Investor's Business Daily articles from March 2004

Investor's Business Daily archives from March 2004

Labor Unions, Strikes Losing Effectiveness; Grocery stores, unions endured painful losses during California strike.(A)
March 1, 2004... Byline: DAVID ISAAC "We knew it was going to take a fight, but we didn't know it was going to take this long," said Marcus Good, a produce clerk at an Albertsons grocery near Culver City, Calif. Good says he has been praying that the 4...

Fast Factory Growth Spurs Job Creation In Midwest Region; Q4 GDP Revised Up To 4.1%; Capital investment gains are fueling manufacturing; outlook strong for sector.(A)
March 1, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM Chicago-area factories continued to ramp up strongly in February, leading more firms to add jobs than cut them. Meanwhile, the government said the economy grew slightly faster in the fourth quarter than first estimated....

MARKET TOOL BAR.(A)
March 1, 2004... S&P 500 INDEX 1144.94 +0.03 (0.0%) Index is indecisive, but gainers lead 2-1 DOW JONES IND. 10,583.92 +3.78 (0.0%) But utilities up 1.2% to a 20-month high NYSE VOL. (MIL) 1,550 +160...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
March 1, 2004... Judge Drops Top Stewart Charge 1The judge said there wasn't enough proof that Martha Stewart committed securities fraud by proclaiming her innocence just to boost her firm's stock. The charge had worried corporate America. Stewart still...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... OBIE MEDIA will not release Q4 and fiscal '03 results on March 1 as planned. The advertising vendor said it's looking at timing-of-revenue accounting. Shares fell more than 20%. THE APOLLO GROUP said a U.S. district court dismissed...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... DEFENSE Halliburton adds oversight group The conglomerate, accused of overcharging the U.S. govt. for food and fuel in Iraq, said it's forming a group to oversee the accounting on its Iraq contracts. Halliburton was responding to...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... MEDIA Court blocks Black/Barclay deal A U.S. judge ruled against the former CEO of Hollinger International and his plan to sell control of the publishing conglomerate to the Barclay brothers. Conrad Black said he disagreed with the...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... MEDICAL J&J to buy out Merck 50% stake Johnson & Johnson will acquire Merck's 50% interest in the drug companies' European joint venture, which markets "switch" drugs that start as prescription drugs and then move over the counter....

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... FINANCE Grasso hangs on to NYSE payout Former NYSE Chairman Dick Grasso won't return any of the $139.5 mil in compensation he received in '03 and may go after the exchange for an added $50 mil, according to reports. Grasso's lawyer...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... Another weak sentiment showing The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 94.4 in Feb. from 103.8 in Jan, which itself was the highest in over three years. The drop echoes those in the Conference Board's Consumer...

BUSINESS BRIEFS/IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... DIVERSIFIED SPX falls 21% after guiding down The industrial manufacturer's stock fell $11.30 to $42 a share after it said it expects '04 profit of only $3.41-$3.60. Analysts had expected $3.85. At least 2 analysts downgraded the maker...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... Move to extend 9-11 probe panel House Speaker Dennis Hastert agreed to give the independent panel probing the Sept. 11 attacks more time to finish its work, clearing the way for Congress to formally OK a two-month extension. Hastert's...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... Iraqi leaders split on constitution Iraq's Governing Council made a final try to agree on an interim constitution Friday, but big issues, including the shape of the presidency, the extent of Kurdish autonomy and the role of Islam, were...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... Airlines urged to weigh travelers A probe into the crash of a US Airways flight last year that killed all 21 people aboard has prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to recommend airlines periodically weigh passengers and bags...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
March 1, 2004... ** Eating 3 apples a day can significantly cut the risk of death from coronary heart disease, said U.S. scientist Mark Pereira. The health benefits from eating fiber seem to be strongest when fiber comes from cereals and fruit rather than...

Control The Negotiation.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Cord Cooper Second Of Two Parts 1 If your opponent limits the agenda when negotiating, figure out what he has to gain. Chances are he's controlling the scope so he can control the outcome. If you lose your grip on the...

Larry Bird's Got Drive To Burn; Shoot For The Top: Basketball superstar never stops improving himself.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: JONAH KERI Larry Bird was on fire, and everyone in the arena knew it. It was a regular-season game in 1985, and Bird had already scored more than 50 points against the Atlanta Hawks. Long-range bombs, impossible runners, hook...

Makers Of Child-Tracking Technology Find Big Potential Market; Trackers Evolving, Shrinking; Kidnapping fears also are driving sales of cell phones, which parents give to kids.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
March 1, 2004... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ Recent high-profile kidnapping cases have raised interest in technology for tracking and locating children. Privately held Wherify Wireless Inc. soon will begin selling a pendant-sized device that combines a...

Beyond Mere Storage, EMC Manages Data's Life.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
March 1, 2004... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON EMC Corp. has spent $3.5 billion in the last five months buying three software companies. This month, it launched a wave of new data storage systems. The company will tell you the acquisitions and products are all...

Too Many Missteps In Intel's Flash Dance; Can Former Leader Regroup?(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
March 1, 2004... Byline: JAMES DETAR The world's largest chipmaker seldom loses its grip on a market, but Intel Corp. did just that in flash memory. In a report set to be released Monday, research firm iSuppli Corp. says Intel last year fell to No. 4...

JARDEN CORP. Rye, New York; Home Canning Supplier Plays Its Cards Right.(THE NEW AMERICA)
March 1, 2004... Byline: ADELIA CELLINI LINECKER When Jarden Corp. makes a purchase, Wall Street takes note. Check the company's stock. It shot up late last week after Jarden agreed to fork over $232 million in cash for privately held United States...

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)
March 1, 2004... HOME-BASED BUSINESS I Underinsured . . . Most of America's 11 million home-based businesses are vulnerable to significant financial losses because they don't have proper insurance coverage. When asked about the lack of insurance,...

Boost Career Through Networking.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(REAL SOLUTIONS: JOB SEARCH)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Morey Stettner You may think that once you land a job that pays more than $100,000 a year, your days of networking are over. Think again. "Networking is really a lifelong attitude that breeds success," said David Opton, founder...

Winning The Interview Game With Reporters.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)(REAL SOLUTIONS: MEDIA RELATIONS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Morey Stettner When a reporter calls, the biggest mistake executives make is to shift into panic mode. They may worry so much about saying something wrong or getting misquoted that they wind up talking themselves into trouble. ...

When Is It Time For A New CEO?; Leadership: Changing demands make it tougher for CEOs to stick around.(MANAGING FOR SUCCESS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL When is it time for the CEO to go? A battle for the Walt Disney Co. is headed for a showdown at a shareholder meeting Wednesday. The drama highlights issues firms face in deciding when and if to make room for...

MED BRIEFS.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
March 1, 2004... Drugstore Chain Up For Sale Retailer J.C. Penney Co. said it plans to sell its Eckerd drugstore chain. Eckerd, classified by Penney as "discontinued operations," ranks as the country's fourth-largest drugstore chain, behind Walgreen Co.,...

Hospital Chain's Rural Focus Gives It An Edge; Health Mgmt. Associates Inc.; Naples, Fla. hma-corp.com.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)(UNDER THE MICROSCOPE)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Gloria Lau The hospital industry has had its share of ups and downs the past decade. But through it all, Health Management Associates keeps delivering financial growth. The hospital chain has posted 14 straight years of annual...

New Cancer Drugs Offer Patients Hope, Drug Makers Success; Some Medicines Prolong Life; That's one reason leading pharmaceutical firms see strong sales growth ahead.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
March 1, 2004... Byline: GLORIA LAU Until recently, cancer was considered hard to treat -- a disease few survived. Doctors even joked about oncologists having cardiology envy. Heart disease patients, unlike people with cancer, have many proven...

R&D Funding Goes Up On Bioterrorism Fears.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)(Q & A)
March 1, 2004... Byline: AMY REEVES In the age of terrorism, it's perhaps not the biggest weapons that give people nightmares. It's the smallest. The mysterious appearance of the poison ricin in Sen. Bill Frist's office recently reminded us of how...

Market-Leading Medical Stocks.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)
March 1, 2004... 1Escalon Medical Corp.ProductsESMC11.313.489897A090015 The maker of eye drugs and diagnostic and surgical products saw fiscal Q2 EPS rise 90% to 19 cents. Sales climbed 15% to $3.8 mil. 2Arrhythmia Research...

Who's Who in Medical Systems & Equipment Top 18 of 89 stocks priced $15 and over ranked by a combined EPS and Relative Strength.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)
March 1, 2004... 1LaserscopeLSCP819723.63416.257.460004120.9 San Jose, CA. Medical lasers for office/outpatient surgical center/hospital markets. 2Fisher ScientificFSH987853.613345.23564.43134.919384.4 Hampton, NH. 600,000+ scientific products for...

Killing Cancer Tumors With Sniper Accuracy; Varian Medical Systems radiates health, thanks to its multileaf collimator.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(INDUSTRY LEADER)
March 1, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH These are the best of times at Varian Medical Systems, the nation's top maker of radiation equipment to kill cancer tumors. The numbers speak for themselves: Coming off a fiscal 2003 that was the Palo Alto, Calif.,...

A Baby Boom For Medical Devices; The aging and affluent are spending, and demanding, more to stay active.(INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT)(MEDICAL SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT)
March 1, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH The universe has aligned to give the medical technology industry prime conditions to flourish. Baby boomers, 78 million of them, are one-third of the U.S. population. They won't give in to aging. Instead, they'll...

Stock Funds Pulled In $43.76 Bil In Jan.; 3rd Highest On Record; Feb. looks more normal at estimated $15.4 bil; bond funds also positive.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Investors shoveled $43.76 billion into stock funds in January, the third-biggest month on record, the Investment Company Institute said. The January figure compared with $14.18 billion in December and was the...

Tax Test.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... California: The state has a chance to put the worst of its budget troubles behind it -- as long as the electorate can see through a spending-lobby scam. Voters in what was once the nation's biggest fiscal wreck will be at the polls...

Centrist Planning.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... Election 2004: Sen. John Kerry is being sold as a middle-of-the-road lawmaker. Don't buy it. His 2003 voting record puts him further left than anyone in the Senate. Yes, even to the left of Sen. Barbara Boxer of California and Sen. Hillary...

No Reason For Bush Or Stocks To Sweat An Upturn In Rates.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
March 1, 2004... Byline: ALAN REYNOLDS When Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan speaks, the market listens. What it is listening for, as I explained before, is not his views on fiscal policy but some hint about how long the Fed will try to keep the fed funds...

Credit Where It Is Due Will Benefit Uninsured.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(BRAIN TRUST)
March 1, 2004... Byline: MERRILL MATTHEWS JR. In 1992, Bill Clinton turned the issue of the uninsured and health care reform into a national debate. President George H.W. Bush, caught unprepared, responded half-heartedly with an unworkable plan that no one...

Pullback Lets Leaders Form Fresh Bases.(THE IBD 100)(INSIDE THE IBD 100)
March 1, 2004... Byline: JONAH KERI The Nasdaq's recent decline knocked a lot of leading stocks off their collective perch. But with stocks now trying to make their way back up, now's not the time to give up and lose track of the market. Just the...

THE IBD 100.(THE IBD 100)
March 1, 2004... 1S S & C TechnologiesSSNC50.79+29997+23+40+44+1013..404 Financial software developer expands trading products with $1.6 mil acquisition of NeoVision. 2Inter ParfumsIPAR28.00-149896+42+64+14+541213820 Perfume maker accelerates...

China's Voracious Steel Demand Fires Up Fording Canadian Coal.(THE IBD 100)
March 1, 2004... Byline: JONAH KERI When a government loosens controls and encourages business in an emerging market, the effects can be astounding. Few nations exemplify that kind of boom better than China. As the country of nearly 1.3 billion people...

IBD'S WEEK IN REVIEW.(THE IBD 100)
March 1, 2004... Market Mixed; Nasdaq Below 50-Day 1The blue-chip Dow industrial average and tech-rich Nasdaq lost ground last week. Smaller stocks advanced as the small-cap S&P 600 climbed 1.3%. The Nasdaq's losing streak grew to six weeks, its longest...

THE IBD 100.(THE IBD 100)
March 1, 2004... 51Giant Industries IncGI19.40-38197..+204..+24....200 Petroleum products refiner in long-term crude oil supply pact with U.S. unit of Norway's Statoil. 52OmnicellOMCL20.38-78197+122+200+500+39..8353 Provider of health care...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
March 1, 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 Lower For The Week, But S&P 500 Higher.(MAKING MONEY)
March 1, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO The Dow industrials closed 0.04% higher Friday but finished 0.3% lower for the week. The S&P 500 was flat for the day but a tad higher for the week. Small-caps fared better as the S&P 600 rose 0.2% Friday, ending the...

Jefferies, Overseas Etching 5-Week Bases.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Jefferies Group has been working on a base since hitting a new intraday high Jan. 21. Sound bases need at least seven weeks to form, so you might want to keep this on your watch list the next few weeks. It looks like...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Edges Down To Post Rare Monthly Loss.(B)
March 1, 2004... Byline: CRAIG SHAW Techs ended a seesaw session with slight losses Friday as positive economic data failed to spur lasting gains. The Nasdaq lost 0.1% on heavier trade, the Nasdaq 100 0.5%. For February, the index shed 1.8%, its first down...

Software Firm Helps Call Centers Improve.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Witness Systems collapsed from 14.51 in March of 2002 to a low of 1.97 in September that year. Since then, the stock has rebounded sharply, returning past the $10 level. The stock is now near previous resistance...

Ryan's Mega Bar Served Up Delicious Profits.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(WINNING WAYS)
March 1, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER When Ryan's Family Steak Houses started a big move in late 1985, it had just come up with what would turn out to be a nifty idea: the 60-item Mega Bar, offering fare from chicken pot pie to Caesar salad. The idea...

Factories Growing Fast, Forced To Start Hiring, Feb. ISM Gauge Finds; Jobs Index At 17-Year High; Increasing delivery times also signal productivity alone can't meet demand.(A)
March 2, 2004... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE Manufacturing's recovery rolled on in February, according to a key industry survey out Monday, with signs that factory hiring finally may be taking place. The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index...

Calif. Can OK $15 Bil Bond Issue, Or Keep Using Short-Term Debt; A "no' vote on Prop. 57 would renew old tricks; belt-tightening too late.(A)
March 2, 2004... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Californians face a tough proposition at the polls Tuesday. After years of running up red ink, the state is asking them to approve Proposition 57, a $15 billion bond measure. Most polls suggest voters will...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
March 2, 2004... ISM Index Signals Factory Hiring 1The key manufacturing gauge fell to 61.4 in Feb. from Jan.'s 20-year high of 63.6. That's the 9th straight month over the boom-bust 50 mark and the 4th above 60. The jobs subindex jumped to 56.3, the...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... HOVNANIAN met Q1 views for a 29% rise to $1.74 a share. It cited lower-than-expected costs and strong demand for luxury homes. Revenue rose 24% to $775 mil, a little below views. It raised its '04 outlook to over $9.50. Analysts expect $9.36....

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... TELECOM Rigas' $2.3 bil fraud trial opens Prosecutors alleged that John Rigas, the founder and ex-CEO of bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications, used $2.3 bil in off-balance-sheet loans to cover margin calls on Adelphia stock...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... TECHNOLOGY Semiconductor sales up 26.6% Worldwide sales of the chip components were propelled by Chinese demand, said the Semiconductor Industry Association. Sales rose to $15.5 bil in Jan., up from $12.28 bil in the year-ago period,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... MEDICAL Sepracor soars on insomnia drug The drug firm got conditional FDA approval for Estorra. The U.S. will give final clearance after Sepracor meets undisclosed conditions, but it will not require more drug testing, thus speeding...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... FINANCE Citi mutual funds investigated The world's No. 1 financial services firm said the SEC is probing its mutual fund market timing, fees and sales practices, and investigating how it became transfer agent for its Smith Barney...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... Home prices surge higher in Q4 Average U.S. home prices rose 3.67%, a pickup from Q3's 1.58% gain and easily the biggest quarterly jump in data going back to '90, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said. That brought the...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... McDermott International warned it will miss Q4 estimates due to a cash crunch in its marine construction arm and a bankruptcy settlement. Shares fell 24% to 8.76. Appliance maker Maytag stuck by its outlook of 42-47 cents a share in Q1 and...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... White House to target painkillers Its drug policy office will develop a monitoring system to target the abuse of painkillers, part of an effort to halt the practice of "doctor shopping." Director of Drug Policy John Walters said 20 states...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... Pakistan: No deal on troops Military officials denied reports that it had OK'd U.S. troops hunting for Osama bin Laden in Pakistan as quid pro quo after President Musharraf pardoned top scientist Abdul Khan for leaking nuclear secrets. ...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... Survey shows bigger hips, waists The SizeUSA survey, which measured 10,000 Americans to determine average sizes, found that people are getting rounder in the waist and hips. The average woman is now considered a size 14, up from a size 8,...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
March 2, 2004... ** Coca-Cola will establish the Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness to study health and nutrition, with a focus on beverages. ** The IRS allows taxpayers who spend more than 7.5% of their gross income on obesity-fighting medical...

DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS Do It One Step At A Time.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
March 2, 2004... Byline: Michael Krey 2 When Khalid Khannouchi had dinner with John Bingham in 1999, it was a meeting of two of the best-known men in U.S. long distance running -- and two big goal setters. A week earlier, Khannouchi had set a...

Anne Bradstreet: Mother, Poet; Power Of Words: America's first published bard built an oeuvre in her off-hours.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
March 2, 2004... Byline: AMY ALEXANDER "I'm too busy" were words that poet Anne Bradstreet didn't say. Her chief time-management tactic was simple: She knew what was important to her, and let that steer her minutes. She focused mostly on being a good...

Bradstreet At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
March 2, 2004... Bradstreet At A Glance Born: 1612 in Northampton, England. Died: 1672 in Andover, Mass. Achievements: ** Became the first North American to publish a book of poetry, "The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America," in 1650. The...

Microsoft Aims To See Green With "Green'; Planting Seed For Big Thrust?; Some see Project Green, software for the midmarket, as entry to enterprise field.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
March 2, 2004... Byline: J. BONASIA The secretive plan is code-named Project Green. Microsoft Corp. says the name stems from a programmer's love of golf. Some analysts say the name hints at the green the company hopes to rake in. The world's...

Yahoo's Search Effort Could Save Viewpoint; Can They Nail Toolbar?(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
March 2, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS Viewpoint Corp. is hitching its fortunes to Yahoo Inc. The struggling software company is developing a new search toolbar for Yahoo users -- a move it hopes will fuel a comeback. Yahoo, meanwhile, sees the new...

Hummingbird Aims To Make Sense Of Unstructured Data.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
March 2, 2004... Byline: J. BONASIA For a company named after a tiny creature, Hummingbird Ltd. has big plans. Hummingbird was founded in Toronto in 1984 as a consulting firm for voice and data integration. It later became a maker of portal software...

TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS INC. Sunnyvale, Calif.; A Digital Revolution That Will Be Televised.(THE NEW AMERICA)
March 2, 2004... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE Television is headed for a revolution not seen since the first color sets were introduced a half century ago. High-definition sets are going to become the standard, thanks to new technology and a mandate from the...

OPEN TEXT CORP. Waterloo, Ontario; Software Firm Buys Into Acquisition Strategy.(THE NEW AMERICA)
March 2, 2004... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Organic growth is all well and good. But sometimes there's nothing like an old-fashioned buyout to build a company's prowess. Tom Jenkins can tell you all about it. He's chief executive of Open Text Corp., which...

Rising Tide Aids Fidelity Export Fund; Home Builders Strong; Fund finds more outfits with good fundamentals and fewer bargain prices.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)
March 2, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF For Timothy Cohen, the economic recovery means less shopping for stocks in the bargain bin. His $1.15 billion Fidelity Export & Multinational Fund looks for growth stocks with good valuations. These days he can...

Progress Report.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
March 2, 2004... Iraq: Negotiators agreed Monday on an interim constitution that moves the country closer to holding free elections and enjoying representative government. We can't stress enough how important this development is. The constitution isn't the...

No Early Exit.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
March 2, 2004... Caribbean: Haiti's government has once again fallen apart, and chaos has a firmer grip on the sad little nation than its former rulers ever had. If ever there was a case for U.S.-backed nation building, this is it. We're well aware of the...

LETTERS.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(Letter to the Editor)
March 2, 2004... The Federal Reserve Bully After reading "Getting Personal" (Editorial, Thursday) on Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's comments about Social Security, I am thoroughly appalled at him for going after baby boomers' Social Security...

Handwriting Is On The Wall For Tomorrow's Job Seekers.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
March 2, 2004... Byline: BRUCE BARTLETT The Bureau of Labor Statistics has just issued a new report on employment growth over the next decade. Prepared by the agency's career staff, it has an excellent record of forecasting industry and occupational...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Stocks Advance As Small Caps Post New High.(MAKING MONEY)
March 2, 2004... Byline: CRAIG SHAW NYSE stocks gained ground Monday as factory data suggested a jobs turnaround may be on the horizon. The Dow industrials jumped 0.9%, the S&P 500 1%. The small-cap S&P 600 climbed 1.7% to close at a new high. Twenty-eight...

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

Sporting Goods Chain Traces Quiet Handle.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
March 2, 2004... Byline: Craig Shaw Sports Authority hasn't touched its 50-day moving average since mid-January as the stock weathers a choppy market. It has added a five-week handle to its base after its Jan. 26 push to new highs failed. It marked the...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Gains 1.4%, Closes Above 50-Day Line.(B)
March 2, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO The Nasdaq composite rallied to close at its intraday high Monday, gaining 1.4% and reclaiming its 50-day moving average for the first time in seven sessions. Volume was slightly lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose...

Chipmaker ATI Starts Base-On-Base Pattern.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
March 2, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo ATI Technologies emerged from a 13-week base Jan. 6. But after hitting a three-year intraday high Jan. 20, the Canadian maker of 3D graphics chips pulled back to start a new base on top of the prior one. Down weeks on...

Dollar Rally Ramps Up On Job Growth Hopes, Fed Rate Hike Worries; 2004 Highs Vs. Euro, Yen; But rebound may not last because U.S. trade gap is still rising, experts say.(A)
March 3, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM The dollar's two-week rally gathered steam Tuesday amid growing expectations that a strong employment report Friday would start the clock ticking on a Federal Reserve rate hike. The dollar surged nearly 2% vs. the...

Disney CEO Eisner Faces Revolt Just As Firm's Fortunes Improve; Foes cite old mistakes as Disney shares jump after lagging for years.(A)
March 3, 2004... Byline: JONAH KERI A revolt led by former board director Roy Disney could oust Walt Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner at the annual shareholders meeting, which starts Wednesday. But the question is: Why now? Disney stopped...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
March 3, 2004... Iraq Attacks Kill More Than 100 1At least 143 people, and perhaps 200 or more, died as suicide bombers targeted multiple Shiite shrines in Baghdad and Karbala. It was the deadliest day since Saddam Hussein's fall. Officials suspect...