TOP STORIES BEFORE THE OPEN FRIDAY MfG, ZiZo
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PRE-OPEN STOCKS ACTION
U.S. stock markets trended lower in the pre-open on Friday, on weakness
in the U.S. dollar versus the euro and the Japanese yen, analyst
downgrades and falling markets in Europe.
Lucent Technologies (LU) dropped 7 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $2.48 in
Instinet after Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to "neutral" from
"buy," given that the stock had surpassed its $2.50 price target.
Profit taking was seen in Dow industrials component Altria (MO) lost 50
cents, or 1.2 percent, to $40.55 in Instinet. The stock surged 7.2
percent on Thursday after a Florida appellate court threw out a $145
billion judgment against the tobacco industry.
See Indications for full pre-open action
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwtbefore&guid=%7BD5494088%2D7227%2D4257%2DAE55%2D8BF324BBF844%7D
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GLOBAL MARKETS
European markets saw losses with the euro breaking the $1.1747 level it
was introduced at and soaring to, and past, the $1.18 mark, hurting the
competitiveness of pharmaceuticals, auto makers, insurers and other
exporters. Vodafone Group (VOD) in London saw gains from optimism ahead
of the mobile phone operator's results on Tuesday. Asian markets saw
gains off of Thursday's Wall Street improvement.
See European Markets
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwtbefore&guid=%7B9CEA4F6B%2D036A%2D44FC%2DBDB3%2D5260F35584FF%7D
and London Markets
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwtbefore&guid=%7B078870F4%2D6EC2%2D4972%2DA520%2DF3979980D0AB%7D
and Asian Markets
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwtbefore&guid=%7B5BC4661F%2DF491%2D440D%2DBA87%2D80DA167660ED%7D
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BROKER ACTION
Shares of Micron Technology (MU) are losing 23 cents, or 2.3 percent,
to $9.80 in Instinet pre-open trading after UBS Warburg analyst Thomas
Thornhill downgraded the chipmaker to "reduce" from "neutral." Thornhill
said lower long-term average selling price trends will offset higher
shipments and lower costs. He also sees no near-term "serious" catalysts
for pricing improvements.
Qualcomm (QCOM) is slumping 80 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $30.55 in
Instinet pre-open trading after SG Cowen downgraded the stock to "market
perform" from "outperform," citing slower subscriber additions, excess
chip inventories and increased competition. Analyst Christin Armacost
also cut her CDMA handset market forecasts for 2003 and 2004. She also
believes that excess inventories and expectations that Nokia Corp. (NOK)
and Texas Instruments (TXN) may take more market share than expected may
lead to chipset pricing pressures.
See Internet's most complete source for analyst comments
(http://cbs.marketwatch.com/tools/stockresearch/updown/default.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=10mw&)
Breaking News - See Market Pulse for breaking news
(http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/default.asp?doctype=-1&scid=0&siteid=mktw)
*North Country Financial (NCFC) is saying Sherry Littlejohn has
resigned from the president and CEO positions, effective immediately.
The board is actively pursuing a new president and chief executive
officer.
*Pac-West Telecom (PACW) is saying it believes recent instances of
above-average trading volume in its common stock on the Nasdaq National
Market to be the result of negotiated sales of two large blocks of stock
by entities affiliated with Safeguard Scientifics (SFE). These shares
were most likely then resold to multiple purchasers, the company said.
Safeguard Scientifics is one of Pac-West's largest shareholders.
Pac-West shares closed Thursday unchanged at 48 cents.
*Able Laboratories (ABRX) said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
has approved its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for its
hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets, for 7.5 milligrams/500
milligrams. The approval completes Able's line of the pain relief drug,
which is the generic equivalent of Mikart's Lortab Tablets. The stock
closed Thursday up 61 cents at $16.26.
