Nov. 21–STOCKS SAG AMID TERRORISM WORRIES: Last week, I quoted a stock market analyst saying the slippage in stock prices is a “pause that refreshes.”<\/p>\n
It was no surprise that solid gains in September and October prompted a bout of selling in November.<\/p>\n
But as Wall Street heads into the Thanksgiving holiday week, the pause has turned into a siesta.<\/p>\n
“There is growing technical evidence that, at the very least, the rally may be tiring,” said technical market researchers at Smith Barney.<\/p>\n
The Dow Jones industrial average on Thursday dropped 71.04 points, to 9619.42. The Dow is off nearly 240 points from its Nov. 3 peak of 9858. So far in November, the Dow has advanced in only three sessions.<\/p>\n
Analysts point to a decline in trading volume, an increase in the daily number of losing stocks vs. winning stocks and an increase in trading volume of declining stocks.<\/p>\n
“Declining volume is now overwhelming advancing volume for the first time since July,” the Smith Barney analysts reported.<\/p>\n
Whereas investors were eager to seek bargains on market declines earlier this fall, “the trend of buying on dips has been replaced,” said Fane Lozman, chairman of the market-monitoring service Scanshift. “Now they are consistently selling [during] rallies and new lows are being made.”<\/p>\n
For a while, this month’s sell-off in large-capitalization technology stocks was offset by a rally in big-name drug stocks. But the drug sector stalled this week.<\/p>\n
Financial-services stocks, the sector with the biggest weight in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, have been under pressure since early November, as headlines about mutual fund malfeasance increased and investors anticipated higher interest rates next year.<\/p>\n
THURSDAY’S ACTION: Stocks closed lower in thin trading amid new terrorist bombings in Turkey and pre-Thanksgiving malaise on Wall Street.<\/p>\n
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan added his voice to the chorus of critics against the Bush administration’s protectionist policies.<\/p>\n
Without citing this week’s decision by the White House to place import quotas on certain apparel items from China, Greenspan told a conference in Washington, “Some clouds of emerging protectionism have been increasingly visible on today’s horizon.”<\/p>\n
Given the massive U.S. debt to the rest of the world, “the costs of any new protectionist initiatives . . . could significantly erode the flexibility of the global economy. Consequently, it is imperative that creeping protectionism be thwarted and reversed,” Greenspan said.<\/p>\n
Only three of the 30 Dow stocks — McDonald’s, Altria Group and United Technologies — posted gains.<\/p>\n
The S&P 500 index fell 8.79, to 1033.65. The Nasdaq composite index lost 17.73, to 1881.92. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks eased 2.54, to 523.08.<\/p>\n
New York Stock Exchange trading volume reached 1.29 billion shares. Nasdaq trading volume totaled 1.74 billion shares.<\/p>\n
Department store chain Dillard’s saw its shares jump in after-hours trading. The company posted a third-quarter loss that was bigger than last year’s, but less than forecast by analysts. Walt Disney rose in after-hours trading. Its fourth-quarter results topped analysts’ estimates.<\/p>\n
Treasury securities closed higher, despite upbeat economic reports. The dollar resumed its slide against major currencies after a one-day rally.<\/p>\n
Wheat and soybean prices recovered at the Chicago Board of Trade. Fears eased that China would cancel expected purchases because of the Bush administration’s plan to limit apparel imports from China.<\/p>\n
LOCAL NEWS: Mary Keefe, head of the Midwest regional office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, plans to leave the agency in December to join Citadel Investment Group, a global hedge fund with headquarters in Chicago. She joined the SEC in 1982 and has been regional director since 1994.<\/p>\n
First Midwest Bancorp, Itasca, boosted its quarterly dividend to 22 cents a share from 19 cents, payable Jan. 20 to shareholders of record Dec. 26.<\/p>\n
General Growth Properties, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, will distribute a 3-for-1 stock split on Dec. 5.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
To see more of the Chicago Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http:\/\/www.chicago.tribune.com\/<\/p>\n
(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder\/Tribune Business News.<\/p>\n
DJ, MCD, MO, UTX, DDS, GGP,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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