WESTON, Fla., May 27, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Stocks started the day on an upnote Thursday, with both the Dow and the Nasdaq gapping up at the open. Concerns over the price of crude and trouble in Iraq continued to weigh on investors, stocks seemed set for the green. The Nasdaq Composite was up 10.28 points, to 1,986.43, while the Dow Jones industrial average was higher by 68.91 points, to 10,178.80.
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 it has formed a wholly owned subsidiary, LIVESTAR Entertainment Capital Corporation. This unit will play a key role in the future of LIVESTAR as management believes the opportunities that exist in the funding of entertainment properties is vast.
IPIX (Nasdaq:IPIX), a premium supplier of video surveillance technology, who has entered into a reseller agreement with JCS Digital Security, a leading supplier and systems integrator for commercial digital video systems in the Midwestern United States.
Magal Security Systems, Ltd. (Nasdaq:MAGS) which announced that its fully owned U.S.-based subsidiary, Senstar-Stellar, Inc. has recently received more than US$1 million worth of orders for various homeland security related projects.
And Mace Security International, Inc. (Nasdaq:MACE), a manufacturer of electronic surveillance and personal defense products, and an owner and operator of car and truck wash facilities, which announced the completion of a stock purchase agreement with a private institution to sell 915,000 shares of the Company's common stock at a price of $5.47 per share for a total capital investment of $5,005,050.
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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