Priceline.com led Net stocks higher during the day – and kept rising after hours after the company topped earnings estimates.
The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ soared 12 to 268, and the Nasdaq surged 52 to 2168. The S&P 500 gained 16 to 1266, and the Dow rose 163 to 10,898. Volume declined to 1.16 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.9 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 18 to 11 on the NYSE, and 23 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.
Priceline soared 1.74 to 6.59 during the day on a Goldman Sachs upgrade, and then rose to 7.40 after hours after beating estimates by 2 cents with a 3-cent loss. The company said it will return to pro forma operating profitability in the second quarter. The company is up 600% off its December 27 low.
Also after the bell, Register.com blew out estimates by 10 cents with 4-cent earnings. GoAmerica
beat estimates by 7 cents with a 34-cent loss. Diamond Cluster
matched estimates with 19-cent earnings, and KPMG Consulting
beat estimates by 9 cents with 34-cent earnings. Loudcloud
announced 19% layoffs after hitting a new high during the day, and CNET
missed estimates.
During the day, the National Association of Purchasing Management survey showed continued economic weakness, but also showed that inflation pressures fell. The unemployment report Friday could show weakness based on the payroll declines in the NAPM report. The House and Senate agreed on a retroactive tax cut, which boosted stocks in the afternoon.
Netegrity fell 1.89 to 38.10, but 5 points off its lows, after beating estimates by 2 cents a share with 10-cent earnings, but predicting flat to lower earnings for the next couple of quarters.
Expedia rose 3.79 to a new 52-week high of 29.80 after matching estimates of 9 cents a share, and guided forward estimates higher. Travelocity
also notched a new 52-week high.
Globespan rose 1.02 to 23.02 after beating estimates by 2 cents with 12-cent earnings. The company lowered forward guidance, but said pricing pressures are decreasing. InterTrust
, off .22 to 3.20, missed by 4 cents with a 20-cent loss.
Brocade rose 5.31 to 43.30 on an ABN Amro Buy rating, and EMC
climbed 2.34 to 41.94.
MicroStrategy surged 1.05 to 5.59 on better than expected results and a predicted return to profitability. Adobe
slipped .87 to 44.05 despite affirming its outlook.
Digital Island , off .41 to 2.06, and Exodus
, down .11 to 9.49, bot announced the departures of chief financial officers.
Ariba gained 1.28 to 9.01 on an expanded alliance with IBM
.
Some technical comments on the market: Note: We include 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
We said the market would likely have an up bias into today, and we got it. Now tomorrow is a potential cycle turn date, so we want to see the market maintain its upward bias over the next two days. The Dow took out its main downtrend line on a closing basis today (first chart), a good sign; now let’s see if the index can close the week above that line. A close above 11,000 would be bullish, while a move below 10,740 would likely end the rally. The Nasdaq (second chart) and the S&P 500 (third chart) are both below their January bottoms and main September downtrend lines, a bearish point for any rally to end. A break of 2252 on the Nasdaq and 1300 on the S&P 500 would be bullish, while a move below 1950 and 1190 would likely signal the end of the rally.
Special report: For a free introduction to technical chart patterns and an overview of last year’s action in the stock market, visit http://www.internetstockreport.com/guest/article/0,1785,2571_500051,00.html.
