Biotech sterk na doorbraak stamcellen.

De biotech fondsen vielen op door de de doorbraak bij expirimenten met stamcellen. Aan de andere kant viel bij deze sector Imclone op die binnen 5 min. 30% verloor na geruchten. De handel werd meteen stilgelegd. Nabeurs stond het fonds opnieuw op de koers van voor de daling.

Imclone door geruchten zwaar omlaag gedrukt om nabeurs weer te herstellen, de Nasdaq start een onderzoek..

• 18:11 ET Thursday After Hours : prices levels vs. 4 pm ET: A fairly listless trade in the after hours, where the S&P futures, at 1151, are flat with fair value, and the Nasdaq 100 futures, at 1502, are 1 point below fair value. A few earnings warnings tonight have squashed widespread buying interest in the night's trade.
• Analog Devices (ADI) +5% : - Analog semiconductor manufacturer exceeds the Q1 (Jan) Reuters Research consensus EPS and revenue estimates after already having issued a better than expected outlook on Nov 18; Company again puts out guidance above the Street's forecasts - says Q2 (Apr) EPS should be $0.34-0.35 on revenues of $650-665 mln; Competitors LLTC and MXIM trade higher as well

• Dell Computer +1% : - Computer systems maker beats the Q4 (Jan) consensus EPS estimate by a penny on revenues that rose 18% to $11.51 bln; Puts its Q1 (Apr) outlook in line with the market's expectation; Stock initially drifts lower in the extended session, and then moves slightly higher.

• Imclone (IMCL) +31% : - Biotech issue spikes after the Nasdaq re-opens it for trading at 16:20 ET; Stock was halted after falling 27% in 5 minutes time, just prior to the FDA's announcement of Erbitux's approval for cancer in combination with a standard chemotherapy; Nasdaq is now investigating those trades right before the announcement as 684,420 shares changed hands.

• Nvidia (NVDA) -6% : - Fabless semiconductor name comes in light on revenues in its Q4 (Jan) report and warns for sales in Q1 (Apr); On its call, Nvidia puts revenues at flat to down 5% sequentially and gross margins at 30% or more; Cites Xbox sales that should not improve (or even decline) in Q1 for the softness, Stock fell 3% in the regular session
• 17:50 ET Business Week discusses BAC future : Business Week states that some big U.S. and European banks are eyeing Bank of America (BAC) as a possible partner. On fundamentals alone, BAC stock, now at $81.65, is worth $96, says Jeffrey Kleintop of PNC Advisors, which owns shares. BAC's strategy is to be an acquisitor, "but it could be a target," he says, because of its hefty slice of U.S. consumer and commercial banking. "I'm not sure with whom, but there's an opportunity [for BofA] for an overseas partnership," says Kleintop. Kleintop says the revival of M&As, the bank's highest-margin business, bodes well for BAC as it ranked No. 3 in U.S. deals in the past quarter.

• 17:26 ET Business Week comments on CHINA's comeback 10.90 -0.05: Business Week states that after Chinadotcom's (CHINA) IPO at $20 in 1999, the stock soared to $85 in 2000, before falling to $1.80 in 2001. The stock has come back to $10.90 as of the Feb. 12 close and, finally, it is making money. Jason Brueschke of Pac Growth estimates 2003 EPS of $0.13 per share, on sales of $87 mln, in line with Reuters consensus. And in 2004, he sees EPS of $0.36, on $236 mln, also in line with Reuters consensus. Brueschke sees huge potential in both software and wireless, estimating that the 300mln wireless phone subscribers will jump to 500 mln by 2007. Co will spin off its wireless business soon. Patrick Lin of Primarius Capital, which owns shares, says the phone IPO could be priced at $5-8. Lin says CHINA is a way to play "companies with strong earnings growth in Asia".

• 15:53 ET Bond Market Summary : Treasuries saw some decent whipsaw action today, spending much of the morning bid on disappointing retail sales and jobless claims reports. Mr. Greenspan and his interrogators in the Senate initially helped the market hang higher around the 4.01% level, but the uptick petered out heading into the ten-year auction. The auction was unimpressive, although indirect (read foreign central banks) participation was an impressive 45% vs the previous 24%, and it was also notable that primaries came in for a piddling amount. The fact that "the street doesn't want to own these [ten-years] should spook the market," noted one market maven, as more attention has been paid lately to the potential consequences of the foreign buying binges (for more on this, please see out recent Bond Column entitled "Economic Piñata"). The yen and euro were range-bound all day, with both improving slightly against the dollar. The market was chased lower into the close, with yields on the tens pushing up to 4.065% from 4.023%. The tens are currently -06/32nds yielding 4.056%; twos and threes are unch yielding 1.704% and 2.239% respectively; fives are -04/32nds yielding 3.058%; thirties are -15/32nds yielding 4.931%.

• 12:04 ET TASR: Can't put it any better than this Briefing subscriber's statement: "Not a short covering but a short assassination" 60.91 +11.21: Note the recent Wall Street Journal article that suggested it might be a bad time to take out a fresh short position ahead of co's 3-for-1 split.

• 12:01 ET Notable Mentions: Intel 30.94 -0.05: In a morning note, J.P Morgan commented that it has been concerned since Dec on the deteriorating laptop data. Firm says the laptop weakness is disconcerting as J.P. Morgan's Overweight rating on name is based on firm's belief in continued strength in laptops driving upside for the company. Although one month of bad data does not make a qtr, this is the third month in a row that laptop unit sales have been below expectations. If a pick up in laptop shipments during the month of February is not seen, firm believes the likelihood of Intel raising estimates is slim. As a result, its outlook for Intel stock might become less optimistic. 10:35 ET Floor Talk: PSFT : Further checks on both the buy and sell side suggest the HPQ-for-PSFT rumor is likely false. In fact, checking institutional desks with both hardware and software specializations illicited a primarily baffled response as to how this rumor was even conjured up as a possibility

• 09:51 ET PSFT lifts on rumor that HPQ has dropped out of conference, sparking rumor that they will make a bid 22.11 +0.61: However, it is being suggested that the cancellation is not tied to any planned bid for PeopleSoft.