Newsgroup: it.economia.borsa
Titolo: Stocks Appear Set for Mixed Start

Stocks Appear Set for Mixed Start
Mon Jul 22, 8:07 AM ET
By Denise Duclaux
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks are poised for a mixed open on Monday as investors,
fed up with corporate scandals and anemic earnings, mull their next move after
last week's furious sell-off hammered the market to multi-year lows.
"People are frustrated by what they see as a low-interest rate environment and a
recovering economy that is out of sync with the stock market," said Rick
Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView, which oversees about $1
billion, "It's hard to be optimistic, and yet you are seeing a situation where
the seeds of recovery are there."
The blue-chip Dow suffered its seventh-largest point drop on Friday, crumbling
nearly 400 points to lows last seen in October 1998. The Dow has fallen every
session but one in the past two weeks. Some $1.5 trillion in investor wealth has
evaporated from the stock market since July 4, based on the Wilshire 5000 Total
Market Index .
The head of the New York Stock Exchange ( news - web sites) warned on Sunday
that Wall Street may face a rough ride when stock markets open this week but
urged investors to stay calm and focus on the wisdom of long-term investing.
"Mondays following Friday declines have always been difficult and I suspect
tomorrow will be no different," Richard Grasso, chairman of the world's No. 1
exchange, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
WorldCom Inc. kicked off the fresh week on a downbeat note after filing on
Sunday for the largest U.S. bankruptcy. The long-distance phone and data service
company, embroiled in a $3.85 billion accounting scandal, has helped eat away at
investors' faith in corporate management in past weeks.
Equity futures strengthened as the opening bell approached, but still pointed to
a mixed open. September futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.60 points
to 845.60. Dow Jones Industrial futures fell 19 points to 7,979, while Nasdaq
100 futures gained 7 points to 974.
So far this year, the Dow is off 20 percent, the S&P has surrendered 26.2
percent and the Nasdaq has tumbled 32.4 percent.
European shares flirted with October 1998 lows by midday on Monday. The FTSE
Eurotop 300 index was down 1.2 percent but off its trough for the day.
Asian share markets fell on Monday anticipating a steep slide on Wall Street,
though the gloom was muted in Japan where tentative optimism about domestic
corporate results pulled stocks off sharp early losses.
Tokyo's Nikkei stock average rebounded from early five-month lows, helped by
short covering to end close to where it started. The Nikkei closed down 13.35
points or 0.13 percent at 10,189.01, after slipping to below 10,000 at one
stage.
The market got a spot of bright news before the open. Diversified manufacturer
3M Co. said on Monday quarterly earnings more than doubled, helped by stronger
sales to the Asia-Pacific Rim area and cost controls.
In other corporate news, Internet security company Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd. on Monday before the stock market open posted a lower
second-quarter profit but said customers were again opening their checkbooks.
Shares ended at $13.86.
On Friday, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 33.81 points, or 3.84
percent, to 847.75. The tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell 37.88 points, or
2.79 percent, to 1,319.07, to its lowest close since May 1997.
For the week, the Dow was down 7.8 percent, the Nasdaq slumped 4 percent and the
S&P 500 slid 8 percent.
In a bear market, stocks can be especially vulnerable on Mondays because the
market closure over the weekend allows time for investor anxieties to build.
The October 1987 market crash, when the Dow plunged 508 points or 22 percent,
occurred on "Black Monday" -- which followed a 108-point-drop the previous
Friday.
With the Dow perched just above the psychological threshold of 8,000, Grasso
made a plea for investors to keep a cool head and think about long-term goals
like saving for retirement or their children's college education.

 :-))
Non volevo tirarmela da international trader (come qualcuno, non faccio
nomi ma solo cognomi: "HAPPY"). Il fatto e' che Yahoo ha deciso di
darmi direttamente le news economiche Usa invece di quelle italiche :-))
--
Stardust®