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by 12/20/1999 1:42 PM

Stocks quoted in this article:

The S&P Retail Index (RLX - 957.8) is taking it on the chin today. At 1:30 p.m., the index was down approximately 1.5 percent. Today's decline has taken the index back down to the site of its 10-day moving average. Accounting for a portion of the decline are down days from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT - 64) and Home Depot (HD - 96-3/4), which are down one and two points, respectively. It is interesting to note that the RLX is not an equally weighted index. Instead, it is weighted by market capitalization. As a result, WMT and HD comprise about 37 and 19 percent of the 37 member index, respectively.
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by 12/20/1999 1:39 PM

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Union Pacific Railroad (UNP - 42-13/16) has moved into new annual low territory today on the heels of a brokerage downgrade. What is most telling about today's action stems from UNP's comments just last week. On December 17, UNP announced that it sees record revenues bolstered by strong demand and productivity improvements in addition to continued growth into next year. In other railroad news, Burlington Northern (BNI - 25-1/2) announced its plan to merge with Canadian National (CNI - 29-1/2) in a $12.5 billion stock swap. Investors are punishing BNI on the news and have pushed it lower by about 10 percent on heavy volume.
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by 12/20/1999 1:18 PM

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Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD - 130.3/4) is only modestly ahead of Friday's closing price, despite beating Street earnings estimates by a wide margin. MWD reported earnings of $2.84 per share versus estimates of $1.96. As we noted in Friday's Trader's Lunch Break, puts were actually greater than calls on Friday. This type of skepticism heading into an event, such as earnings, can set up the stock for a solid reaction to the news. However, that has not been the case thus far today. In recent weeks, there has been some mention of high earnings expectations for the brokerage and underwriting stocks. More importantly, there is likely less willingness to aggressively buy the shares of MWD and other financial names ahead of tomorrow's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.<
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by 12/20/1999 1:02 PM

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The S&P Insurance Index (IUX - 746.10) is again taking its lumps today, off nearly one percent. The index was unable to penetrate its 200-day moving average in November and secure a monthly close above this trendline. The IUX has fallen more than 10 percent since its November high of 647.9 versus new all-time highs on other major indices. Today's action is likely due in part to a negative earnings preannouncement from auto insurer Progressive (PGR - 71-9/16). This has sent the shares of the insurer down seven percent today.
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by 12/20/1999 11:26 AM

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The CBOE Internet Index (INX - 751.85) is still clinging tentatively to its 10-day moving average, which has held since the index crossed above it on December 2. The INX is right at this short-term trendline currently.
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