CONFERENCE CALLS
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FOOL PLATE SPECIAL
Service Interruptions
Last night at approximately 11:33 PM EDT, E!, the Entertainment Network, went offline on my local cable network. Calls to E! as well as my cable company at that late hour failed to elicit any further information about the outage. I tried to call an analyst who follows the network to elicit a comment, but as it is not a high-profile public stock, I had a hard time finding one. The family dog, Beluza, was the only creature I could reach for comment and the slobbering face-licking I endured after asking the young mutt to articulate her views could only be taken as ambivalent. Pressing questions remain unanswered: Will viewers ever turn to see what is on E! again? Will advertisers pull their ads from the network because of the service interruption? Will cable systems across the land dump E! from their basic cable mix in response to the poor service? Fool HQ is trying to sort all of this out at the moment.
In unrelated news, AMERICA ONLINE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AMER)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: AMER)") end if %> was America Offline for approximately twenty-four hours yesterday when a routine system upgrade caused some major problems in its online service as well as its web-hosting business. Similar black-outs at NETCOM ONLINE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: NETC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: NETC)") end if %> of 13 hours and at the Microsoft Network for 10 hours have occurred in the past few weeks. A perverse media fascination with America Online has caused every major news service to focus on this outage, something America Online attempted to turn to its advantage with the offer of a free day to all of its subscribers. Similar outages at power companies, long-distance connections, cellular service and broadcast radio occur all the time, without much reporting from news organizations, highlighting the amount of free advertising that America Online is able to get from a similar event. In response to all of the coverage, the board of DOMINION RESOURCES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: D)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: D)") end if %> reportedly considered cutting power for 24 hours to its Virginia and North Carolina customers and offering a free day as a result to spur interest in its moribund stock. We will be reporting on this story as it continues to unfold.
NOKIA <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: NOKA)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: NOKA)") end if %> rebounded $4 1/4 to $40 3/4 today after reporting earnings. The company believes it can continue to improve earnings at its mobile phone unit based on improvements in efficiencies and sales of new products.
Shares of THERMATRIX <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: TMXI)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: TMXI)") end if %> responded well to a "buy" rating from Prudential Securities today, popping up $2 1/8 to $12 1/8 this morning. The firm develops equipment that destroys volatile organic compounds and air pollutants.
GYMBOREE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GYMB)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GYMB)") end if %> swung ahead $3 1/2 to $26 7/8 in spite of posting a 3% same-store sales decrease, pushing total sales up by 22% with an aggressive series of new store openings during this quarter.
The results out of UNITED HEALTHCARE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: UNH)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: UNH)") end if %> this morning must not have been as bad as investors expected -- the shares rebounded $1 to $39 1/4 after the company reported a $0.43 EPS profit versus $0.51 EPS a year ago.
Alex Brown & Sons initiated coverage of DOLLAR TREE STORES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DLTR)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: DLTR)") end if %> with a "buy" rating, boosting shares of the deep-discount retailer $1 3/4 to $31 3/4 this morning.
GILEAD SCIENCES <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GILD)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: GILD)") end if %> rose $1 3/4 to $19 3/8 after announcing a marketing agreement with PHARMACIA & UPJOHN <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: PNU)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: PNU)") end if %> to market an AIDS-related drug, Vistide, outside of the United States.
FIRST MERCHANTS ACCEPTANCE CORP. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: FMAC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: FMAC)") end if %> drummed up a $1 to $17 1/4 gain this morning after announcing it would repurchase up to 500,000 common shares. The company currently has 6.5 million shares outstanding.
Another stock buyback sent shares of a cellular services concern spiraling upward $1 1/2 to $29 5/8 this morning. COMMNET CELLULAR <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CELS)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CELS)") end if %> will repurchase up to $20 million of its common stock.
ROTO-ROOTER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ROTO)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: ROTO)") end if %> unclogged for $4 1/2 to $41 after CHEMED <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CHE)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CHE)") end if %> announced a $41-per-share tender offer for the 50% of the company that it does not currently own. Roto-Rooter is a commercial plumber.
Reporting $0.04 EPS versus only a penny last year, shares of PEGASYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PEGA)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PEGA)") end if %> vaulted $2 3/4 to $16 5/8 this morning.
CPI CORP. <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: CPY)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: CPY)") end if %> surged $1 7/8 to $16 5/8 after announcing the formation of a joint venture with EASTMAN KODAK <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NYSE: EK)") else Response.Write("(NYSE: EK)") end if %>. Eastman Kodak will buy 51% of CPI's Fox Photo unit for $56.1 million.
KLA INSTRUMENTS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: KLAC)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: KLAC)") end if %> reported earnings of $0.61 EPS, two cents shy of consensus estimates. The market reacted to the company's report that delays in foundry construction have hurt the flow of incoming orders across the world by dropping shares $1 1/4 to $21 5/8.
The 52-week high of $48 3/4 that CALIFORNIA AMPLIFIER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CAMP)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: CAMP)") end if %> racked up a few weeks ago is now a fair distance away, as the stock traded down $2 1/2 to $7 1/8 after it forecast a loss for the second quarter due to soft domestic sales and delays in international purchases.
PHYSICIANS HEALTH <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PHSV)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: PHSV)") end if %> reported a $0.53 EPS second quarter loss versus a profit of $0.39 EPS a year ago as expenses grew more than one-and-a-half times faster than revenues -- not exactly the way to higher earnings. Shares slumped $1 to $16 1/2.
Dillon Read attacked shares of QUIKSILVER <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: QUIK)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: QUIK)") end if %> with a chain-saw today, carving out $4 1/2 to $21 1/2 of the share price in one bloody morning. Analyst Allison Malkin downgraded the shares to "neutral," saying she was "concerned" about July sales.
LERNOUT & HAUSPIE <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: LHSPF)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: LHSPF)") end if %> dropped $1 1/4 to $22 this morning as investors began to take their massive profits over the past few weeks. Lernout announced MICROSOFT <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MSFT)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: MSFT)") end if %> would use its text-to-speech technology, causing a huge run-up recently.
Healthcare informatics concern QUALITY SYSTEMS <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: QSII)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: QSII)") end if %> continues to tumble from its highs as well, falling $1 1/2 to $9 3/4 after missing First Call estimates of $0.10 EPS by about a penny.
LAM RESEARCH <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(NASDAQ: LRCX)") else Response.Write("(NASDAQ: LRCX)") end if %> was one of many semiconductor equipment concerns whacked by weak results out of KLA Instruments, dropping $1 to $25 3/4 on a sentiment shift. Will the semiconductor book-to-bill number to be reported tonight cause sentiment to whipsaw again?
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Randy Befumo (MF Templar), a Fool
Selena Maranjian (MF Selena) another Fool
Prem Kumar (MF Prem) another
Fool