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Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Midday Market View(TM) for Thursday, May 24, 2001 as of 1:00PM EDT Information provided by Standard & Poor's ================================================================ U.S. INDICES (1:00p.m. EDT) ---------------------------------- Market Value Change DJIA 11,053.33 - 51.92 Nasdaq Comp. 2,239.85 - 3.63 S&P 500 1,282.16 - 6.89 ---------------------------------- NYSE Advancing Issues 1,295 NYSE Declining Issues 1,608 NYSE Trading Volume 662 mln NASDAQ Advancing Issues 1,676 NASDAQ Declining Issues 1,764 NASDAQ Trading Volume 943 mln ================================== U.S. TREASURIES ---------------------------------- Value Yield Change 1-year bill 3.65% n/a 5-year note 4.93% unch 10-year note 5.40% - 2/32 30-year bond 5.79% - 5/32 The tables above look best when viewed in a fixed-width font, such as "Courier." ================================================================ U.S. TRADING SUMMARY The U.S. headline indexes have been hit with a variety of data and events, but there has been little net change in the major bourses as trading remains volatile. Senator James Jeffords announced his defection from the Republican Party, but stated that he would not disrupt President Bush's tax package. Some investors had feared that Jeffords' defection would put the tax package at risk. Meanwhile, economic data pointed to further erosion in the labor market and suggested that the best conditions in the housing sector may be in the past. But while signs of economic weakness are not encouraging for the corporate profit outlook, the news did buoy traders' optimism that the Federal Reserve will further cut interest rates next month. Overall, the host of conflicting factors has made it difficult for stocks to find a direction. ---------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. TREASURY SUMMARY The bond has continued to under-perform the other maturities as traders buy shorter-term issues believing the Federal Reserve will once again lower interest rates at its June meeting. Indeed, financial contracts that are based on the expected policy actions of the Fed at upcoming policy meetings are now indicating a 70% probability that the Fed will ease interest rates another 25 basis points. The probability moved higher after the weaker-than-expected home sales data and the larger-than-anticipated rise in weekly initial jobless claims seen this morning. Both data releases continued to show the economy as weak and vulnerable to further erosion, something the Fed has suggested it wishes to arrest as quickly as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------- CURRENCY SUMMARY The value of the U.S. dollar in relation to the yen and the euro has changed little from morning levels as traders continue to access Wednesday's sharp moves by both pairs. At midday, the greenback was trading around 0.857 dollars per euro and at about 120.1 yen. ---------------------------------------------------------------- MAJOR COMPANY / INDUSTRY NEWS (All prices as of 1:05 p.m. EDT) ** Echostar (DISH: 33.15, - 0.88), the second-biggest U.S. satellite broadcaster, is putting the finishing touches on a merger proposal to acquire Hughes Electronics (GMH: 24.57, + 0.82), according to The Wall Street Journal. This would one-up the long pending and sometimes contentious negotiations between Hughes and Rupert Murdoch's Australia-based News Corp. (NWS: 36.37, - 0.86). If General Motors (GM: 56.29, + 1.11), the parent and owner of 30% of Hughes Electronics, decides to entertain Echostar's proposal, the merger would set the stage for a major test at both the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department over how each will deal with complex telecommunications antitrust issues. A combined Echostar/Hughes Electronics titan would dominate satellite broadcasting in the U.S. with about 15 million subscribers. ** American Airlines (AMR: 37.94, - 0.61) announced on Thursday that it has agreed to enter into binding arbitration with federal mediators after talks with its flight attendants union broke down. The current mediation board just declared that three days of talks had come to a head and no further progress could be made. The flight attendants union has agreed to call a crippling strike if deemed necessary as the contract talks have been ongoing for about two years without a settlement. While some progress had been made in the latest negotiations, basic economic issues such as minimum pay, salaries and life/health insurance benefits remain sticking points. ** ConAgra (CAG: 20.01, - 0.60) announced on Thursday that it will issue downwardly revised financial statements for the past three years after an internal audit uncovered accounting irregularities. The effect of the revisions will be to lower earnings for 1998 through 2000. However, the current fiscal year's earnings will be restated higher. ConAgra is the nation's second-largest food producer and owns such brands as Healthy Choice, Butterball and Armour. ---------------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS ** A.G. Edwards upgraded shares of Franklin Resources (BEN: 44.85, - 0.15) from an accumulate to a buy rating. ** BMO Nesbitt Burns upgraded shares of Datamirror Corp. (DMCX: 3.87, - 0.13) from an underperformer to a market performer rating. ** C.L. King upgraded shares of Elizabeth Arden (RDEN: 25.12, + 0.12) to a strong 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. 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