Market Ends The Week Lower

March 23, 2002

Stocks ended the week on a down note on Friday, led lower by oil stocks and concern about growing trade protectionism.

The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose less than a point to 164, and the Nasdaq fell 17 to 1851. The S&P 500 lost 4 to 1148, and the Dow declined 52 to 10,427. Volume declined to 1.17 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.5 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 18 to 13 on the NYSE, and 20 to 15 on the Nasdaq.

Micron slipped 2% after missing revenue estimates.

Applied Materials slipped 1% after declaring a 2-for-1 stock split. At a PE of 141, it’s a bargain next to Intel , which sports a PE of 169.

Palm surged 22% after beating estimates, and 3Com was flat despite missing revenue estimates.

Overture fell 6% after the company announced only a temporary contract extension with AOL .

LookSmart continued its remarkable rebound, up 33% to a new 52-week high of 3.34.

Cisco and other networkers edged higher ahead of a conference call by influential analyst Paul Sagawa on Monday.

Some technical comments on the market: Note: To see the charts in the text email newsletter, click on the internetstockreport.com story link at the top of the newsletter.

The Nasdaq (first chart) could not break out today; we’ll continue to keep 1865 as the level to beat, since today’s action may have the effect of raising that upper channel line. Above that, the whole 1875-1910 area looks tough. To the downside, 1848 is first support, then 1825-1830 and 1793-1805. The Dow (second chart) continues to trade at the lower end of a two-week trading range. Support is 10,425, 10,382, 10,350, 10,330 10,300 and 10,250, and resistance is 10,550. The S&P (third chart and fourth charts) closed back below an important weekly trendline. Also, the last three weekly candlesticks formed an imperfect bearish evening star, which could indicate more downside ahead. Support is 1138-1142 and 1125, and resistance is 1150, 1160 and 1170-1180. In one sign of complacency, the VIX (fifth chart) continues to hit new lows without a higher high in the S&P. If the April rally comes, the phrase “Sell in May and go away” could take on extra meaning again this year.