Techs, Nets Post Strong Gains
Technology and Internet stocks posted strong gains Friday in light post-holiday trading. More rulings going against the Gore campaign in Florida boosted traders' hopes that the presidential election could soon be decided.
The ISDEX
Only three of 50 ISDEX stocks finished the day lower. eToys
About the only sector showing any weakness was cable equipment providers, which fell on news that AT&T Broadband is suspending equipment sales due to its year-end budget-balancing process. ANTEC
Internet Capital Group
Openwave
i2
eBenX
Some technical comments on the market: Note: We are now including charts in the technical market commentary. If you can't get the charts via the e-mail newsletter version, try this link: http://www.afterhourstrading.com/column.html
A nice recovery today, but on very light volume. We'll wait for Monday to see if it's for real. A lot of major technical damage has been done to the market, and it's not going to correct in one trading day. The Nasdaq may be forming a falling wedge here, a sign that sellers could be running out of steam. A break above that upper trendline (first chart) at about 3925-3950 could mean that the bottom is in. Again, advances out of falling wedges tend to be slow ones. It is a plus that the Nasdaq quickly recovered above the large trendline marking the start of its top two years ago (second chart).
surged 35 to 460, and the Nasdaq soared 148 to 2904. The S&P 500 gained 19 to 1341, and the Dow added 70 to 10,470. Volume dried up to 405 million shares on the NYSE and 804 million shares on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by 18 to 7 on the NYSE and 24 to 10 on the Nasdaq. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar and reported earnings. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site.
led to the upside, soaring 1/2 to 1 3/4 as the holiday shopping season began. Amazon.com
rose 3 11/16 to 28 7/8 despite its site being down temporarily during the day.
dropped 2 1/4 to 8 3/4, Scientific
Atlanta fell 2 1/4 to 49 3/16, and Commscope
plummeted 5 3/4 to 18 1/8.
rose 1 31/32 to 8 1/32 after adopting a shareholder rights plan, which is triggered when someone tries to buy at least 15% of the company's stock.
recouped 12 1/8 to 64 7/16 on a W.R. Hambrecht Strong Buy rating.
rose 5 3/8 to 112 despite the resignation of COO Robert Evans. Gruntal & Co. said the resignation means that the Aspect Development integration is successful. Commerce One
soared 7 to 39 5/8, and Ariba
bolted 10 3/8 to 78 1/2. Ariba could face resistance at 83 1/2; a close 3% above that level would be a real plus. PurchasePro
soared 4 1/4 to 16 1/2.
rose 3/16 to 8 5/8 after the second-largest benefits outsourcer, CitiStreet, announced it will use eBenX Benefit Exchange services.