Wall Street was little changed Friday as investors surveyed the landscape both at home and abroad, and figured the best course of action was to do pretty much nothing.
Share prices flitted in and out of positive territory throughout the day, with traders looking like they'd regained their confidence one moment, only to turn around and run for cover the next. Most stocks slipped into the minus column only in the last few minutes of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 14.15 points to close at 9822.24, and the Wired Index was 7.71 lower at 616.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.48 to 2419.32, and the S&P 500 was down 7.19 at 1282.80.
Traders aren't disenchanted with the market's prospects. They're just playing it safe, especially with the Fed's policy-making committee set to convene on Tuesday. Most observers expect Greenspan & Co. to stand pat on interest rates, but you never know with these guys.
"The mood is constructive," said Rao Chalasani, chief investment strategist at Everen Securities. "The market is holding on."
The bolder traders were actively searching for bargains left over from the big sell-off several days ago. Others were sticking to the sidelines while sizing up the situation in the Balkans. (And it is a bit baffling why NATO thinks centuries of stupid ethnic hatred can be solved with a few smart bombs.)
Chalasani doesn't think Kosovo will have much of an impact on the market -- unless Russia takes some action. "Russia is the key," he said, noting that Wall Street would react very poorly indeed if Moscow's opposition to the bombing of Yugoslavia resulted in a return to the economic chaos that devastated US financial institutions last year.
Barring catastrophe abroad, is it premature to start talking about the Dow making another 10K run?
"I think it's going to happen more sooner than later," Chalasani answered. "There's a lot of liquidity out there, and that will push the market up."
Tech stocks didn't see much of that liquidity. After two days of spectacular advances, they were running considerably slower as investors locked in some of their recent gains before splitting town for the weekend.
Dell Computer (DELL) shed 25 cents to US$37.88, while IBM (IBM) was $1.38 higher at $172.69. Microsoft (MSFT) slipped $1.81 to $178.13 amid uncertainty over settlement prospects in the company's antitrust trial.
But there's very little uncertainty where the Internet's concerned; investors still can't get enough of the dot-com club. Case in point: Autobytel.com (ABTL) accelerated 75 percent to $40.25 on its first day of trading. The online car dealer debuted with 4.5 million shares initially priced at $23 apiece. Autobytel had tried to go public a couple of years ago, but backed off in the face of what it called unfavorable market conditions.
Among the old guard, Amazon.com (AMZN) dropped 81 cents to $139.06 on speculation that the online bookseller is planning to launch an auction service. Don't see why they wouldn't -- everyone else is doing it.
Separately, Amazon has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to boost its number of authorized common shares to 1.5 billion from 300 million. The company hopes to use all that extra cash to finance additional acquisitions -- like an established auctioneer, perhaps? -- and to make sure nobody thinks of making an unwanted play for Amazon itself.
In the meantime, online retailer CyberShop International (CYSP) jumped 21 percent to $13.13 as it unveiled its own auction service. CEO Jeffrey Tauber said the new feature will "enable us to differentiate ourselves from other off-price retailers." Sure, until they all launch auction services of their own.
An outfit called SpeedUs.com (SPDE), which provides broadband broadcasting services in the New York area, surged 115 percent to $3.16 after reporting a 1998 profit of 57 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of 95 cents a year earlier. The company also said it has finished installing new Linux-based Internet technology, giving it the capability for digital video transmissions.
Sony (SNE) had been rumored to be chatting up Charles Schwab about launching an online trading service in Japan. Now it looks like Sony is taking a different course. The company said it will buy a 50 percent stake in a new electronic brokerage being set up by Oki Matsumoto, an adviser at Goldman Sachs. But investors weren't sure if this was the shrewdest possible move for an electronics and entertainment heavyweight, and Sony's stock eased $4 to $94.63.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikko Securities said it too will set up an online brokerage this fall. According to the Nihon Keizai newspaper, Nikko will partner with a systems development concern run by Timothy McCarthy, formerly president of Schwab.
It's only a matter of time, of course, before everyone in Japan is getting into online auctions as well.
One other IPO of note: Valley Media (VMIX) climbed 26 percent to $20.13 after debuting with 3.5 million shares initially priced at $16 each. And get this -- the company, which distributes music and video to retail shops, isn't even an Internet player. Go figure.
BMC Software (BMCS) rose $2.50 to $37.69 as Warburg Dillon Read reiterated a "strong buy" rating for the company's stock. International Microcomputer Software (IMSI), meanwhile, dropped $1 to $10.25 after warning that it may post a greater-than-expected loss of as much as 75 cents a share for the latest quarter.
Nextel Communications (NXTL) gained 13 percent to $37.88 amid speculation that the wireless-service provider will be purchased by MCI WorldCom, which has made no secret of its desire to get into the mobile-phone business. MCI (WCOM) was down $1.13 at $89.88.
Lastly, Disney (DIS) fell 50 cents to $32.88 after a federal court ruled that the Mouse House must pay more than $9 million to a European outfit called Marsu for not adequately promoting a comic-book character called Marsupilami.
Marsupilami? The Wall Street Journal helpfully described this rascally fellow as "a yellow and black animal" that's "a cross between a mouse and a marsupial." Apparently Disney agreed back in 1990 to make Marsupilami a TV and merchandising star. For some reason, though, the company never got around to piling onto the Marsupilami bandwagon.
Can't imagine why.
