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Nasdaq Holds Gains; Up 1.8% On Strong Volume

Nasdaq stocks clung to gains earned in an early surge Wednesday, ignited by a flurry of mostly positive economic data.

The composite finished up 1.8%, near the top of its trading range. Volume ran about 10% higher for the day, as the index followed through on the seventh day of its latest rally attempt.

Nasdaq’s advancing issues led decliners by about 2-to-1, and more than 80 of the Nasdaq 100 companies registered gains for the day.

A number of leading stocks staged solid moves.

Priceline () jumped 4.36 to 119.73, boosting shares to new highs on solid volume. The online travel services provider is 25% above the 96.09 buy point on a pullback to its 10-week moving average line.

Sigma Designs () gapped up, adding 4.23 to 71.15. The video chip maker popped above a pullback buy point of 60.75 on Nov. 29, after pummeling Q3 earnings views. It is now scoring new highs on solid volume.

China-based 3-D online games developer Perfect World () posted a 12% gain, rising 3.13 to 29.12. The stock has climbed in seven of the eight sessions since Nov. 26, when it launched the expansion pack for its “Perfect World II” online game.

Auto auctioneer Copart () gapped up, adding 2.82 to 39.85 after reporting better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results. Shares broke out of a five-week consolidation on triple normal volume.

Vocus () also gapped up, rising 3.27 to 36.08 after a Ferris Baker analyst upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. If the public relations and communications software products maker does not rise above the 38.10 buy point soon, its five-week-old pullback to the 10-week line might become part of a base.

Another gap-up, Synovis Life Technology, () tacked on a 2.89 gain to 22.22. The surgical instrument and supplies maker topped analysts’ fiscal Q4 EPS views by 33%. The 15% jump boosted the stock, which is six weeks into a possible base, above its 10-week moving average for the first time in five weeks.

The day’s downside moves included a painful reversal by Solarfun Power. () It dumped 2.30, or 9%, to 23.95 after rising as high as 31.80 in intraday trading. The China-based solar systems maker had surged 126% in the prior four sessions.

Bankrate, () an online financial information services provider, also tumbled, down 2.23 to 35.92, hitting its lowest point since August.

Japanese industrial output falls in January for 1st time in 3 months - UPDATE

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Industrial output fell last month for the first time in three months as makers of automobiles and general machinery reduced their production, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry show.

The index of the output of factories and mines last month, at 108.0 points, was a seasonally adjusted 1.5 pct lower than in December, when it had gained 0.9 pct month-on-month to reach a record 109.5 points.

However, the ministry is keeping its assessment of industrial output unchanged, saying that, on the whole, it is on a rising trend.

And the decline in the index last month was smaller than the market’s consensus forecast of a month-on-month fall of 1.9 pct and the ministry’s estimate of a drop of 2.8 pct.

Compared to a year before, industrial output last month was 4.3 pct higher, rising for the 18th consecutive month.

The ministry predicted that output this month would be 1.8 pct lower than in January, but that it would surge by 2.4 pct month-on-month in March.

Production last month in the transportation equipment sector, which includes makers of automobiles, was 10.2 pct lower than in December, falling for the first time in four months, because of the lower output of standard-size vehicles. The output of cars with an engine displacement of over 2,000 cc dropped by 9.7 pct because fewer new models were launched into the market.

Production in the general machinery sector, which includes manufacturers of equipment for making semiconductors and flat panels, declined by 1.7 pct, falling for the fifth month in the past eight. Output of equipment for making flat panels fell 5.4 pct because fewer flat-screen television sets were sold than in the year-end shopping season.

Production in the electronic devices sector increased by 0.4 pct, rising for the 17th month in the past 21, led by a rise of 31.1 pct in the output of charge-coupled devices used in digital cameras. But the output of small liquid crystal display panels fell by 4.3 pct and the output of large LCD panels fell by 6.3 pct.

Production of electronic toys dropped 18.7 pct, having risen by 11.4 pct in December, as Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo Co Ltd reduced their output of new game consoles.

The inventory index for the electronic devices sector (which the Bank of Japan is closely watching to see if there is any inventory adjustment risk) was 1.4 pct higher last month than in December, rising for the eighth month in the past nine.

(1 usd = 118.24 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@xfn.com

For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com

Mueller Named New Qwest CEO

(08-13) 15:19 PDT DENVER, (AP) —

Edward A. Mueller had been on the job as Qwest Communications’ new CEO for just a few hours when the questions began to fly Д what about a video strategy? M&A? Airwaves auction? The longtime telecommunications industry vet and former head of Williams-Sonoma Inc. had a quick answer to each Д he wants time to explore each business strategy before making major decisions.

“I don’t come in with a mandate to do something different,” he said Monday. “Obviously, there are challenges in any business, and we’re in a sector that is changing as we speak. I do think we win in the end of the day not through technology, but through people and service.”

Qwest Communications International Inc., which operates a nationwide fiber optics network and a telephone service in 14 mostly Western states, late Sunday tapped Mueller, 60, (pronounced Miller) to replace retiring Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Notebaert.

The board believes Mueller’s telecom and retail background will prove valuable as Qwest continues to whittle a niche in the evolving telecommunications landscape.

It’s a familiar position for Mueller, who followed Notebaert at Ameritech Corp. Notebaert resigned as CEO in 1999 after the company was acquired by SBC Communications, and Mueller became president and CEO of SBC Ameritech, the subsidiary of SBC Communications Inc., in 2000.

“He seems like a fine choice,” Janco Partners analyst Donna Jaegers said. “He’s got good experience with the Bell system and good experience with a Bell company that might have had some limits” on funds for buying and upgrading physical assets.

Notebaert said Mueller was his No. 1 choice as a successor because of his industry and retail experience. “Ed also is someone I have known for a very long time, so I feel very confident that he is the right leader for Qwest at this point in time,” he said.

Notebaert took charge of a financially troubled Qwest after the resignation of then-CEO Joe Nacchio in June 2002 when it was mired in a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal that forced the company to restate at least $2.2 billion in revenue.

Nacchio was convicted of insider trading in April, sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $71 million in forfeitures and fines.

In the past five years, Notebaert and his team worked to turn Qwest around, including waging a bitter bidding war for MCI Inc. that eventually was won by Verizon Communications Inc.

Last year, Qwest posted its first operating profit since acquiring the former Baby Bell U S West Inc. in 2000. The stock price has risen from about $5 a share when Notebaert became CEO to about $10.45 a share prior to his announcement of retirement. He leaves Qwest effective Wednesday.

On Monday, the stock rose 13 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $8.50.

Mueller takes over as Qwest competes for customers in the era of bundled packages offering telephone, wireless, Internet and television services.

Qwest vies with Comcast Corp. across much of its Western territory, countering the cable giant’s package with telephone and DSL service, reselling wireless service and DirecTV satellite television.

Qwest has a limited television service, which Mueller believes is a good strategy since the Internet is becoming more of a key factor in video with streaming or downloaded TV shows and movies.

“It’s highly likely that video could be delivered in a different way. And I’m not counting out satellite or the wireless capability,” he said.

Mueller said his financial and business strategies are similar to those of Notebaert so his challenge going forward will be to drive revenue growth and continue to reward shareholders.

He plans to focus on fundamentals such as customer service and disciplined spending, and has no plans for mergers or acquisitions. “We can be more nimble,” he said. “We have not committed huge capital money in any one direction at this point.”

Among the strategies he said he will research is next year’s airwaves auction featuring spectrum that has the ability to travel long distances and penetrate walls easily.

Mueller has more than 34 years of experience in telecommunications and was president and CEO of Ameritech from 2000 to 2002. He sits on the boards of VeriSign Inc., Clorox Co. and GSC Acquisition Co.

He will earn an annual base salary of $1.2 million and a target bonus of up to twice that amount, Qwest said. During 2007, Mueller will receive a guaranteed minimum bonus of $947,000.

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Associated Press Writer Colleen Slevin contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

«www.qwest.com»

US Congress Discusses Yen Manipulation

This week, the US Congress conducted a hearing on Currency Manipulation And Its Effects On American Businesses And Workers, for which it invited numerous experts to weigh in on undervalued currencies. Among those who testified was General Motors Chief Economist, who discussed Japans purported policy of holding down the Yen, within the context of the auto industry. He argued that by maintaining an already large and growing reserve of foreign exchange, by purchasing US assets through quasi-governmental institutions, and by threatening to intervene in forex markets if the Yen appreciated, Japan has successfully prevented the Yen from rising over the last few years, despite such a course being justified by economic fundamentals.

Japan’s policies provided anywhere from a $2,000 to $14,000 cash windfall for each of the 2.2 million vehicles Japan’s automakers exported to the U.S. in 2006.

Read More: http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/11-05-07_1

Oops, I Screwed Up My Negotiations

Dear Liz,

I have started a new job, and I realize I didn’t negotiate the role, title, or compensation as well as I might have. I did ask a lot of questions, but I can see after three months on the job that I accepted a lower title, a lower salary, and a smaller role than I should have, based on the backgrounds of the other leaders in the company. I took a director job and I should be a vice-president, as my skills and experience are at least at the same level as the other VPs here. Based on job openings I see posted on the company’s Web site, I should be paid about $15K more than I am. How do I say to my boss, “I’d like to renegotiate my offer?”

Yours,
Karly

Dear Karly,

When you buy a house, you have an opportunity to look around and open the closets and bring in an inspector to dig a little deeper. After you’ve bought the house, unless the seller failed to disclose the presence of lead paint or a faulty roof or some other defect, you’re stuck. It’s very similar when you accept a job offer.

During the interview and negotiation period, you have the opportunity to ask a wide range of questions. You have the opportunity to seek out people who have worked for the company, and/or its customers and suppliers. You say you asked a lot of questions, but perhaps you didn’t ask the right ones or talk to the right people. I realize that may sound harsh and doesn’t do you a lot of good right now, because once you’ve accepted the offer, you’re done. You can’t renegotiate. You just can’t say, “Oops, I accepted the offer before I understood the ramifications—I take it back.” You wouldn’t appreciate the company reneging on its deal—and they have the same standard for you.

You can quit the job if the mismatch is extreme. But if you don’t want to look for another job just yet, here’s what you can do to redeem this situation. You can sit down with your manager and say, “I am excited about the opportunity to show you what I’m capable of. My goal is to rise within the company by demonstrating tremendous results here. I want to understand your goals for me and my position over the next year, and then I want to exceed those targets.”

Then, with your manager’s help, you can create a road map to get you to the title, position, and salary you want. Follow that road map and, even if within six months or a year you don’t get what you want/deserve from this company, you’ll have some significant achievements to put on your rйsumй that should help you in your next job search, which you’ll approach a little differently from this one.

Cheers,
Liz