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COPYRIGHT 2005 Voxant Inc.
Original Source: NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT
PAUL KANGAS, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT ANCHOR: The third quarter goes out like a lamb on Wall Street with stocks barely budging in trading today as investors play their cards close to the vest. We look ahead to what the fourth quarter on Wall Street could bring.
SUSIE GHARIB, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT ANCHOR: And we look back with Sam Stovall of Standard & Poor`s. He`ll run down the winners and losers of the third quarter, when it came to stocks.
KANGAS: You`re not the only one making fewer trips these days to save on gas. American Airlines is canceling some flights to save money on jet fuel and it may not be the only carrier doing that.
GHARIB: And no close shaves for Gillette. U.S. regulators give the green light to its buyout by Procter & Gamble. But the final deal will have some strings attached.
KANGAS: I`m Paul Kangas.
GHARIB: And I`m Susie Gharib. This is NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT for Friday, September 30.
Good evening, everyone. Stocks wrapped up the third quarter on an up note. The Dow gained almost 16 points and the NASDAQ rose 10. In fact, all the major averages posted gains for the quarter even though stocks have traded sideways since July`s big rally. Scott Gurvey takes a look at how the fourth quarter is shaping up.
SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The markets closed the quarter with a whimper as investors moved to the sidelines to plot their moves for the fourth quarter. Looking ahead analysts note that higher energy prices are having a negative impact on consumer confidence. They say that means less spending, lower corporate profits and more rough sledding for the equity markets. The Dow has in fact barely budged since the first of the year while the more broadly based S&P 500 gained about three point seven percent. A poor holiday spending season is the market watcher`s biggest fear as it is usually the best selling season for most sectors in the economy.
ARNIM HOLZER, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, DEUTSCHE ASSET MANAGEMENT: We think that when heating bills hit the consumer for this fourth quarter you could have 40 percent, 50 percent increases in heating bills over the last year, that`s going to have a tendency to reduce consumer behavior. That might make the fourth quarter a little bit soft in terms of equity performance. We see you know, potentially a one, two or three percent gain this quarter. Not much more than that.
GURVEY: One of the biggest problems in forecasting the fourth quarter is the problem in getting a good assessment of the damage from hurricane`s Katrina and Rita. Much of the nation`s refineries and gas generating capacity remains off line. But while investors have their eyes on energy prices the experts say that monetary policy may be the biggest unknown in the fourth quarter, the Federal Reserve has yet give some indication of how just high it will push interest rates.
ERNEST ANKRIM, CHIEF INVESTMENT STRATEGIST, RUSSELL INVESTMENT: What we can`t predict with perfect vision is exactly how quickly we`ll get up to high levels of production; what the winter will be like. These things are uncertain. But what the long term effect on the market is I think is more driven by the fed`s stance on how they proceed in their monetary policy and interest rate targets and that may not fully unwind before the year`s done.
GURVEY: The earnings pre-announcement season arrives in earnest...
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