Investor's Business Daily articles from February 2004

Investor's Business Daily archives from February 2004

Jan. Durables Fell 1.8% Due To Transportation; Other Orders Rose 2%; Tech Goods Up Strong 7.1%; Strong business spending should spur more hiring; jobless claims still healthy.(A)
February 27, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM Big-ticket orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly fell 1.8% in January, the second decline in three months, the Commerce Department said Thursday. But despite weakness in the volatile defense and transportation...

Home Prices Through The Roof As Inventory In S. Calif. Dries Up; Policies restrict building, so the area cannot meet rapidly growing demand.(A)
February 27, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL It's an extreme seller's market for homes in Southern California. That's because hardly any are for sale. Homes are scarce nationwide as low interest rates drive home sales near record levels. In January, there...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
February 27, 2004... Eisner Loses Funds' Support 1Pension plans in 6 states holding a total of $526 bil in assets and 39 mil Disney shares said they've lost faith in Disney CEO and Chairman Michael Eisner, adding momentum to ex-directors Roy Disney and...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... IBM was found not liable by a Calif. jury for the illnesses of 2 ex-workers who claimed they were hurt by exposure to chemicals at IBM factories. GENZYME will buy Ilex Oncology for $1 bil in stock, or $26 a share. Genzyme shares fell,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... DEFENSE Strong armor sales lift Ceradyne The maker of ceramic body armor earned 39 cents a share in Q4, up 254% from a year ago and 4 cents over views. Sales rose 88% to $33 mil on demand for light armor for soldiers in the Middle...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... RETAIL Holiday sales boost J.C. Penney The department store operator earned 83 cents a share in Q4, excluding $1.32 bil in charges tied to its efforts to sell the Eckerd drugstore chain and its sale of its Mexican stores. That was 3...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... MEDICAL Genentech drug gets FDA nod The biotech firm won approval to sell colon cancer drug Avastin. The drug is the first one to reach the anti-angiogenesis market by targeting tumor-feeding blood vessels. It's been highly...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... BUILDING Toll Brothers beats views in Q4 The luxury homebuilder earned 62 cents a share in Q1, up 1.6% from a year ago and 2 cents over views. Revenue rose 5% to $598 mil. It lowered the top end of the homes it expects to deliver in...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... Help-wanted ads edge upward The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Index rose 1 point to 38 in Jan. from a month earlier. That's not far from last May's longtime low of 35. A year ago the index, which measures the volume of help-wanted ads...

BUSINESS BRIEFS/IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... SERVICES Sunrise Senior Living down 18% The assisted-living operator made 67 cents a share, down 15 cents from the year-ago quarter and in line with views. Sunrise forecast 59-61 cents a share in Q1, including items; views see 65...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... O'Donnell marries gay partner Comedian Rosie O'Donnell married her lesbian partner in San Francisco, a day before California's attorney general was set to file a lawsuit that may end the recent string of weddings. The former talk-show...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... Israeli army blocks Arafat HQ Army jeeps blocked entry to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for the first time in a year, witnesses said. Israeli security sources said the soldiers were...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... Weight linked to breast cancer Women who gained 21-30 pounds after age 18 were 40% more likely to get breast cancer than women who gained 5 pounds or less, an American Cancer Society study shows. Those who gained over 70 pounds had double...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
February 27, 2004... ** RSA Labs has created a special RFID chip that prevents stores from tracking tagged items after a customer has purchased them. The blocking chip could allay privacy concerns about remote-controlled tags that some large retailers are...

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY Don't Get Mired In Ego.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
February 27, 2004... Byline: Robin Grugal 10 Do you think like a team player and try to make your co-workers look good, or are you more concerned with getting your share of the credit? If your honest answer is the latter, your ego could be hurting your...

He's Anything But Anonymous; Be Bold: Bill Wilson's public push for sobriety pulled millions back from the drink.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
February 27, 2004... Byline: CURT SCHLEIER Integrity was everything to Bill Wilson. Because without it, he figured, he wouldn't be alive. Wilson co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous, which has helped millions of alcoholics turn their lives around. While he...

Terra Lycos Takes A Page From Yahoo With The Bundling Of Its Internet Services.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 27, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS Terra Lycos looks to win fans with a packaged deal. In the next few weeks the Web portal will unveil discounted bundles of its premium offerings, including dating services, financial help and personal Web site...

As Server Sales Rise, IBM And Dell Shine; HP's Growth Slower; Businesses Upgrading Again; HP market share has fallen since its Compaq merger, but it still leads in key areas.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 27, 2004... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN Getting squeezed in the middle might be OK if you're an Oreo cookie or Tickle-Me Elmo. It's not so great when you're the No. 2 server maker, fighting off IBM Corp. above and Dell Inc. below. That's the...

"War Drive' Reveals Ease Of Wi-Fi Snooping; Access Points Abound; Security plays catch-up as Wi-Fi networks boom; eavesdropping common.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 27, 2004... Byline: MICHAEL KREY Admittedly, "lurk" would be an OK word to describe our actions. "Criminal" would not. Yes, my leather-jacketed host pointed a large and powerful device at offices and town homes. True, we rode in a black limo...

PROVIDE COMMERCE INC. San Diego, California; Flower Power Drives Results At Web Firm.(THE NEW AMERICA)
February 27, 2004... Byline: DAVID ISAAC Everything's coming up roses for Provide Commerce Inc. The company, which went public in December, uses the Internet to cut out the middlemen and ship flowers direct from the grower. Because they're shipped...

AUTOBYTEL INC. Irvine, California; Internet Marketer Hits The Financial Fast Lane.(THE NEW AMERICA)
February 27, 2004... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Would you buy a used car from this Web site? Jeffrey Schwartz hopes so. He's chief executive of Autobytel Inc., an Internet marketing services company. Autobytel helps auto dealers and manufacturers sell cars via...

RS Smaller Co. Growth Seeks Small Fry; Fund Likes Technology; Bill Wolfenden pursues fast-growing companies unknown by the Street.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)
February 27, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF Bill Wolfenden likes to fish for small fry. The trick is to avoid the ones that turn out to be piranha. His $211 million RS Smaller Company Growth Fund had landed stocks whose median market capitalization was...

Clear Cut.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
February 27, 2004... Taxes: This week, both President Bush and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan have called on Congress to make tax cuts permanent. It's a good idea, because they'll start expiring sooner than you think. There seems to be little doubt now that...

Natural Progression.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
February 27, 2004... Economics: Sen. John Kerry is blaming President Bush for the American jobs that have been flowing overseas. Is it politics or a willful misunderstanding? "Outsourcing" has become a pejorative term in this election year. Candidates and...

Job Protection Vs. Creation: A Lesson Some Never Learn.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
February 27, 2004... Byline: LAWRENCE KUDLOW Jobs protection has become the rallying cry of the Democratic presidential campaign. Yet Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards never present a clear-headed plan on how they would create new jobs. Instead, they vow...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Boeing, United Weigh On Dow; S&P 500 Rises.(MAKING MONEY)
February 27, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO The Dow closed 0.2% lower Thursday after Boeing and United Technologies took a hit from a 10% drop in January transportation orders. But the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% and the small-cap S&P 600 0.8%. Volume was a tad...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
February 27, 2004... Analyzing the price and volume changes in the major market averages each day is essential to successful investing. They reveal major tops and bottoms in the stock market. Most stocks follow the general market's trend. They tend to rise...

Bradley Pharma Gets Lift From Q4 Results.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
February 27, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Bradley Pharmaceuticals hit a new high Sept. 24 before falling the next three sessions to begin forming a base. The stock looked poised to break out of a short, six-week cup-without-handle Nov. 6, but pulled back...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Consumer Stocks Help Nasdaq Rebound Again.(B)
February 27, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq rose almost 0.5% Thursday as volume increased mildly. The Nasdaq 100 also gained 0.5%. Industrial Services of America leapt 5.41 to a high of 25.31. Volume surged to around 4 million shares, the...

Analog-Chip Maker Sells New Amplifier.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
February 27, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Silicon Laboratories is working on the right side of a nearly four-month cup-shaped base. The stock has struggled to rise above the 59-60 level twice since October. The Austin, Texas-based firm's chips...

Greenspan Urges Cuts In Social Security Soon To Avert A Fiscal Crisis; 77 Mil Aging Baby Boomers; Long-term rates will climb, he says, unless Congress reins in federal spending.(A)
February 26, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress on Wednesday that the coming retirement of the baby-boom generation will require major changes in the way it doles out Social Security and Medicare benefits. ...

ITT Educational Searched, Subpoenaed, Hitting Shares, But Reason Isn't Clear; School Leader Sells Off 33%; U.S. seeks lots of records; mystery scares investors, rivals tumble in sympathy.(A)
February 26, 2004... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON Federal agents raided ITT Educational Services' Indianapolis headquarters and campuses in seven other states on Wednesday. But the reason remains a mystery. Shares of the for-profit provider of post-secondary...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
February 26, 2004... Greenspan: Cut Social Security 1Fed chief Alan Greenspan urged Congress to deal with the U.S.' escalating budget deficit by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits for future retirees. Otherwise, deficits will continue to swell,...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... U.S. STEEL expects to save $450 mil as a result of the Medicare Drug Law. The steel firm sees a $60 mil cut in benefit expenses plus a 28% drug subsidy. DARDEN RESTAURANTS raised its Q3 forecast after making stronger-than-expected sales...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... REGULATION SEC proposes rapid-trading fee The commission voted 4-1 to seek public comment on imposing a 2% "redemption fee" on sales of mutual fund shares held for five or fewer business days. The practice of rapid trading, or market...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... FINANCE Eaton Vance's profit rose 19% The investment manager earned 44 cents a share, but a cent under views. Revenue rose 26% to $157 mil from higher adviser and administration fees. Assets under management at quarter-end rose 50%...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... MEDIA More calls for "no' on Disney CEO Calpers, the largest U.S. public pension fund, said it would not vote to reelect Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner to the board, calling Disney's performance over 5 years "dismal." Calpers owns...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... TELECOM Qwest unwraps "Naked DSL' Qwest will be the 1st major U.S. phone company to let customers subscribe to its DSL service without also having to subscribe to its phone service. The move attempts to stem customer attrition in the...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... Fed index shows improvement The Chicago Federal Reserve's National Activity Index rose to 0.49 last month from 0.05 in Dec., its fifth straight monthly gain. All four of the index's components improved. The index's three-month moving...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... Barr Pharmaceuticals got FDA approval for Velivet, a generic form of Organon's oral contraceptive Cyclessa, entering a market worth $22.5 mil. Shares rose slightly. Able Labs got FDA approval to sell a generic form of Ovation...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... Kerry blames Bush for job losses Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry said he would require companies to give their employees a three-month warning before sending their jobs abroad, blaming President Bush for job losses in an...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... Israelis raid Ramallah banks Israeli forces burst into Palestinian banks and seized at least $6.7 million in an unprecedented raid. Israel said Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese guerrillas sent the funds to Palestinian militants. Israel plans...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... Bar codes prescribed for drugs Within 2 years, prescription drugs will need to carry scannable tags similar to those found on retail goods, said the Health and Human Services Department. The codes will help nurses verify they are giving...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
February 26, 2004... ** The chickenpox vaccine's effectiveness fades substantially 1 year after being administered, from an average 97% rate to 84%, said Yale Medical School researchers. Kids vaccinated before they reach 15 months were found to have only a 73%...

Blankers-Koen At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
February 26, 2004... Blankers-Koen At A Glance Born: 1918, Baarn, The Netherlands. Died: Jan. 25, 2004, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands. Achievements: ** Won four gold medals in the 1948 Olympic Games in London, one of only three people ever to...

DEAL WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY Getting What You Want.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
February 26, 2004... Byline: Cord Cooper First Of Two Parts 9 Likability. Toughness. And a steely focus on goals. These aren't opposing concepts. They're the traits of skilled negotiators, strategy experts Leonard Koren and Peter Goodman say in...

Track Champ Blankers-Koen; Aim High: Her gold-medal stride set Olympic records that remain unbroken.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
February 26, 2004... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON It was 1948, and Francina "Fanny" Blankers-Koen found herself in London, ready to walk away from making Olympic history. She'd already won gold medals in the 100 meters and 80-meter hurdles during the Games, and...

Price Hike Pays Off: Getty Images Thrives During Ad Downturn; "We Used Our Pricing Power'.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 26, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS Getty Images Inc. took a calculated risk a year ago: It raised its prices. The seller of stock photography faced sluggish demand from advertisers -- its biggest customers. Rather than slog through the slow times,...

Hewlett-Packard Serves Up A Curveball; Customers Force A New Pitch; Instead of sole focus on its Itaniums, it'll make servers also using AMD's Opteron.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 26, 2004... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN Just September, Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Carly Fiorina hailed her company's Itanium-only server push as a cheaper, simpler approach than plans by rivals to offer machines powered by multiple breeds of...

AT&T Mulls Wireless, VoIP As Potential Sales Boosters.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
February 26, 2004... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Ma Bell may play piggyback in wireless as well as broadband, says AT&T Corp. CEO David Dorman. Without its own wireless phone network or high-speed Internet links to homes, AT&T's consumer business will...

Taming The Data Tidal Wave; Demand Is Increasing; Analysts see earnings of 20 cents a share in '04, up from 17 cents in '03.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
February 26, 2004... Byline: J. BONASIA Informatica Corp. makes software used to collect and organize a company's many bits of information from different sources. The so-called data integration field is growing, says company Chief Executive Gaurav Dhillon....

NEW-ISSUE PIPELINE Maker Of AC/DC Gear Lights Up Wall Street; Cherokee International Corp.; Tustin, Calif. (714) 544-6665 cherokeellc.com; Lead underwriter: Credit Suisse First Boston Offering price: $14.50 Date of offering: Feb. + 19 Ticker: CHRK.(THE NEW AMERICA)
February 26, 2004... Byline: Marilyn Alva THE BUZZ It's all about power for Cherokee International Corp., which supplies custom AC/DC products that go inside high-end electronics and industrial gear. Demand for products that convert power from...

NUTRACEUTICAL INTERNATIONAL CORP. Park City, Utah; Vitamin Supplier Brews Up A Winning Plan.(THE NEW AMERICA)
February 26, 2004... Byline: MARILYN ALVA Take an improving economy and mix in an aging but health-conscious population of baby boomers. Combine that with research validating the benefits of many vitamin and mineral supplements. What you end up with is a...

Slump Puts A Generation On Hold; THE MARKET; Retirement arena full of investors eager to ride the bull back to the top.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN The bear market hit in early 2000 just as Randy Lozada was retiring. "I lost a third of my money in the first six months alone," said the ex-Sony Corp. product services manager. "It made things very...

New Market, Same Rules, Longer Lives; Building a nest egg that keeps from cracking is a growing experience; INVESTING.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF The new retiree is a lot like the old retiree. Whether already in or still approaching retirement, he wants a market that creates value. When he finds that, he puts new money to work building a nest egg. ...

The Search For Value And Adventure; WHERE TO RETIRE; Americans find the good life in Costa Rica; then there's that perennial draw: Florida.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Few couples retire as adventurously as Randy and Rhonda Berg. They left Minnesota winters for Costa Rica, where the temperatures hover from the 50s to the 80s year-round. The factors they looked at before moving...

Helping Out Your Heirs Just The Way You Want; ESTATE PLANNING; You can leave your kids with money and terms of how to spend it right.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER You want your children to inherit your wealth. If your heirs are young when they get your money, it could mean a nicer first home than they could otherwise afford. If they're old, it could mean a more secure...

Going For A Long Term, If You're Vibrant Or Not; HEALTH CARE; Here comes Medicare's drug benefit as seniors follow medical options.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH Medicare is changing. An already complex program that covers 35 million seniors will become even more complicated, says Jack Christy, director of policy for the California Association of Homes and Services for the...

Right Picks Late In The Life Cycle; MUTUAL FUNDS; Stocks, bonds, cash and international can make for the most lasting mix.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER When you retire, you want to make sure your savings don't run out before you do. You're faced with the macabre thought of figuring out how long you are going to live and how much money you can spend each year. How...

Pull Out Savings Correctly Or Be Left With A Big Bill; WITHDRAWLS; Retirement accounts do have pluses, especially with various loopholes.(SERIES: THE NEW RETIREE)(IBD SPECIAL REPORT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF For Bill Weidman, building a retirement nest egg is like trying to win on "Survivor." The 60-year-old dental lab technician in Valencia, Calif., must beat one challenge after another. His last big test was the...

Team Effort Keeps Rainier Near Top; Fund Bets On Recovery; Managers buy earnings growth, but only when stock price is a bargain.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)
February 26, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER Chief Investment Officer James Margard boasts that his Seattle-based Rainier Investment Management is the biggest independent investment advisory company north of the San Francisco Bay area and west of Denver. ...

Getting Personal.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
February 26, 2004... Social Security: Alan Greenspan said Wednesday that cutting future benefits is preferable to hiking taxes to keep the program solvent. He's right. But both of those unpleasant options can be avoided. As we noted on this page Tuesday,...

Judicial Boomerang.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
February 26, 2004... The Constitution: President Bush seemed pained Tuesday as he backed an amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Or was he just perturbed? Either way, we can sympathize. Sheeez! he must have been thinking. As if I...

Uncle Sam As Sugar Daddy? Tell That To Candy Makers.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
February 26, 2004... Byline: WALTER E. WILLIAMS In Marcus Cook Connelly's spiritual play, "Green Pastures," God lamented to the Angel Gabriel, "Every time Ah passes a miracle, Ah has to pass fo' or five mo' to ketch up wid it," and adding, "Even bein God...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Dow, S&P 500 Gain To Snap 5-Session Slide.(MAKING MONEY)
February 26, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO NYSE stocks posted gains Wednesday to end the Dow industrials and S&P 500's five-session slump. Volume pulled back a bit. The Dow rose 0.3% and the S&P 500 0.4%, while the small-cap S&P 600 jumped 1.2%. Fremont...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
February 26, 2004... Analyzing the price and volume changes in the major market averages each day is essential to successful investing. They reveal major tops and bottoms in the stock market. Most stocks follow the general market's trend. They tend to rise...

National Semi Works On Right Side Of Base.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
February 26, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo National Semiconductor reached a three-year intraday high on Dec. 1 before pulling back the next seven sessions to start the left side of a base. It looked like it was forming a handle Jan. 13, but the stock drifted...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Halts 5-Day Skid; Energy, Retailers Rally.(B)
February 26, 2004... Byline: IBD STAFF The Nasdaq composite rebounded 0.9% Wednesday, but volume declined and was below average. Petroleum Development shot ahead 3.11 to a high of 27.51. Volume bulged 2 1/2 times its 50-day average as the stock broke out...

Military Gear Supplier Enjoys Rapid Growth.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
February 26, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Engineered Support Systems reclaimed its 50-day moving average on above-average trade Wednesday. The stock is working on the right side of a new base, so a pivot point has yet to be determined. The St....

AskIBD's Focused Answers Get To The Point.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(INVESTORS.COM CORNER)
February 26, 2004... Byline: KEN SHREVE Mix in a few terms like distribution days, breakouts and pivot points along with other phrases like extended in price and late-stage bases, and pretty soon you'll need an IBD dictionary to sort them all out. If...

Consumer Confidence Dives To 4-Month Low On Jobs, '04 Campaign; Index's Worst Drop In Year; Conference Board index follows similar big drops in IBD/TIPP, other polls.(A)
February 25, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM Consumer confidence in February took its sharpest fall in a year amid dimmer job prospects, the Conference Board said Tuesday. Its gauge of confidence slid to a four-month low of 87.3 from 96.4 in January, falling...

Greenspan Tells Congress To Curb Debt At Fannie And Freddie To Avoid A Crisis; He Says Privatize The GSEs; Fed chairman gets tough on big mortgage lenders, which refute his concerns.(A)
February 25, 2004... Byline: SEAN HIGGINS Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned Congress that the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have grown too large and pose a risk to the financial system. Congress should curb the...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
February 25, 2004... Consumer Confidence Off In Feb. 1The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dived 9.1 points to 87.3, far below Wall Street expectations. But the 9.4% drop was in line with the IBD/TIPP, U. of Michigan and other optimism gauges...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... ABGENIX lost 60 cents a share, 50% more than a year ago and 14 cents more than expected. Shares fell after hours. EXPRESS SCRIPTS' profit rose 14% to 86 cents a share, a penny over views. Revenue rose 3% to $3.5 bil. Shares fell after it...

BUSINESS BRIEFS/IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... TELECOM CEO calls for changes in Verizon Arun Sarin, the head of British mobile phone giant Vodafone Group, said he wants to renegotiate an agreement with Verizon Communications over the future of their joint venture, Verizon...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... MEDICAL Drug-coated stent race heats up Cardio device maker Guidant will co-market Johnson & Johnson's Cypher drug-coated stent technology while it continues to develop its own product. Guidant, the market leader for older,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... RETAIL Jan. sales bolster Federated Q4 The department store operator made $2.29 a share ex items, up 28% over the year-ago quarter and 3 cents over views. Federated beat its own forecast of $2.25-$2.27 a share, raised earlier this...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... MEDIA Clear Channel hit by ad fall-off The No. 1 U.S. radio station operator earned 30 cents a share in Q4, flat on last year and 3 cents below views. Higher marketing and promotion costs and sluggish local advertising hurt. Revenue...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... Sales running higher than in '03 Redbook Research's national retail sales index rose 5.6% last week from a year earlier. So far in Feb., sales are up 5.1% compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, the International Council of...

TRENDS/INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... Napster climbs for-fee charts The once-free music sharing service says it's sold more than 5 mil songs since relaunching as a paid-for download company in Oct. That's still far behind Apple's iTunes, which reported over 30 mil download...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... CIA's Tenet still wary of al-Qaida CIA Director George Tenet said al-Qaida is seriously damaged but has spread its radical anti-American agenda to other Islamic extremist groups that now pose the greatest threat to the U.S. He told the...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
February 25, 2004... Moroccan quake kills over 560 The 6.5 temblor toppled mud-brick homes and buried residents in their sleep. Officials of the northern African nation said the toll, including at least 300 injured, could rise in poor mountain villages...

DON'T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT Yes -- The Magic Word.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
February 25, 2004... Byline: Robin Grugal 8 Ever find yourself suddenly doubting an idea you had just because someone else knocked it? If Walt Disney had let naysayers get to him like that, the Magic Kingdom might never have been. Buzz Price, a former...

Gen. Schwarzkopf Stands Firm; Be Bold: Rock-solid dedication to his troops make him an Army all-time great.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
February 25, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM While some of Lt. Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf's fellow instructors at West Point were glad to be out of harm's way, Schwarzkopf sought the chance to lead, and pleaded for a second tour of duty in Vietnam. And when...