Go2Net posted blow-out earnings after the bell on Monday, continuing a string of stellar earnings reports from Internet bellwethers. Blue chip stocks lagged Internet and technology shares in Monday’s trading session, as traders awaited the Consumer Price Index and earnings reports from Microsoft and Intel on Tuesday.
The ISDEX rose 11 to 837, and the Nasdaq gained 28 to 4274. The S&P 500 added half a point to 1510 and the Dow declined 8 to 10,804. Volume declined to 904 million shares on the NYSE and 1.56 billion on the Nasdaq. Declining issues led 15 to 13 on the NYSE, but advancers led 21 to 18 on the Nasdaq. June’s Consumer Price Index will come out tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Analysts expect a 0.4% increase in the CPI and a 0.2% increase in the core number. Microsoft and Intel report earnings after the bell tomorrow. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar and reported earnings. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan delivers his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony on Thursday.
Go2Net posted earnings after the bell of 22 cents a share, seven cents better than estimates and up more than 200% from a year ago. The stock, which rose 4 1/4 to 58 during regular trading, rose another $3 after hours. WebTrends
reported earnings of 7 cents a share, a penny better than expected, and was unchanged at 42 after hours, after gaining 3 1/4 during regular trading.
CareerBuilder.com soared 3 21/32 to 7 25/32 on news that it has agreed to be acquired by KnightRidder.com and the Tribune Company
. Online recruiters moved higher on the news. HotJobs.com
rose 11/16 to 18 1/8, HeadHunter.net
gained 1/2 to 8 1/2, and WebHire
bolted 1 3/8 to 4.
eToys gained 11/16 to 6 3/8 on news that Amazon.com
may be interested in acquiring the company. Fogdog
, up 31/64 to 1 1/2, and Egghead.com
, up 27/32 to 3 3/32, went along for the ride.
Internet infrastructure plays were higher after Corning reported second-quarter earnings of 94 cents a share, beating estimates by 14 cents. Corning rose 12 1/4 to 279 1/4, JDS Uniphase
added 4 3/16 to 115 13/16, New Focus
soared 21 9/16 to 131 13/16, and Avanex
catapulted 34 11/16 to 165 13/16.
VerticalNet soared 10 13/16 to 61 15/16 after Goldman Sachs raised the issue to Recommended List from Outperform and set a $75 price target. Goldman Sachs said the market has yet to recognize the company’s growth or its move into electronic component trading.
Liberate Technologies declined 7/16 to 33 11/16 after trading as high as 42 on news of a $100 million investment from Cisco
and rumors of a potential takeover. The stock also rose Friday on takeover speculation.
BroadVision gained 3 7/16 to 44 3/8 on news of a contract win from E*Trade
. CrossWorlds Software
rose 2 1/4 to 24 1/16 on news of separate alliances with BroadVision and Dow Chemical. E.piphany
gained 2 1/2 to 137 1/2 on news of a contract win from Home Depot
.
Exodus fell 3 7/16 to 51 13/16 on news that a deal to buy Global Crossing’s Web hosting business may fall apart, and that instead Exodus may be talking to Digex
, which soared 17 3/16 to 96.
ebookers.com soared 3 7/32 to 9 23/32 on news that it is seeking $39 million to help it become cash-flow positive.
S1 Corp. gained 3 7/8 to 32 13/16 on news of
an alliance with Unisys.
Ticketmaster Online rose 3 3/16 to 20 3/4 on a Lazard Freres Buy rating and $35 target. Red Hat
rose 3 1/2 to 28 1/2 on a Merrill Lynch Accumulate rating and $31 price target.
Liquid Audio soared 4 to 14 1/2 on news of an alliance with Angelaudio.com
.
Vicinity soared 7 7/8 to 27 1/2 on news of an alliance with Verizon.
Some technical comments on the market: A very interesting afternoon on the S&P 500. The index traded above the upper boundary of its bearish rising wedge, only to pull back in by the close. Upside breakouts of rising wedges are rare but not unheard of. The index is very close to the apex of the wedge, and is likely to break one way or the other in the next day or two. However, if it breaks to the upside, we want to see volume behind the move. Tomorrow could be a pivotal day, with the CPI due out in the morning and Microsoft and Intel reporting after the close. The S&P 500 is a little more than 1% from its closing high of 1527, but quite a ways from its intraday high of 1553. To the downside, a break of the wedge below 1500 could carry the index all the way to 1440. Critical support on the index is at 1380. The Nasdaq’s rising wedge is potentially more troubling, as it appears on the daily and weekly charts and begins at the index’s 3042 bottom in May; a break of this pattern to the downside, below 4000, would imply a rapid return to the 3042 level, and potentially lower. Again, we will wait for the breaks for confirmation. The indexes have moved higher in nice moves as of late, which would appear on the surface to be a positive, but the patterns they are moving in wedges normally do not make for lasting advances, and in fact are characteristic of bear market rallies. The Nasdaq appears to be set up for a run to its 62% retracement level of 4337 (the index reached 4289 today). Recent support on the Nasdaq is in the 3820-3830 range, and key support is at 3725 and 3585, although a break below 4073 would negate the index’s recent breakout. The ISDEX is approaching its 50% retracement level of 845 (it reached 840 today), and a break of 850 resistance would likely carry the index to 880. A break below 790 would negate the ISDEX’s recent breakout. To the downside, 700 has proven strong support; a break of that number could give the index room to 600. The upper and lower boundaries of the Dow’s bearish diamond pattern are 11,000 and 10,200-10,300, respectfully. The index turned back just under 10,850 resistance today (10,847).