Juniper Beats Estimates, But Intel Warns

Juniper Networks blew away earnings estimates after the bell on Tuesday, but Intel guided first quarter estimates down substantially.

The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose less than a point to 388, and the Nasdaq lost 7 to 2618. The S&P 500 rose 8 to 1326, and the Dow surged 127 to 10,652. Volume was unchanged at 1.2 billion shares on the NYSE, and declined to 2.02 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by 17 to 11 on the NYSE, and 24 to 15 on the Nasdaq. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/internet.xpl and reported earnings at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/ireported.xpl. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site at http://www.afterhourstrading.com.

In after hours trading, Intel traded unchanged at 31 1/2 after beating estimates, but guiding first quarter results down 15% sequentially, worse than analysts expected. Juniper rose 3 points to 130 after blowing away earnings revenue estimates. Earnings were 24 cents a share, 6 cents ahead of estimates. Applied Micro rose 3 points to 73 after beating earnings estimates but coming in light on revenues.

During the day, Breakaway Solutions soared 1 1/8 to 2 3/8 after securing additional financing from major shareholder Internet Capital Group , up 15/32 to 5 3/8.

Corvis rose 1 to 24 after the successful implementation of all-optical networking by Williams Communications led to an extension of the companies’ $200 million agreement by an additional $100 million.

Aether Systems climbed 1 13/16 to 39 7/8 on a Banc of America Strong Buy rating.

Intraware surged 31/32 to 3 9/32 after reporting better-than-expected results late Friday and guiding estimates higher.

C-bridge Internet rose 3/16 to 4 3/16 after announcing 14% layoffs, or 100 employees.

I-many soared 2 1/4 to 14 1/8 on an SG Cowen Strong Buy rating and $21 price target.

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

The Nasdaq pulled back on lower volume for the second straight day, a good sign that sellers don’t have the conviction they once had. The Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 continue to trade just under major resistance; a strong gap up in the morning could take out some important resistance, particularly on the Nasdaq. Not sure if tonight’s earnings were strong enough to do that, but several tech stocks are trading higher after hours, a hopeful sign. The Nasdaq squeezed above its September downtrend line (first chart) at 2650 on Friday, only to pull back within it. A close above 2700 would be bullish. Also, the Nasdaq reached the upper trendline of a rising channel (second chart). The lower boundary of that channel is now at about 2375, and would be the maximum downside expected on any pullback.

The Nasdaq 100 may be forming an inverted head and shoulders bottom. But the neckline of that pattern and the index’s September downtrend line both met at about 2600 on Friday, giving the index a little more resistance than it could handle. A close of 2650 on the Nasdaq 100 could carry the Nasdaq indexes to 3000.

The ISDEX continues to hold above its 380-385 breakout level, a good sign for Net stocks, but it needs to close above 400. It turned back Friday at 398.

The S&P 500 appears to be correcting out of a week-old uptrend here. We would expect 1280 support to hold, if the index even gets that low. Critical resistance is the index’s September downtrend line at about 1440.

The Dow held support at the neckline (10,500) of an inverse head-and-shoulders bottom and finally moved higher, taking out 10,600 resistance, the level where the Fed cut interest rates. Critical support on the Dow is 10,300, while a close above 11,007 would confirm a new bull market under Dow Theory.

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