jones Lang LaSalle announces $1.5 mln share repurchase program (JLL) 34.95 -0.15: 4:40PM MDU Resources guides below consensus for Y05 (MDU) 27.32 -0.14: Company sees Y04 (Dec) EPS of $1.70-1.85, Y05 $1.70-1.90 (Reuters Estimates consensus of $1.80, $1.95). Co CEO, Martin White says, "we have assumed that 2005 natural gas and oil prices will be at somewhat lower levels than the price levels we have experienced during 2004, causing our 2005 earnings per share projections to be near 2004 levels." 4:36PM Donaldson misses by $0.02, revs light (DCI) 33.97 +0.43: Reports Q1 (Oct) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.02 worse than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.33; revenues rose 13.6% year/year to $372.9 mln vs the $381.6 mln consensus. Commenting on the outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2005, co states, "Our business trends are very positive as demonstrated by strong backlogs across almost all of our businesses. We expect that increasing commodity prices, especially steel, will be mostly offset by price recovery from our customers and improving manufacturing efficiencies from continued strong volume". 4:35PM Semtech reports in line, guides below consensus for Q4 (SMTC) 20.72 -0.13: Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.19 per share, in line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.19; revenues rose 35.1% year/year to $65 mln vs the $65 mln consensus. Company expects Q4 (Jan) EPS of $0.16, on revs of $59 mln (Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.19, $64 mln). Co preannounced Q3 on Oct 25. 4:28PM Biogen Idec C.O.O. William Rohn to retire (BIIB) 58.90 +0.47: -- Update -- Co announced that C.O.O. William R. Rohn will retire from co effective 1/31/05. To ensure a smooth transition, Mr. Rohn's responsibilities as COO will be assumed by James C. Mullen, C.E.O., and other members of the senior mgmt team, starting 11/30. 4:24PM HCC Insurance to sell 3.0 mln shares of common stock (HCC) 34.13 -0.04: 4:21PM American Fincl C.F.O. to retire (AFG) 31.90 -0.16: Co announced that its C.F.O., Sr VP and Treasurer Fred J. Runk, plans to retire in March 2005. Mr. Runk has been with AFG and its predecessor for more than thirty years and has been C.F.O. for more than twenty-five years. Keith A. Jensen, an AFG Sr VP, will become the C.F.O. when Mr. Runk steps down. Mr. Jensen also currently serves as Exec VP and C.F.O. of Great American Insurance Co, AFG's principal operating subsidiary. 4:15PM PacifiCare signs agreement to purchase Pacific Life's Group Health Insurance biz (PHS) 47.85 +0.27: PHS and Pacific Life Insurance Company jointly announced that they have signed a definitive agreement whereby PHS will purchase Pacific Life's group health insurance business; business includes medical, dental and life coverage for small and large group employers, and is distributed through a network of approx 30K brokers and agents in 30 states. Although the financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed, the transaction is structured as a coinsurance arrangement that is expected to result in PHS's acquisition of up to 140K medical members. PHS will also obtain renewal rights for the acquired membership. As part of the transaction, PHS will also obtain assets necessary to support and preserve the continuity of the acquired business, as well as the right to offer employment to the approx 700 Pacific Life employees. Co states that, "We anticipate that, including all integration expenses, this transaction will be mildly accretive. I would estimate about two to three cents in incremental 2005 EPS, depending on the timing of the close in early 2005,". 4:07PM Ptek Holdings buys ConferenceCallServices for $14.3 mln and I-Media SA for about EUR $14.3 mln, also offers guidance (PTEK) 10.53 +0.04: Both acquisitions to be funded by the cos' bank credit facility. Ptek says it expects Q4 revs in the range of $116 to $117 mln vs $117.79 mln Reuters consensus, co says it's on track to meet consensus EPS of $0.17. Ptek says it's comfortable w/ '05 outlook, EPS of $0.67 to $0.70 vs $0.71 Reuters consensus; says revs will be $490 to $500 mln vs. $495.7 mln consensus. 4:07PM Micromuse selected by Japan's NTT Communications for business service mgmt backbone (MUSE) 5.00 0.00: Co announced that NTT Communications Corporation has chosen the Netcool suite of products to provide a strategic infrastructure backbone to support service availability, quality, and automation of its AGILIT service. NTT Communications' recently launched AGILIT to provide advanced hosting applications service for large corporations. 4:07PM Cheniere Energy announces proposed $4.3 mln shelf offering (LNG) 52.92 +0.42: 4:07PM Euroweb to sell its Globix Comms unit for $500K in cash (EWEB) 4.87 -0.76: 4:00PM Hot Topic reports Nov comps down 8.0%; lowers Q4 guidance (HOTT) 18.84 -1.06: Co states that Nov comps decreased 8.0% y/y. Co also lowers Q4 EPS as a result of the lower than expected November sales performance. Co no anticipates Q4 EPS of $0.37-0.43 per diluted share (previously $0.49-0.52), Reuters consensus is $0.48. Co states, "We are clearly disappointed by our November results and their implications for the remainder of the quarter. Sales in our music-related classifications and women's tops at the Hot Topic stores maintained their strong positive comp trend; however, the accessories category has not performed as we anticipated. As a result, we are revising our sales and earnings expectations for the fourth quarter. The revised guidance reflects a comparable store sales performance in the range of down mid to high single digits for the quarter. We are continuing efforts to address resulting inventory risks. We expect inventories at the end of the quarter to be flat on a per square foot basis." 3:43PM Enpath Medical sees Y04 revs of approx $29 mln, consensus $28.9 mln; Y05 revs between $35-37 mln, consensus is $37.5 mln (NPTH) 8.61 +0.51: Co also said it expects to be comfortably profitable in the upcoming year, Reuters Y05 EPS consensus is $0.47. NPTH plans to provide more detailed guidance for 2005 in mid-to-late December after finalizing its 2005 budget. 3:23PM Schnitzer Steel extends Friday's breakout, approaches resistance at Jan/April/10 month highs at 38.50/38.68 (SCHN) 38.29 +0.94: -- Technical -- Stock has advanced as much as 9% over the last two sessions with it approaching solid resistance at its 10 month highs (and gap bottom) from Jan and April at 38.50/38.68 (session high 38.37). click for chart 3:11PM Dollar Directed Trade, Squaring Close Treasuries at Lows : The curve has been, well, curvy lately, with the 2-10-yr having traded through to 117.8 last week against 146.8 a month back, the spread has returned to near 127, where it had been a week ago. Treasuries have broken through two important levels, 4.20% and 4.25%. On Nov 11 the 10-yr grabbed 4.25% and by the following day the yield fell to 4.180%. On Nov 16 the yield made a brief appearance through 4.20% before a flurry of buying knocked it down to 4.115% by the 18th. The 10-yr yield has held steady averaging around 4.20% since the 19th, but has surged in recent days breaking through every level in its path, even knocking out the post Nov 5 nonfarm yield. Other than foreign central bank chatter on dollar reserves the market may be seeing some squaring of positions in the eve of round 1 of this weeks data load. Tomorrow will print Q3 GDP-pre (3.7% E), chain deflator-pre (1.3% E), consumer confidence (94.5 E), and Chicago PMI (59.0 E) (The PMI release had a little trouble last go around, Oct 29, when their new system backfired, we expect the issues have been ironed out.) 3:07PM Kronos vacillating near last wk/previous Nov high at 50.77 (KRON) 50.75 +0.84: -- Technical -- Next resistance on a sustained breach is at the Oct/52-wk high of 51.23. 2:53PM PalmSource, Acer reach $2.6 mln settlement (PSRC) 16.88 +0.68: On November 23, 2004, PSRC and its subsidiary, along with PLMO and its subsidiary, entered into a Mutual Release and Settlement Agreement with Acer, Inc, in full and final settlement of litigation between the parties involving a certain software license agreement. The agreement provides for a settlement payment by Acer to PSRC in the amount of $2.6 mln and for mutual releases. 2:49PM Orphan Medical issues Xyrem prescriptions and sNDA updates; reaffirms Y04 revs guidance (ORPH) 9.90 +0.75: Co announced that the total number of Xyrem oral solution prescriptions filled in the six-week period ended 11/15 was 4,374. Co reaffirmed its 2004 total revs guidance of $23 to $24 mln, Reuters consensus is $24 mln, including $10.5-11.0 mln in revenue from Xyrem, the first and only approved treatment for cataplexy associated with narcolepsy. Co also announced that its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) filing to expand the Xyrem label to encompass improvement in the other primary symptoms of narcolepsy is expected to be submitted to the FDA in late December or January. 2:40PM Unusual Volume Movers on No News: LGVN, NGPS, ASTT, SSPI, ECOL : The following stocks are already showing volume above average total daily volume in the just the first five hours of trading: LGVN (2.16 +0.47, +27.7%, 42.6x avg daily vol), NGPS (25.91 +2.76, +11.9%, 10x), ASTT (1.65 +0.11, +7.1%, 4.1x), SSPI (2.57 +0.25, +10.9%, 3.9x), ECOL (12.00 +0.81, +7.2%, 3.6x). 2:39PM Afternoon Wrap : Holiday sales data figures provided a boost off the open with all the averages except for the Dow and S&P 500 setting new highs for the month. The market failed to build on the early momentum with profit taking weighing through much of the morning. The market has, however, worked steadily off the lows this afternoon led by the small-cap Russell 2000 0.6% and Nasdaq Comp 0.35%. Computer-Hardware 1.7% (AAPL 6.3%) tops the sector winners with modest gains in Disk Drive 1%, Healthcare 0.8%, Drug 0.6% and Telecom 0.5%. Housing -2.1%, energy (Oil Service -1.1%, Natural Gas -1%) and utility -0.8% are the weakest sectors. 2:22PM EW Scripps amends SEC filing to de-register 7 mln unsold shares (SSP) 47.08 +0.25: 2:13PM Strong/Weak Groups : Strong Groups: Gold +0.86%, Computer Hardware +0.81%, Insurance Brokers +0.77%, Home Furnishings +0.75%... Weak Groups: Homebuilding -3.6%, Supercenters -3.6%, Building Products -2.2%, Dept Stores -2%, Apparel Retailers -1.75%, Oil/Gas Refiners -1.75%, Utilities -1.5%, Oil Services -1.4%. 1:55PM S&P 500 Winners/Losers : S&P Winners: PWER +6.4%, AAPL +6.2%, GTW +3.7%, WIN +3.7%, CFC +3.3%... S&P Losers: EP -6.1%, AES -3.9%, WMT -3.6%, PHM -3.6%, CTX -3.4% 1:41PM Nanogen subsidiary SynX granted European patent for stroke diagnostic (NGEN) 4.17 +0.23: 1:17PM Sirius Satellite to cover NCAA March Madness (SIRI) 6.60 +0.09: -- Update -- Co announced a multi-year agreement to broadcast every game of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championships. The 2005 championship begins with the opening round game on March 15 and concludes with the championship game on April 4. All games from every round will be offered to SIRIUS subscribers in their entirety, with no blackouts and at no extra charge over the basic monthly subscription price of $12.95. 12:49PM ABXA.OB awarded $5.1 mln contract by U.S. Postal Service to manage an air network during the holiday season 7.59 +0.14: 12:44PM Point Gainers List : Leading the way on a point basis thus far are: CAAS +7.49, AAPL +3.57, INFY +3.30, NGPS +2.98, KCI +2.95, OSTK +2.30, PARL +2.02, BITS +1.86, IPAR +1.84, GIVN +1.67, AET +1.47, SGTL +1.43, RMBS +1.42, XXIA +1.42, ICBC +1.28, APII +1.27, AMX +1.14, TASR +1.09, CFC +1.02, DNA +1.00. 12:40PM Point Losers List: Homebuilders pace the way : Issues topping the list of point losers today include: KMRT -4.89, BZH -4.69, RYL -3.63, CME -3.28, INCX -2.84, KBH -2.79, TK -2.58, GLNG -2.21, PHM -2.07, UTHR -2.05, HAR -2.03, IMCL -1.99, TOL -1.96, SPF -1.92, RTH -1.87, S -1.77, CTX -1.77. 12:28PM Imclone turns south after Genentech reports favorable results for Avastin cancer treatment (IMCL) 40.00 -2.78: 12:28PM Ukraine president Leonid Kuchma has backed new elections as a way out of the poll fraud dispute-- BBC : 12:27PM Modest pressure amid mixed volume : The market opened on a firmer note with the small- and mid-cap averages as well as the Nasdaq indices (Comp, 100) establishing new highs for the month. The momentum began to fade in the first half hour with more aggressive profit taking noted in late morning trade. Sectors leading the way lower today include: Housing -2.6%, Oil Service -1.9%, Natural Gas -1.8%, Oil -1.1%, Retail -1.3% (WMT -3.5%) and Utility -1.2%. Modest gain in Computer-Hardware +0.7% (AAPL +4.8%) with minor upticks in Drug and Telecom. Volume is mixed with the NYSE (653 mln) running below average while the Nasdaq (954 mln) is currently on pace to come in slightly above average. 12:26PM Genentech Phase III Results Show Avastin Plus FOLFOX4 Chemotherapy Significantly Extend Survival in Second-Line Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (DNA) 48.75 +0.03: -- Update -- Genentech (DNA) and Roche (SWX Zurich) announced that a randomized Phase III study of Avastin plus the FOLFOX4 chemotherapy regimen, compared to FOLFOX4 alone, in second-line metastatic colorectal cancer patients achieved its primary endpoint of improving overall survival. A preliminary assessment of the safety profile suggested that Avastin could be combined safely with FOLFOX4 and adverse events observed in this study were consistent with other clinical trials in which Avastin was combined with chemotherapy. 12:13PM Otter Tail Corp announces 2.75 mln share offering (OTTR) 26.53 -0.35: 12:10PM Cablevision awards LMT contract for 5 A2100 satellites (CVC) 21.46 -0.29: LMT has been awarded a contract by Rainbow DBS Company LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC), to build its next five geostationary telecommunications satellites. The satellites will provide direct broadcast services across the continental U.S.. In addition, the most western satellites will provide service to Alaska and Hawaii. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. 12:05PM Sun Microsystems to acquire privately-held SevenSpace (SUNW) 5.30 +0.04: Co announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire SevenSpace, a privately-held company based in Ashburn, Va. SevenSpace will broaden Sun's Managed Services offerings to include heterogeneous environments, adding support for Hewlett-Packard's legacy HP-UX and IBM's AIX systems, along with Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Sun will acquire SevenSpace in an all cash transaction. The acquisition is expected to close by Q3 of Sun's 2005 fiscal year, ending March 27, 2005. 12:03PM Genentech halted, news pending (DNA) : 12:02PM Treasuries Beat-down on Dollar Decline : The market has lost traction due to sellers deciding that a) foreign central banks may continue to forgo intervention in the face of a "controlled" dollar decline; b) the lack of dollar buying (and tanking buck) may result in lowered interest from said banks in US securities; c) light participation due to year-end inactivity may exaggerate price swings; d) concerns that Friday's jobs number may come in in line with bumped-up expectations; e) the seeming illogical rally that gripped the market last week in the face of economically positive news had to end. Treasuries have rebounded from their lows but remain under pressure as foreign CB chatter out of China and Indonesia weighs. On Friday, China Business News said they had cut holdings of US debt. Since these comments, the 10-yr yield has carved out a 15.4bp range and the 30-yr a 15.3 bp range. The unwinding of flattening trades has also helped weigh on the market as traders square-up ahead of Friday's jobs report (expected to print a hefty 180K) and year-end. PIMCO's Gross is urging investors to buy TIPS and EuroZone government bonds in response to the dollar weakening. According to Merrill Lynch indexes, 10-yr German bunds have returned 5.7% this year (including reinvested interest), while US 10-yrs have returned 1.57%. The euro has pushed higher to 1.3284 after tagging a low of 1.3229 early in the NY session, while the yen has strengthened to 102.58 from a NY open of 102.88. 12:01PM Roper Inds announces public offering of 4.1 mln shares of common stock (ROP) 62.24 +0.33: 11:43AM UGHO.OB announces Cobra Stunlight sales program for law enforcement 1.50 +0.19: Universal Guardian Holdings (UGHO.OB) announces that Shield Defense International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Guardian in response to numerous inquiries from domestic and international military and law enforcement agencies, has introduced a worldwide sales program for orders of its new Cobra StunLight. Orders for the Cobra StunLight placed before January 31, 2005 for shipment prior to March 31, 2005 will be eligible for the early placement program. The program is specifically designed to meet the needs of law enforcement agency budget cycles. 11:43AM NewsWeek cover story on memory drugs: MEMY, COR (MEMY) : The cover story on this week's edition of NewsWeek highlights advances in drugs that improve memory. Nobel laureate Eric Kandel and others are studying sea snails to make sense of how memory works on the biochemical level. The goal is to develop drugs that may someday ward off the forgetfulness that plagues so many people as they grow older especially as Americans' average age creeps upward. Because the snails have such large neurons, and so few of them, Kandel was able to identify the individual nerve cells responsible for specific behaviors. The practical results of this work, as well as extensive follow-up tests in mice and rats, are several new drugs now in early development at Memory Pharmaceuticals (MEMY 6.22 +0.10), founded in part by Kandel. The article goes on to list other companies doing memory research including Cortex Pharma (COR 2.35 -0.03), one of the oldest memory-booster firms. COR is focusing on molecules called ampakines, which modulate "AMPA receptors" in the brain that can strengthen the synapses. 11:41AM 50 Day-Alert -- Vimpel Comms (VIP) 37.95 -1.27: -- Technical -- Stock moves to fresh session low, hovering modestly above 50 day exp/simple averages at 37.74 amid above average volume -- session low 37.95. (click for chart) 11:31AM Kellogg announces James Jenness to succeed Carlos Gutierrez as CEO, reaffirms Y04 and Y05 guidance (K) 43.91 -1.10: -- Update -- Co announced that CEO Carlos Gutierrez has accepted the invitation of President Bush to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Commerce. The nomination is subject to U.S. Senate confirmation. At a special meeting of K's Board of Directors, the board accepted Gutierrez' resignation as chairman of the board and C.E.O. effective upon confirmation and swearing in to office. The Kellogg board then elected James M. Jenness, as co's C.E.O. and chairman, subject to Mr. Gutierrez' confirmation and swearing in to office. Mr. Jenness has served as a member of K's Board of Directors since July 2000. Mr. Jenness most recently served as C.E.O. of Integrated Merchandising Systems LLC. The company reaffirmed its 2004 earnings outlook of $2.11 - $2.13, Reuters consensus is $2.17 and its 2005 earnings outlook of $2.28 - $2.32 per share, Reuters consensus is $2.38. 11:17AM Dow pulls back 55 points over last 10 minutes : 11:13AM Semiconductors Hldrs Trust slips back into the red after early failure at 200 day ema (SMH) 33.13 -0.12: -- Technical -- The sector ETF tested its recent range top/200 day ema resistance in opening action (33.83/33.88-- session high 33.81) and faltered with it recently slipping into negative territory. Important short term support is at 33.06/33.05 (last week's low and 20 day exp avg). (click for chart) 11:12AM Action Products Int'l raises Holiday-season sales estimate (APII) 2.90 +0.80: Designer of of educational and positive, non-violent branded toys for pre-school children through pre-teens, today announced that due to continuing strong demand for all of its brands, the company is seeing an increase of 80+ % in November sales. Management attributes the performance to improved order fill, a larger number of retail outlets, as well as increasing consumer acceptance demonstrated by increasing "same store" sales. 10:23AM Mike Tarsala's TechWatch Alert -- RMBS (RMBS) 24.34 +2.17: Analysts we reached this morning say that Rambus is very likely to benefit from the Cell processor announced today by Sony (SNE), IBM (IBM) and Toshiba (TOSBF). Of note, Rambus announced back in January 2003 that it had licensed its XDR memory and its Redwood high-speed parallel interface (its Yellowstone and Redwood technologies) to Sony and Toshiba. While IBM was NOT MENTIONED in that 2003 release, Big Blue is known for having a strict approval process when its name appears in other company's press releases. Another company analysts have mentioned as possible benefactor from the Cell processor, which is expected to go toe-to-toe with Intel in the home entertainment (specifically the multimedia living room) could be graphics-processor maker Nvidia (NVDA) -- although none of the analysts offered any specific proof. More details on the Cell processor are expected to be announced at the International Solid State Circuits Conference, which is scheduled to begin on Feb. 6 in San Francisco. 10:21AM Dow Winners/Losers : Dow Winners: IBM +1.4%, PFE +1.3%, MRK +1.0%, MSFT +1.0%, VZ +1.0%... Dow Losers: WMT -3.2%, HD -0.8%, MO -0.8%, CAT -0.8%, C -0.7% 10:11AM Nasdaq Composite sets minor new 10 month high then pauses (COMPX) 2107.71 +5.74: The index pushed higher out of the starting gate and breached the mid-month high at 2112 before stalling just shy of resistance mentioned in The Technical Take at 2119/2122 (session high 2117.89). Initial support is at 2103/2101 with secondary barriers at 2096/2095 and 2090/2088. 10:04AM Thor Industries beats by $0.03 (THO) 33.90 -0.23: Reports Q1 (Oct) earnings of $0.61 per share, $0.03 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.58; revenues rose 29.0% year/year to $632.7 mln vs the $613.9 mln consensus. 9:52AM AEXCA gaps higher on favorable Sony patent settlement : Ampex Corp (OTCBB:AEXCA 5.90 +1.85, +45%) shares trading up today after co announced that it has reached a settlement with Sony Corporation (SNE) whereby Ampex will withdraw the patent litigation it initiated in July 2004 in the International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware relating to digital still cameras manufactured and sold by Sony. Under the terms of the settlement, Sony will be licensed under several Ampex patents to manufacture and sell various products, including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras. In return for a payment of $40.0 mln, Sony will be permitted to use Ampex patents in any of its products for the period through April 2006. After that time, the licenses provide for running royalties based on sales of products including digital video tape recorders and digital still cameras to the extent that they utilize Ampex patents. 9:46AM AstraZeneca: Nexuim receives FDA approval for reduced risk of stomach ulcer development among NSAID users (AZN) 40.00 +0.40: 9:44AM Storage Tech gaps higher, testing resistance at June/July and Mid-Nov high (STK) 28.97 +0.42: -- Technical -- The stock is modestly firmer after gapping higher off the open. It is currently approaching resistance at its June/July and Mid-Nov high at 29/29.05 with a breach exposing the Nov/8 month high at 29.20. 9:35AM Analog Devices holds on initial test of support at Nov low of 38.32 (ADI) 38.51 -0.19: -- Update -- -- Technical -- Stock on defensive after early downgrade (see 08:10 update) but it has held at support at its Nov low 0f 38.32 on the initial test. 9:31AM Neilsen/Net Ratings reports online shopping jumps 11% y/y : Nielsen//NetRatings reported that online shopping jumped 11% y/y in unique shoppers the day after Thanksgiving in 2004. The day saw the highest number of online shoppers tracked by the Index thus far during holiday season 2004, with 26% more shoppers, or 13.3 mln people, visiting online stores on 11/26 than the previous Friday, 11/19. "Even diehard holiday shoppers that weather the Black Friday crowds at sunrise know to research the Web for product selection and price comparisons before heading out to the mall," said Ken Cassar of Nielsen//NetRatings. eBay led the top online shopping destinations the day after Thanksgiving with 5.4 mln unique audience; rounding out the Top 10: AMZN 2.6 million, WMT 1.4 mln; TGT 923K, BBY 847K, YHOO 818K, SHOP 702K, OSTK 675K, S 645K, TOY 642K. The day after Thanksgiving saw Toys and Video Games taking the largest jump, growing 152% in visitors at home as compared to the previous Friday, according to the Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday eShopping Index. Consumer Electronics spiked 94% in traffic, while Shopping Comparison/Portals rose 75%. Computer Hardware/Software and Books/Music/Video rose 54% and 50%, respectively. 9:31AM Royal Group CEO and CFO fired for cause due to undisclosed related party transaction in 1998 (RYG) 8.50: Neither Douglas Dunsmuir, Royal's CEO and president, nor Ron Goegan, CFO, are to receive severance. Royal's special committee also dismisses Vic De Zen as chairman. The dismissals came after an investigation into a land sale by the CEO and chairman, facilitated by the CFO, on which the individuals involved received a profit; the special committee said the sale was not disclosed to the board. Royal appoints James Sardo as Interim President and CEO, and Robert Lamoureux as Interim CFO. 9:27AM Arotech announces $4 mln in orders for armored vehicles (ARTX) 1.70: 9:26AM Overstock.com reports strong consumer shopping over Thanksgiving holiday weekend (OSTK) 65.60: -- Update -- Co reported a strong start to the holiday shopping season. During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend the number of visitors jumped 31% compared to the previous weekend. Moreover, the day after Thanksgiving was the biggest sales day in co's history. President Patrick Byrne added, "Investors and industry watchers always ask us for information about the Thanksgiving weekend to help them gauge how the holiday season is shaping up. Given the volatile relationship between Thanksgiving weekend sales and the quarter as a whole, there is a high risk of reckless extrapolation: thus from this year forward, we will provide less detail with regard to year-over-year sales growth. This is not intended as a veiled warning, and I remain cautiously optimistic about our progress this quarter against plan". 9:24AM Syngenta settles patent infringement lawsuit with DuPont (SYT) 21.39: 9:21AM Ivanhoe Mines discovers important new gold-copper porphyry district in southern Mongolia (HUGO) 7.15: 9:20AM ADA-ES selected to work on additional mercury control projects (ADES) 25.25: Co announces that it has been selected by the US Dept of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to perform additional full-scale field tests of sorbent-based mercury control technology for coal-fired power plants. Co expects to recognize $1-$2 million in annual revs from this contract during 2005-2007. 9:16AM S&P futures vs fair value: +2.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.0. 9:12AM Enterasys and Siemens expand worldwide partnership (ETS) 1.87: 9:08AM Gapping Down : WMT -2.4% (OpCo downgrade after disappointing Thanksgiving weekend sales), GLNG -7.8% (profit taking after 7.5% move on Friday), EP -3.4% (JP Morgan downgrade), CRXL -2.9%, AUDC -2.1% (Barron's article). 9:01AM Gapping Up : AAPL +5.6% (tgt raised to $77 from $66 at UBS, estimates and targets raised at Merrill and BofA), CAAS +64% (selected as exclusive supplier for steering pumps for GM Joint Venture in China), MBAY +32% (CNBC mention), PWER +11.2%, OMM +8.6% (guides above consensus), SUPG +5.6% (receives 90 day extension of FDA review date for Orathecin NDA), GIVN +5% (gets marketing OK from FDA), PLAY +4.9% (in sympathy with AAPL), OSTK +4.7% (tgt raised to $78 from $69 at Legg Mason), FRX +4.6% (gets FDA approval), SIRI +3.5%, TASR +2.3% (ad blitz touts consumer stun gun -- The Arizona Republic).... Recent momentum favorites keep moving: LMIA +7.9%, EWEB +6.4%, BOOM +6.2%, AKS +5.8%, SHOP +5.2%, PACT +4.7%, GOAM +4.6% Under $3: ARTG +20% (selected by AEOS), FONR +12%, ECGI +11% (positive business update), STXN +10% (Needham upgrade), NENG +5.6%. 9:00AM S&P futures vs fair value: +2.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +10.0. : Expectations remain set for a higher open, with optimism surrounding early holiday sales, solid gains in overseas markets, and the lack of terrorism during the holiday contributing to the bullish bias....Separately, AAPL will be a stock on the move today as no fewer than three firms have raised EPS estimates and/or price targets for the company 8:47AM UnitedHealth Group announces acqusition of Definity Health (UNH) 83.88: UNH has entered into an agreement to acquire Definity Health, a private, Minneapolis-based co that provides health benefits. Definity estimates it will serve nearly 500,000 consumers in January 2005. UNH has recently projected that its existing companies would serve 2 mln people with a variety of consumer products in January 2005, including 850K individuals with various types of health-related financial accounts. Following the acquisition of Definity Health, this will increase to 2.5 mln people, with more than 1.3 mln utilizing these financial systems. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Definity Health shareholders will receive approx $300 mln in cash for their shares. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 of 2004, subject to FTC approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. Definity Health projects 2005 revenues of approx $100 mln and is currently profitable. The merger will be slightly accretive to UNH earnings per share. 8:39AM Inter Parfums guides Y05 EPS and revs above consensus (IPAR) 14.93: Co sees Y05 EPS of approx $0.77 and revs of $280 mln, Reuters consensus is $0.75 and $270 mln. 8:33AM Implant Sciences announces first order for QS explosive detectors (IMX) 10.06: Co announces the signing of an agreement between Amroha Engineering and the Pakistan Airport Security Force for the sale of its Quantum Sniffer explosives detection devices. 8:30AM S&P futures vs fair value: +4.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +13.5. Still shaping up to be a higher open for the cash market as upbeat sentiment in futures market remains intact... Strength overseas has also contributed to this morning's bullish bias... the Nikkei closed up 1.3% as the U.S. dollar recovered some ground against the yen while the FTSE is higher on better-than-anticipated November consumer confidence data. 8:27AM Borg Warner awarded new transfer case business (BWA) 51.36: Co has been awarded a major new-business contract to supply its most advanced 4WD system to a North American OEM. Co says "This is the most advanced Torque-On-Demand transfer case system BorgWarner has produced to date." In addition to better handling and performance, the system provides more refined tuning, less noise, vibration and harshness, less drag, and improved fuel economy. 8:25AM Quest Diagnostics reiterates Q4 guidance (DGX) 92.12: Co announced that Robert A. Hagemann, Senior VP and CFO, is scheduled to speak at the Merrill Lynch Health Services Investor Conference on Tuesday, 11/30. During the conference the co will reiterate its Q4 2004 guidance of approximately 6% revenue growth, operating income between 17% and 18% of revenues, and EPS between $1.18-1.23 before a required change in the accounting for the co's contingent convertible debentures, Reuters consensus is $1 |
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