WESTON, Fla., May 24, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stocks started the day on an upnote Monday, with both the Dow and the Nasdaq gapping up at the open. But by early afternoon dealings, all major averages had come off the highs of the morning. Concerns over the price of crude and trouble in Iraq continued to weigh on investors, but by early afternoon, the averages managed to hold gains. The Nasdaq Composite was up 21.94 points, to 1,918.53, while the Dow Jones industrial average was lower by 5.68 points, to 9,961.06.
Crude oil futures rose after the U.S.-appointed head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Ezzedine Salim, was killed last Monday near the U.S. headquarters in Baghdad. Also damaging investor confidence were Commerce Department figures showing the U.S. trade deficit widened by 9.1 percent to a record $46 billion, much higher than what analysts were expecting.
Stocks in the news include LIVESTAR Entertainment Group Inc. (OTCBB:LSTA) which announced its first quarter live events summary report and the addition of event image galleries on the web site.
Advanced Communications Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:ADVC) which reported financial results for the third quarter of 2004 and updated its performance outlook for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. The third quarter profit marks the second successive quarter of net earnings for the company.
Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (Nasdaq:AMCC) which announced the latest members of the industry-leading Packet Routing Switch (PRS) multi-purpose switch fabric family.
And NeighborCare, Inc. (Nasdaq:NCRX) which confirmed it has received a letter proposing to purchase all of the outstanding shares of NeighborCare for $30 per share in cash from Omnicare.
The latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting was held on Tuesday, May 4, 2004, where the FOMC changed its tune somewhat, 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.
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