Investor's Business Daily articles from January 2004

Investor's Business Daily archives from January 2004

Economy Heating Up Going Into New Year; Election Boom Typical; Gloomy in early 2003, firms seen investing as consumers ease up.(A)
January 2, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM The best way to think about the economic outlook for 2004 may be to consider all the potential land mines that imperiled growth prospects a year ago but no longer loom so large. "Iraq was staring us in the face"...

Saddam's Capture Appropriately Ends Iraq-Dominated '03.(A)(THE YEAR'S TOP 10)
January 2, 2004... One news story dominated 2003: the war in Iraq. It was capped by Saddam Hussein's capture after nearly eight months on the lam. But there were lots of other events that, in a less newsworthy year, might have vied for the top spot: SARS, Bush's...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
January 2, 2004... Jobless Claims Fall To 339,000 1New claims slid 15,000 in the week ended Dec. 27 to the lowest level since President Bush took office in Jan. '01. Economists forecast a small rise. The holidays may have affected the data. Still, the 4-week...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... FINANCE Citigroup was top '03 underwriter The financial group handled $542.7 bil of transactions. Total underwriting for the year rose 25% to $5.33 tril, fueled by low interest rates and a rising stock market. Analyst expect...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... AEROSPACE/DEFENSE Boeing gets $1 bil NASA contract The space agency has extended Boeing's work on the International Space Station for a basic period of 2 years and 9 months. The contract also contains 4 6-month options that could bring...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... TELECOM Deals boosts Ciena, Sycamore Shares of Ciena rose 8% and Sycamore Networks surged 12% after they won contracts to help build a global Internet-centered network for U.S. defense and intelligence services. The Defense Information...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... Consumers end year on high note The ABC News/Money magazine consumer comfort index stood at -9 in the week ended Dec. 28, the same level as the prior week. For the year, the index's average reading was -19, the lowest since '94. But...

BUSINESS BRIEFS/ IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... MARKETS Treasury notes end year down Thanks to faster economic growth and speculation that the Fed will raise target interest rates, U.S. Treasury notes posted their first annual decline in 4 years. Benchmark 10-year yields rose 0.45%...

NATION/WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
January 2, 2004... Vaccines cut hepatitis B cases The Centers for Disease Control said hepatitis B infections dived 67% from 1990-2002. Infections fell 89% among those under 20, due to childhood shots. But adult infections of the liver-attacking virus are...

BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE A New Year's Resolution.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
January 2, 2004... Byline: Robin Grugal 10 With corporate scandals continuing to dominate the headlines in 2003, one can only wonder what's in store for 2004. Might it be a turnaround year? Why not make it one for yourself? Think of the recent news as an...

Determination Distinguishes Them.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
January 2, 2004... Byline: IBD STAFF 2003 was no fairy tale for business. Indictments and scandals badly smudged some companies, U.S. troops remained in Iraq and consumer confidence didn't climb as much as expected. But the end of 2003 brought...

Inching Toward India: Trend In Outsourcing Takes Off; Tapping Cheaper Labor; Political backlash could follow offshore move as U.S. workers suffer.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: J. BONASIA The recent news that IBM Corp. will move nearly 5,000 programming jobs overseas highlights one of the biggest business trends of 2003 -- offshore outsourcing. More and more U.S. companies tapped the low cost of...

Top 10 Tech Stories Reveal Fast-Changing Landscape; Tech Firms Feeling Optimistic; Sales and stock prices rise, but industry must adapt to globalization, new rules.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: IBD STAFF 2003 got off to a rocky start for the tech industry. Fear of SARS chilled manufacturing in Asia. The imminent war in Iraq left investors and tech executives jittery. And businesses kept purse strings tight, putting off...

Chip Sales in '03 Beat Forecasts; How Long Will It Last?; Industry looks to return to 2000's record highs; Centrino gives a boost.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: JAMES DETAR When it came time for Craig Barrett to deliver a forecast for the chip industry, the Intel Corp. chief opted to quote Yogi Berra. "The future ain't what it used to be," said Barrett, speaking at a media event in...

It Came In Like Lamb, Went Out Like A Lion; Tech's On The March; Late spending rebound likely will keep boosting many technology stocks.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON One thing is certain regarding tech spending: 2003 ended much better than it began. The Commerce Department expected business spending on technology to end the year up 6.4% vs. 2002. Most tech surveys project a 5%...

2004 Forecast, Alas, Calls For More Worms, Viruses And Spam; Security's Importance Grows; Companies attack problem that nevertheless became even more severe in 2003.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Remember 2003? It was the year of the obnoxious visitor. Five big online attacks hit computer users. So did tons of spam, or junk e-mail, which grew to the status of security threat. Still muddling through the...

Some Companies Thrive In 2003; Strong Stock Gainers; Range of firms benefited after the economy rebounded in midyear.(THE NEW AMERICA)
January 2, 2004... Byline: MARILYN MUCH A soft economy. War. Weak spending at retail. A slowdown in tech spending. Those are just a few of the forces that companies covered on The New America page grappled with in 2003. But firms on the list of the...

IPO Debuts Increase Sharply In Last Two Quarters of Year; Investors Guardedly Hopeful; 2004 is expected to bring a normal level of new issues and proceeds.(THE NEW AMERICA)
January 2, 2004... Byline: MARILYN ALVA The three-year-old initial public offering deep freeze started to thaw out in the summer of 2003, and by year-end most of the ice had melted. Fifteen companies went public in November followed by another 18 in...

Scandal Fails To Derail Stock Funds From 33% Gain.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
January 2, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER If Frank Sinatra were still with us, he'd be crooning: "It was a very good year." And it wouldn't be some misty-eyed remembrance of romances past. He'd be singing about the stock market in 2003. Emerging from...

The Low-Lying Fruit.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
January 2, 2004... Government Spending: You'd think a state that's $20 billion in the hole would keep all its options open for cutting costs, especially where the costs are most out of control. Think again. In California, three of nine private prisons were...

Never Mind.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
January 2, 2004... Media Bias: Just last week we cited a news story suggesting that the mainstream media had gotten it at last on the economy. We should have knocked on wood. The story was from The Associated Press and noted that the 8.2% growth in the third...

Odds Say Spring Is All Dean, But Fall Will Belong To Bush.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
January 2, 2004... Byline: BRIAN MITCHELL Republicans and Democrats are both hoping history will repeat itself in 2004. But will the Democratic Party lurch left and lose the presidential election to an incumbent Republican, as in 1972? Or will a...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Dow, S&P 500 Finish Year At 52-Week Highs.(MAKING MONEY)
January 2, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO NYSE stocks posted small gains Wednesday to end 2003 on a positive note. The Dow industrials inched up 0.3% to a 21-month closing high and the S&P 500 0.2% to close at a 52-week high. Volume edged higher going into New...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
January 2, 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...

Chico's, Coach StartBases Off Recent High.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
January 2, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Chico's FAS gained over 50% from a July 8 breakout before hitting a new intraday high Dec. 2. The women's apparel retailer sliced its 50-day line three days later and found a bottom Dec. 16, reversing to close near its...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Ends With Biggest Annual Gain Since '99.(B)
January 2, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq eased 0.3% Wednesday on quieter trade ahead of the New Year's holiday. The composite index finished 2003 with a 50% gain. The Nasdaq 100 gained 49%. Cal-Maine Foods pulled back for a second straight...

Telecom Gear Supplier Inks Deal In Vietnam.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
January 2, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung UTStarcom nearly tripled from March to its high of 46.45 in August, then fell into a new base. The 34% correction knocked the stock below its 50-day moving average, but it's held up above the 200-day. The...

After Small Stocks Led Last Year, Will Big Caps Take Over In '04?; Some on Wall St. cite dividends, weak dollar; others say small is king.(A)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG In 2003, small-cap stocks straddled the bull's back while large caps hung on by the tail. Despite a sharp drop Wednesday, the small-cap S&P 600 index ended the year with a 37.5% gain, second only to the...

Dec. Factory Gains Fastest Since 1983; Hiring Ramping Up; Orders Index At 53-Yr High; Manufacturers growing so fast they've no choice but add jobs, experts say.(A)
January 5, 2004... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE The manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace in 20 years in December, a key index showed Friday, with factory employment showing a revival. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to...

MARKET TOOL BAR.(A)
January 5, 2004... S&P 500 INDEX 1108.48 -3.44 (-0.3%) Gainers lead despite reversal in indexes DOW JONES IND. 10,409.85 -44.07 (-0.4%) Reversal here is 140; buyers target Merck NYSE VOL. (MIL) 1,153 +118...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
January 5, 2004... Factory Activity At 20-Year High 1The ISM manufacturing index climbed 3.4 points to 66.2 in Dec., well above the boom-bust 50 mark. Economists had expected a small drop. The new orders index shot up to its highest level since 1950....

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... HUDSON UNITED exited its Central and South American businesses as it disclosed a U.S. government probe. The bank will take a $2.3 mil charge in Q4 and lose 3 cents a share in '04. U.S. STEEL will take a $69 mil Q4 charge for stock...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... FINANCE BofA faces SEC civil action Bank of America's San Francisco office received a Wells Notice from the SEC alleging it improperly stored documents related to an inquiry and failed to submit them in a timely manner. The No. 3 U.S....

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... Ciphergen dived 26% to 8.41 after slashing Q4 sales goals, saying competition hurt ProteinChip sales. Stanley Works named director John Opie interim chairman. A 7-month search has yet to yield a successor to John Trani, who retired Dec. 31....

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... TECHNOLOGY Advanced Power Tech. surges The power chip maker's shares rose 13% to a 52-week high of 9.73 after it forecast Q4 sales of $12.4 mil vs. its prior outlook of $11.5 mil-$12 mil, as orders jump 31%. But Advanced Power, which...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... ECRI weekly U.S. index eases Economic Cycle Research Institute's leading U.S. activity gauge slid 0.4 point to 130 in the week ended Dec. 26. The four-week annualized growth rate fell again, dropping to 9.7% from 10.4% the prior week. That...

NATION/WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... Banishment is back for Indians American Indian tribes, struggling against gangs and drugs, have revived the penalty of banishment. Bad Indians may be ordered off the reservation and stripped of tribal membership, thereby losing their share...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 5, 2004... TRENDS/INNOVATIONS Detroit ranks as fattest U.S. city In a Men's Fitness annual ranking, the motor city beat out 3-time winner Houston for the chubbiest residents. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Chicago followed. Western cities were...

HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING Think "Big-Payoff Goals'.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Cord Cooper 1 This year, forget New Year's resolutions that are easy -- swearing off broccoli or avoiding the DVD version of "Gigli." Try tackling high-payoff goals geared to efficiency and career bang for the buck. ...

Biggest Winner Of Them All; Tackle The Basics: Small-college coach John Gagliardi leads way to another title.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ John Gagliardi of St. John's University in Minnesota didn't start out the 2003 season planning to win a national championship. The winningest college football coach ever doesn't set such goals. He sets high...

IBM Hopes To Do Dick Tracy One Better; Teams up with Symbol to sell system featuring a wristwatch computer.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA Dick Tracy would be impressed. The cartoon detective had a two-way wrist radio to talk with headquarters. Today, warehouse or retail workers can use wrist computers to "talk" with their inventory database and...

Telecom Field Faces Big Questions; Will '04 Have Answers?(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 5, 2004... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Will telecom mergers finally pick up after a three-year lull? Will an improving economy spur demand for telecom services? Will capital spending rebound? Those are just a few of the questions facing the telecom...

Multifunction Trend Shaking Up The Handheld Device Industry; Solid Sales Expected In 2004; PDA, handset, camera -- one single, small product can fill a variety of roles.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 5, 2004... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ Cell phones with built-in cameras were surprise hot sellers in 2003, showing that consumers are looking for more capability from their mobile devices. Camera phones should continue to sell well in 2004, analysts...

Hosted Services Help Online Sellers Handle Crunch; Managing Holiday Sales; Hallmark Cards turns to IBM to run its eCards, flower delivery service.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA IBM Corp.'s Jim Corgel says the recent holiday shopping season energized an area called hosted e-business services. With this type of service, companies such as IBM run e-commerce sites and other business networks...

RESPIRONICS INC. Murrysville, Pennsylvania; A Breath Of Fresh Air In Sleep Apnea Market.(THE NEW AMERICA)
January 5, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH Snoring can mean more than nighttime frustration and daytime exhaustion for the partner who's kept awake. It can be a sign that the snorer's own life and health are at risk. The menace comes from a condition called...

SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY CO. Houston, Texas; It's What You Make, Not What You Spend.(THE NEW AMERICA)
January 5, 2004... Byline: ALAN R. ELLIOTT Cost control, Harold Korell will tell you, is one nasty word. "I remember from my days at Tenneco when somebody would say, "You've got to cut costs 10% this year,' you know: cost control," Korell said. "Then...

He Doesn't Have All The Answers.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(REAL SOLUTIONS: LEADERSHIP)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Morey Stettner When Paul Dolan became president of Fetzer Vineyards in 1992, he assumed everyone expected him to dish out knowledge and look smart all the time. "I wanted to be the bright guy who had all the answers," he said....

Written A Book? Publish It Yourself.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(REAL SOLUTIONS: ENTREPRENEURSHIP)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Morey Stettner After 20 years as a motivational speaker and consultant, Jim Ziegler knew all about selling and business strategy. So he decided to write a book. Rather than pitch his idea to traditional publishers, Ziegler...

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE Missing The Signs.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(EXECUTIVE BRIEFING)
January 5, 2004... Fewer than 4% of workers could identify common warning signs of potential violence. Those include changes in mood, personal hardships, mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, verbal threats and past history of violence. In a...

New Products Sell Well By Design; Form And Function: Target's designer wares are a hit with customers.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Dizzying products line miles of shelves in legions of stores across this country. Anyone daunted by holiday shopping can attest to that. So what does it take to make a product stand out? Start-ups and...

MED BRIEFS.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
January 5, 2004... Amerisource Loses VA Contract AmerisourceBergen lost a bid to remain the top drug vendor for the Veterans Affairs Department. The VA chose McKesson Corp. for the $2.9 bil-a-year contract. Amerisource cut its '04 earnings forecast by 40...

Market-Leading Medical Stocks.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
January 5, 2004... 1Arrhythmia Research TechMedical-ProductsHRT29.21-28.769799B1100021 Its medical technology and software can pick up signs of an impending heart attack that would escape a normal electrocardiogram. 2BioReliance...

Investigational Drug May Protect Body's White Cells; Drug Still Being Tested; White cells needed to beat infection, a result of radiation exposure.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
January 5, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH On Dec. 21, the Bush administration put the country on orange alert. Intelligence indicated another terrorist attack on the U.S. could be imminent. The government may have picked up signals of a chemical,...

Hospice Offers Hope For Those Who Want To End Life At Home; Patients Couldn't Be Cured; Unlike hospitals, hospices provide emotional support for family and friends too.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
January 5, 2004... Byline: GLORIA LAU Hospice is one of those services few people think about, unless they have a loved one who's dying. Ken and Lucy Francis of Dallas chose hospice care in 2000 when Lucy, then 64, developed lung cancer. The disease...

New Tests Can Detect Heart's Ails; Arrhythmia Research Tech; Fitchburg, Mass. Arthrt.com.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)(UNDER THE MICROSCOPE)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Amy Reeves Arrhythmia Research Technology, or ART, has been around for 22 years. But the tiny firm has flown under Wall Street's radar. Like many small medical companies, it was founded to take advantage of a new technology. In...

Who's Who Among Security and Safety Providers.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)
January 5, 2004... 1Mine Safety Appl.MSA988779.51973.4659.510526.620128.5 Pittsburgh, PA. Manufactures safety and health equipment for industrial workers. . 2Lakeland Ind.LAKE929118.161.388.1801415124.9 Ronkonkoma, NY. Makes protective garments and...

Big Boom In Basic Need: Security; A diversified industry rises up to meet threats both public and private.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(SECURITY AND SAFETY SERVICES)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL The stock market is experiencing a flight to safety -- but not the usual kind. This one is literal. In a season of heightened terror alerts, the focus on homeland security has helped lift stocks of security and...

At 90, Still Filling Gaps In Workers' Protection; Mine Safety Appliances; Electronic noses to sniff out chemicals are latest addition to product line.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(TOP OF THE LIST)
January 5, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Mine Safety Appliances Co. has learned to thrive with change. The adaptable firm profits by filling new needs as markets shift. Despite having to dig out a few times, it has come out on top. And it's among the...

Boost A Credit Score To Cut Loan Rates; Scoring Rules Are Key; Get lower interest rate by paying off balances, fixing errors on report.(FUNDS & PERSONAL FINANCE)(FINANCIAL PLANNING)
January 5, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF If you apply for a loan or credit card this year, the terms you get will hinge largely on your credit score. Lenders use the score in deciding whether to let you borrow money and at what interest rate. The...

Wheels Down.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
January 5, 2004... Homeland Security: A series of canceled international flights over the holiday period has been a welcome reminder that someone, as Jack Nicholson's character said in "A Few Good Men," is "on that wall." In a little more than a week, a...

Springtime For NEA.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
January 5, 2004... Federal Spending: Hard to believe that nearly 10 years have passed since the last big dust-up over funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Another 10 was probably too much to expect. You might remember the battles of 1994, when...

Re-election Economy Locks Bush In For A Second Term.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Lawrence Kudlow & William P. Kucewicz President Bush should win re-election handily if history is any guide. In the post-World War II era, nine other presidents have asked voters to return them to office. Of these, six won...

Weekly Volume Can Uncover Key Support.(THE IBD 100)(INSIDE THE IBD 100)
January 5, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO To understand the influence of big investors on a potential winning stock, take a step back and analyze weekly price and volume changes. It's important to note trading activity of mutual funds and other big buyers...

THE IBD 100.(THE IBD 100)
January 5, 2004... 1Sanfilippo Jhn B SonJBSS51.69-59997+69+322+24+3113633 What's so fancy about nuts? Company might not be a sexy tech but stock rallied 402% in '03. 2Schnitzer SteelSCHN60.75-59997+39+147+210+531513147 Oregon company sends scrap as...

Rocky Shoes & Boots Still Targets Hunters As Military Sales Grow.(THE IBD 100)
January 5, 2004... Byline: JONAH KERI Broadband, nanotechnology, biomedical research -- it's easy to get excited about the emerging industries gaining favor among investors. By taking over the family business, Mike Brooks pursued a considerably less...

IBD'S WEEK IN REVIEW.(THE IBD 100)
January 5, 2004... Market Breaks 3-Year Losing Streak 1The Nasdaq led the major averages last week with a 1.7% gain. When 2003 came to a close Wednesday, the tech-heavy index had scored a 50% surge, its first up year since a brutal bear market took hold of...

THE IBD 100.(THE IBD 100)
January 5, 2004... 51Eon LabsELAB51.27-109784+26+24+19+133131740 Court injunction halts launch of Bupropion, Eon's version of antidepressant Wellbutrin. 52HDFC BankHDB31.80-89782..+32..+271623..0 India-based private-sector bank drops 11% in 3 days...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
January 5, 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...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Dow, S&P 500 Lower As Housing Stocks Drop.(MAKING MONEY)
January 5, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO NYSE stocks rose early Friday, but soon lost steam, closing lower on their first day of trading in the new year. The Dow industrials shed 0.4% and the S&P 500 0.3%. Volume was slightly higher. The small-cap S&P 600...

Aeropostale Shaping 11-Week Base Bottom.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Aeropostale has been working on a base since hitting a new intraday high Oct. 15. It fell below its 50-day moving average Dec. 4 and still trades under the trend line, but appears to have found support above 26. The new...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Afternoon Selling Dampens Nasdaq's Early Gains.(B)
January 5, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER The Nasdaq managed to hold onto a 0.2% gain Friday as an afternoon sell-off sent the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 lower. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slid 0.3%. World Acceptance was the star of the day,...

Netflix's Handle Gets (Temporarily?) Waylaid.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: Ken Hoover Netflix continued to work on a handle of a nine-week base, but the day's action wasn't exactly what the doctor ordered. The stock started off smartly higher with good volume. But the afternoon sell-off in the general...

Gartner's Run-Up Predicated On Strong Stats.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(WINNING WAYS)
January 5, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER Gartner is in the consulting business. It helps its corporate clients keep abreast of changes in technology and the way business and consumers are using them. When it went public in 1993, it quickly became known as a...

Nanotechnology Stocks Saw Big Gains In '03, Some Without Earnings; Patents Likely To Have Value; Tennis rackets, pants and military Humvees among products using nanotech.(A)
January 6, 2004... Byline: MIKE ANGELL 2003 was a year to think small. An investor who had bought stocks of companies with the term "nano" (Greek for dwarf) in their names would have seen a return of 309% for 2003. Nanotechnology, a general term for very...

Steep U.S. Yield Curve Suggests Strong Economic Growth Ahead; 10-year vs. 1-year gap highest in several years, seen staying that way.(A)
January 6, 2004... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE The Federal Reserve's efforts to keep the recession at bay and interest rates at their lowest level in 45 years have helped push the Treasury yield curve to its steepest level in more than a decade. That has sent...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
January 6, 2004... Market Rally Yields New Highs 1 The major indexes surged in heavy trade. The Nasdaq jumped 2%, the Dow 1.3%, the S&P 500 1.2%, all three hitting 52-week highs. The small-cap S&P 600 rose 1.1%. Nasdaq volume hit its highest level since...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... STARBUCKS' Dec. same-store sales rose 11% due to demand for holiday beverages and gifts. It sees Q1 profit of 25-26 cents vs. its Nov. outlook of 24 cents. Its shares rose after hours. WAL-MART will buy back $7 bil of its shares, or 3.1% of...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... Bank of America will open 23 branches in the fast-growing South Florida area by '05. The No. 3 U.S. bank plans to open 550 branches nationwide over 3 years. Countrywide Financial COO Stanford Kurland has taken the extra post of president,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... RETAIL Kmart sales fall, but shares soar The discount retailer expects a Nov.-Dec. profit due to lean inventory and fewer unprofitable promotions. But same-store sales fell 13.5% vs. a year earlier. Total sales dived 26% to $5.1 bil...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... MEDICAL HMO stocks fall on downgrade Goldman Sachs downgraded the HMO sector to neutral from attractive on worries that pricing competition would eat into earnings. It also downgraded the stocks of industry players Humana and...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... TELECOM Nextel reaffirms '03 guidance The No. 5 U.S. mobile operator held to its Oct. forecast for at least $1.15 a share and 2.2 mil or more new subscribers. Analysts, which expect $1.18, think Nextel is being conservative. Nextel...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... Fed: scant risk of inflation jump Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn said the Fed will "at some point" need to tighten monetary policy as the expansion builds momentum and becomes broad-based. But he sees "little threat that inflation is...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... TRENDS/INNOVATIONS Sperm count falls 29% from '89 According to a study at the Aberdeen Fertility Centre in Scotland, the average sperm count in normal concentration of 20 mil sperm per milliliter fell by 29%. Researchers suspect...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
January 6, 2004... U.S. seeks end to beef bans Trade officials sought to reassure top U.S. beef importers Japan and Mexico that U.S. beef is safe, despite a case of mad cow disease. Japanese officials still doubt U.S. safeguards were strong enough. The USDA...