The three-month sell-off in Internet and technology stocks continued on Tuesday, as yet another 1-2 day rally failed.
The ISDEX fell 24 to 421, and the Nasdaq lost 84 to 2795. The S&P 500 slipped 1 to 1347, and the Dow rose 29 to 10,575. Volume rose on the NYSE to 445 million shares, but declined on the Nasdaq to 803 million shares. Decliners led by 15 to 10 on the NYSE and 25 to 9 on the Nasdaq. Durable orders and consumer confidence both fell, raising fears of an economic slowdown and hopes for a neutral Fed. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar and reported earnings. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site.
Communications chip companies were dumped after Lehman Brothers analyst Dan Niles made negative comments on PMC-Sierra , down 8 5/16 to 94 3/8. Broadcom
dropped 9 1/4 to 88 5/16, and Vitesse
lost 4 5/16 to 52 9/16. Banc of America made positive comments on the group, saying the sell-off on inventory concerns has been overdone.
Amazon.com lost 2 7/8 to 25 1/8 after Banc of America said it expects the company’s growth rate to slow next year. Yahoo
fell 3 3/8 to 36 3/4, a new 52-week low.
Brocade plummeted 22 13/16 to 166 3/16 ahead of its earnings report tomorrow night.
Merrill Lynch said it expects equipment spending to remain strong in 2001 for optical systems, next-generation switching and wireless infrastructure, but infrastructure stocks got only a brief bounce on the news. Juniper fell 7 1/2 to 116 1/4, 14 points off its high. Ciena
dropped 9 13/16 to 87 5/8, and Corvis
lost 2 9/16 to 22 7/16.
BroadVision lost 3 5/8 to 26 11/16 on a Royal Philips Electronics contract win by competitor Art Technology
, down 4 1/16 to 35 5/16.
Covad slipped 3/16 to 2 17/32 after announcing 13% layoffs.
B2B stocks struggled yet again. Commerce One lost 3 5/8 to 32 3/8, and Ariba
fell 4 1/2 to 62 1/2. Ariba’s next support is 60, but the stock has downside potential to 49.
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The Nasdaq is back near its recent low of 2755, having failed yet again at 2850 support. 2794-2799 could provide some support, the 62% retracement level of the October 19998-April 2000 run-up. Both the Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 negated falling wedge breakouts yesterday (first chart), a negative sign. Also, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (second chart) is dangerously close to a breakdown out of a 200-point descending triangle, with downside potential all the way to 400; not a pretty picture. A close of 588 or lower on the SOX would be a very big negative; the index got as low as 593 today.
The ISDEX failed at its previous support line yesterday, which serves to reinforce its breakdown at that line last week. Critical support on the index is 375-400. A move above 480 would be a real positive.
The S&P 500 failed to get back above its 1994 logarithmic trendline at 1369 yesterday, turning back at 1362. The index continues to send mixed signals in the daily chart: it is ei
ther forming a bearish head-and-shoulders pattern, or a bullish falling wedge. The index has so far maintained its breakout out of that falling wedge, which is at about 1335 today. However, we continue to be concerned about the index’s failure to recover the 1994 trendline, which it has now been below for three days since closing below it by 2%; that is becoming a very bearish sign. The S&P must hold that lower line at about 1320.
The Dow looks good, but the index continues to form a 400-point descending triangle, indicating a possible retest of 10,000. The index turned back at the upper trendline again today, reinforcing the bearish pattern. Given that Boeing may be forming a broadening top and GE broke its October 1998 trendline last week, the last market leader to do so, we have to wonder if the whole market isn’t in trouble here.
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