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Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Midday Market View(TM) for Tuesday, July 31, 2001 as of 1:00PM EDT Information provided by Standard & Poor's ================================================================ U.S. INDICES (1:00 p.m. EDT) ---------------------------------- Market Value Change DJIA 10,546.40 + 144.70 Nasdaq Comp. 2,050.20 + 32.36 S&P 500 1,219.36 + 14.84 ---------------------------------- NYSE Advancing Issues 1,977 NYSE Declining Issues 1,032 NYSE Trading Volume 584 mln NASDAQ Advancing Issues 1,992 NASDAQ Declining Issues 1,473 NASDAQ Trading Volume 854 mln ================================== U.S. TREASURIES ---------------------------------- Value Yield Change 1-year bill 3.40% n/a 5-year note 4.50% + 6/32 10-year note 5.03% + 6/32 30-year bond 5.50% + 3/32 The tables above look best when viewed in a fixed-width font, such as "Courier." ================================================================ U.S. TRADING SUMMARY Equities didn't flinch at the weak U.S. economic data released this morning as the major averages hovered around opening levels and took the news in stride. The headline indexes quickly moved higher and extended their gains ahead of the noon hour before some consolidation set in. The broad-based rally saw the Dow initially taking the lead, then handing the ball off to the tech-heavy NASDAQ, which shot higher by about 1.8% at midday. On the technical front, resistance for the NASDAQ lies at its 50-day moving average of 2,097. Outperforming industries in the S&P 500 included the drug, financial, health care, semiconductor and computer software/system industries. The oil, electric and railroad sectors were under-performing. ---------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. TREASURY SUMMARY Treasuries were higher by midday as a slew of weak data helped bolster investor confidence that the slowing economy would spur the Fed to again lower interest rates. Indeed, the whole yield curve was in the green by midday with the short end outperforming its longer-term counterparts, even though stocks were enjoying a strong rally of their own. Data on both consumer confidence and a regional measure of manufacturing activity showed much larger-than-expected declines, which bode poorly for the economy and suggested that activity in manufacturing may not have hit bottom yet. The data suggested to some that the Fed may have to be more aggressive than previously thought. Others, however, felt that the data was weak, but would just add to the Fed's resolve to continue on its expected path of cutting interest rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting in August. ---------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENCY SUMMARY Talk is circulating that the Brazilian Central Bank has been behind the dollar's rally back to 125 yen from 124.6 yen. The bank floated a 200 billion yen ($1.6 billion) bond issue today and the speculation is that the bank has sold the yen proceeds to buy dollars. Elsewhere, euro bulls have been frustrated by the lack of follow-through buying on the weak U.S. data offering. The euro briefly touched 0.878 dollars per euro, but has since sunk below the 0.875 level. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MAJOR COMPANY / INDUSTRY NEWS (All prices as of 1:05 p.m. EDT) ** DirecTV, a unit of General Motors' (GM: 63.98, + 1.08) Hughes Corp. (GMH: 19.32, + 0.02) division, is preparing to sue about 1 million people who are pirating DirecTV's signal using unauthorized access cards and equipment, according to The Wall Street Journal. DirecTV wants damages from the illegal users and has shifted its focus from the distributors of the equipment to the many who use it. As many as 100,000 names and addresses were collected from searches of alleged illegal equipment operators. DirecTV has sent strongly worded mailings to the individuals suspected of pirating the digital signals. ** Large utility firm Entergy (ETR: 37.54, + 0.25) reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street's recently raised estimates. The company reported earning almost $239 million, or $1.06 per share, versus roughly $224 million, or $0.98 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had the company pegged to earn $0.95 on average. Strong profits from its nuclear power and energy trading divisions helped boost earnings. ** Online brokerage firm Ameritrade Holdings (AMTD: 6.41, + 0.50) agreed on Tuesday to acquire rival firm National Discount Brokers Group, which is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG. The price tag was $154 million in an all-stock deal in which Ameritrade will issue between 21 million and 32 million shares to finance the deal. When the deal is finally complete, National Discount Brokers will own between 10% and 14% of Ameritrade's stock. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS ** Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX: 10.73, + 0.23) from a market outperformer to their U.S. recommended list. ** Salomon Smith Barney upgraded shares of Express Scripts (ESRX: 58.00, + 0.96) from an outperform to a buy rating. ** A.G. Edwards upgraded shares of DST Systems (DST: 47.02, + 0.57) from an accumulate to a buy rating. ################################################################ Log in using the links below to: Access your account: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=CCBodyi&NeedCASelValue=Y View your Email Alert customization options: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=EAMyAlerts Perform research or request a market quote: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=Quotes Place a trade order: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=TradeStock To visit Schwab's home page, use this link: http://www.schwab.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe or modify your Email Alert customization options, log in using the link below or copy and paste it into your browser's address window: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=EAMyAlerts Now you can receive graphics Email Alerts in HTML format, using helpful, full-color graphics and active Web links that connect you directly to information you want. Use the link below to log in and change your email format preference: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=EAEditEmailAddr ---------------------------------------------------------------- Notice: All email sent to or from the Charles Schwab corporate email system may be retained, monitored and/or reviewed by Schwab personnel. (1000-8752) Copyright 2001 Standard & Poor's MMS Inc. All rights reserved. Standard & Poor's MMS services are for personal use only. Commercial use or redistribution in any form, print or electronic, is prohibited. Distribution by Quris, Inc.
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