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December 29, 2000

Closing Market Numbers

DJIA              10788.75     -80.01     -0.74%
Nasdaq             2471.98     -85.78     -3.35%
S&P 500            1320.50     -13.72     -1.03%
Russell 2000        466.63     +3.64      +0.79%
30-Year Bond     111 17/32     -3/16    5.45 Yield

FOOL 50           1,678.73     -12.79     -0.76%

Inside Today's QuickNews

1. Roundup: Foolish takes on Symantec, Sega, Wards, and more.
2. Today's Market Movers: Top news and active stocks.
3. Editors' Pick: One great feature you shouldn't miss.

FOOL ON THE HILL An Investment Opinion
Investor Fantasy vs. Reality
By Brian Graney (TMF Panic)

Stocks are a great place to build personal wealth over time, but many investors want more than just long-term appreciation. The search for consistent outperformance continues, even though it is a lost cause. Investors should realize early on in their investing careers that periods of underperformance are unavoidable, even for the greatest investors.
FULL STORY

Aftermath of Network Associates' Shortfall
By Mike Trigg (TMF Tonto)

Just as it seemed Network Associates had put 1999's accounting troubles behind it, new legal issues loom. Plus, in a competitive industry, any chink in the armor can damage a company's mindshare, which can ultimately affect market share. The door has been left open for Symantec to make additional gains in the enterprise market.
FULL STORY

Holiday Shopping, Dot-Com Style
By Nico Detourn (TMF Nico)

The curtain is coming down on the last holiday shopping season of the true millennium, and early reports indicate it wasn't one to write home about. It was an especially critical season for e-commerce, a late-millennium addition to the buying-and-selling scene. We'll have to wait to read the official fourth-quarter and year-end results. Until then, we'll have to make do with reading traffic signs.
FULL STORY

FOOL PLATE SPECIAL An Investment Opinion
Montgomery Wards Closes for Good
By Paul Larson (TMF Parlay)

Yesterday marked the end of a retailing era as Montgomery Wards announced it will be closing all 250 of its stores for good on January 15. A reported 37,000 Wards employees will be losing their jobs as the evidence of an economic slowdown continues to mount.
FULL STORY

Game Over for Sega?
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMF Edible)

This morning's Asian Wall Street Journal says Sega will pull out of the video game console business to concentrate on more lucrative software endeavors. Naturally the company is denying the report: Why abandon the system publicly until the last possible moment? But the reality is that the video game market is about to get even more competitive in the year ahead with two new machines coming out. The top dogs have always been rotating in a niche where there seems to be no room for third -- much less fourth -- place.
FULL STORY

BREAKFAST WITH THE FOOL
Providian Agrees to Settle Lawsuits
By Mike Trigg (TMF Tonto)

Credit-card provider Providian Financial announced after the market's close yesterday that it settled a series of consumer class-action lawsuits for $105 million, including attorneys' fees and restitution in the form of cash and other payments. According to the company, the decision was part of an effort to leave its legal troubles behind. The company also reaffirmed that fourth-quarter forecasts would not change.
FULL STORY

Today's Market Movers

Ups

Shares of competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) Intermedia Communications (Nasdaq: ICIX) jumped $2.25 to $7.19 today after WorldCom (Nasdaq: WCOM) said in a SEC filing that it expects to close on its planned acquisition of the company in Q1. The deal's completion has been in doubt, as shareholders of Web hosting company Digex (Nasdaq: DIGX) haven't been happy about the transaction. WorldCom is after Intermedia's 54% stake in Digex, whose stock lost $3.50 to $22.50 today.

Network connectivity products maker Osicom Technologies (Nasdaq: FIBR) shot up $3.81 to $16.06 today following the spread of a story, first published on the Light Reading website, that Sycamore Networks (Nasdaq: SCMR) might be looking at a buyout to get its hands on Osicom's Sorrento Networks division. No sources were named in the original story, and neither company would comment.

Patent information provider Information Holdings (NYSE: IHI) moved up $1.69 to $23.44 after it said it expects fourth-quarter net income of between $0.10 and $0.12 per share, well above the Street consensus estimate of $0.06. Revenues are expected to come in between $22 million and $23 million. According to a Bloomberg interview with CEO Mason Slaine, the better-than-expected earnings are the result of its Transcender unit, which teaches information technology workers about Internet certification and is benefiting from a worker shortage in the United States. 

Elderly communities operator Sunrise Assisted Living (Nasdaq: SNRZ) rose $2.50 to $25 on news that it will sell nine properties for $131 million to a partnership associated with Prudential Real Estate Investments. Sunrise will continue managing the properties. Including that transaction, Sunrise has agreed to sell or has already sold 22 properties for $314.1 million this year. The deals are part of a plan to sell 15 to 20 holdings every year while still continuing to manage them. The company also said it's comfortable with earlier forecasts for a Q4 profit between $0.37 and $0.40 per share. The Street expects $0.40.

Downs

Digital Internet access equipment maker Westell Technologies (Nasdaq: WSTL) shed $1.43 to $3.06 after announcing that third-quarter results would fall short of previous estimates because of a slowing economy and weak demand for its products. The company expects revenues in the current period, which ends Dec. 31, to be between $76 million and $78 million. The Street was expecting roughly $92.3 million. For the period ending March 31, the company cut its forecast to expect sales between $75 million and $80 million, well off the $121 million Street consensus.

Integrated circuit manufacturing equipment maker Nanometrics (Nasdaq: NANO) lost $3.19 to $13.81 on news that it expects to report Q4 revenues of about $20 million. The company had previously guided investors toward top line growth of between 8% and 10% over Q3's $20.7 million. The company blamed "shipment rescheduling by a large customer in Korea late in the quarter."

Digital video technologies specialist Optibase (Nasdaq: OBAS) gave away $0.63 to $6.63 following the announcement that it expects break-even net income (before charges) in Q4 and EPS of between and a nickel and a quarter per share in 2001. Two analysts surveyed by First Call were looking for $0.15 in Q4 and $0.61 next year. The company's board approved a buyback of up to 1 million shares.

CacheFlow (Nasdaq: CFLO) retreated $4 to $17.06 today as the company, which makes technology that improves the flow of content over the Internet, was downgraded to "neutral" from "attractive" by Bear, Stearns & Co. analyst Robert Fagin.

Editors' Pick: One Great Feature You Shouldn't Miss