WESTON, Fla., May 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting was held on Tuesday, May 4, 2004, a volatile session for technology issues, which gained modest ground in relation to the blue chip arena, which ended on a flat note. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 19.52 points, or 0.61%, to 1937.74, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 69.69 points, or 0.06%, to 10,241.26. The S&P 500 was down 7.54 points, or 0.2%, to 1113.99.
Stocks in the news today included Tegal Corporation (Nasdaq:TGAL), a leading designer and manufacturer of plasma etch and deposition systems used in the production of integrated circuits and nanotechnology devices, announced preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2004, which ended March 31, 2004.
Tyco, whose second-quarter earnings rose to $782 million, or 37 cents a share, from $124 million, or 6 cents a share, last year. Revenues were up 11% to $10 billion, helping profits run better than estimates by 5 cents per share. The company's stock closed down 40 cents on Thursday, or 1.37%, to $28.80.
Priceline.com also basked in the gains afforded it by a better than expected first quarter, rising 7% in early trading Tuesday, after announcing that it took a majority stake in an affiliated hotel-room booking site. The travel site operator also reported plans to sell up to $100 million worth of stock.
Surprising investors, the founder of Siebel Systems (Nasdaq:SEBL) said he would relinquish his title as CEO and President of the company he founded. His replacement is to be J. Michael Lawrie, a senior IBM executive. Market participants were eager to find the reason for the move, described by Siebel to be a decision to split the roles of chairman and CEO. Tom Seibel will remain as chairman of the software behemoth.
But the talk of the town is still Google, which is expected to have an initial public offering in the near future, an event that will probably mimic the IPO environment of the late 90's. The Company is reportedly being very tight-lipped about its plans, but it will be interesting to see the reactions of some of the space's biggest players, like Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO), and Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN).
On the economic front, the FOMC changed its tune somewhat on Tuesday, saying in its statement that "The Committee perceives the upside and downside risks to the attainment of sustainable growth for the next few quarters are roughly equal," the FOMC said in its statement. "Similarly, the risks to the goal of price stability have moved into balance. At this juncture, with inflation low and resource use slack, the Committee believes that policy accommodation can be removed at a pace that is likely to be measured."
In plain terms The Fed is saying that conditions have improved to the point that rates can start moving up from their current historically low levels, but will probably do so at a measured, and even pace . . . no 50 and 75 basis point hikes in the near future. The Fed also said it "continues to believe that an accommodative stance of monetary policy, coupled with robust underlying growth in productivity, is providing important ongoing support to economic activity." Regardless, many analysts are saying the first rate increase may come as early as June.
ABOUT TheSUBWAY.com:
TheSUBWAY.com, a leader in corporate communications and finance, provides all investors with a wide-ranging set of financial tools, including original stock market commentary, stock quotes, interactive charts, portfolio watch, live chat and message boards, etc., plus the latest news, press releases, and research reports for all companies highlighted on the site. For more, please visit http://www.thesubway.com/sub_comm.asp.