Where's the bottom?
Some hoped that this week's slide pointed to a market bottom. But "Since the support levels for both the Nasdaq and Dow Industrials have been broken, the downtrend will likely continue," said Robert Dickey, technical strategist at Dain Rauscher.
"It's too early to call any of the action from Friday, or the week, as a bottom until there has been more of a testing period," he added.
First Call/Thomson Financial said the final number for fourth-quarter 2000 earnings growth will likely be 3 to 4 percent.
Compared to the same point in the fourth quarter of 2000, first-quarter 2001 warnings are up 43 percent, the earnings compiler noted.
First-quarter earnings are likely to fall by 4 to 5 percent and second-quarter profits, currently expected to decline by 1.4 percent, may end up falling a heftier 5 to 10 percent.
Optimism for a second-half recovery is starting to wane, First Call said, as analysts continue to take down third- and fourth-quarter expectations.
Lehman Brothers' Jeffrey Applegate was among them. He lowered his S&P 500 target for 2001 to 1,600 from 1,675. The strategist also cut earnings-per-share growth for S&P 500 (SPX: news, msgs, alerts) companies to $54 from $58.50 in 2001 and trimmed 2002 EPS to $61 from $66.
CS First Boston made a similar move. Strategist Tom Galvin's office told CBS MarketWatch.com that S&P 500 targets for year end were cut to 1,520 from 1,600. The Dow Industrials' (INDU: news, msgs, alerts) target was lowered to 12,000 from 12,650 and the Nasdaq's (COMP: news, msgs, alerts) was slashed to 3,000 from 4,000.
"Since the stock market hasn't bottomed, we're now looking for down earnings-per-share this year and, later a recovering stock market driven by aggressive Fed ease and multiple expansion," Applegate said in a note to clients.
Lehman now expects the Fed to reduce short-term rates by another 150 basis points to 4 percent by the June 27 FOMC meeting. And capital spending, 60 percent of which is on technology, isn't expected to recover until the third quarter, according to the brokerage firm.
Applegate said he now expects returns for the year of 22 percent for stocks, 11 percent for bonds and 5 percent for cash.
Some hoped that this week's slide pointed to a market bottom. But "Since the support levels for both the Nasdaq and Dow Industrials have been broken, the downtrend will likely continue," said Robert Dickey, technical strategist at Dain Rauscher.
"It's too early to call any of the action from Friday, or the week, as a bottom until there has been more of a testing period," he added.
First Call/Thomson Financial said the final number for fourth-quarter 2000 earnings growth will likely be 3 to 4 percent.
Compared to the same point in the fourth quarter of 2000, first-quarter 2001 warnings are up 43 percent, the earnings compiler noted.
First-quarter earnings are likely to fall by 4 to 5 percent and second-quarter profits, currently expected to decline by 1.4 percent, may end up falling a heftier 5 to 10 percent.
Optimism for a second-half recovery is starting to wane, First Call said, as analysts continue to take down third- and fourth-quarter expectations.
Lehman Brothers' Jeffrey Applegate was among them. He lowered his S&P 500 target for 2001 to 1,600 from 1,675. The strategist also cut earnings-per-share growth for S&P 500 (SPX: news, msgs, alerts) companies to $54 from $58.50 in 2001 and trimmed 2002 EPS to $61 from $66.
CS First Boston made a similar move. Strategist Tom Galvin's office told CBS MarketWatch.com that S&P 500 targets for year end were cut to 1,520 from 1,600. The Dow Industrials' (INDU: news, msgs, alerts) target was lowered to 12,000 from 12,650 and the Nasdaq's (COMP: news, msgs, alerts) was slashed to 3,000 from 4,000.
"Since the stock market hasn't bottomed, we're now looking for down earnings-per-share this year and, later a recovering stock market driven by aggressive Fed ease and multiple expansion," Applegate said in a note to clients.
Lehman now expects the Fed to reduce short-term rates by another 150 basis points to 4 percent by the June 27 FOMC meeting. And capital spending, 60 percent of which is on technology, isn't expected to recover until the third quarter, according to the brokerage firm.
Applegate said he now expects returns for the year of 22 percent for stocks, 11 percent for bonds and 5 percent for cash.