County stock index dips; Level 3, Exabyte higher

C/NET Investor

Earnings jitters sent technology issues lower this session, as analysts voiced their concerns about the health of the sector.

Downgrades sent techs tumbling, but news of consolidation in the financial sector sent banks ahead, arm in arm with retail stocks, which bounced back after their late summer slump. This duo pulled the Dow back into the center ring, but Wall Street continued to worry about the earnings season ahead. “We’re not going anywhere, we have some earnings coming up, but we’re in a period where all earnings pre-announcements will be negative,´ said money manager Noah Blackstein, with Toronto’s Dynamic Power American Fund. “There have not been enough negative pre-announcements to hurt, but people are nervous ahead of them,” Blackstein said.

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The Dow ended in the black for the session ending Sept. 13, adding 78.80 points and closing at 11182.18. The Boulder County Business Stock Index headed the other way, losing 112.15 points, or 2.38 percent, and ending at 4590.59. Declining issues edged past advancing issues 35 to 32.

Level 3 Communications earned billing as our top dollar gainer for the second session in a row after the company announced a new service offering telephone-quality voice communication over the Internet. The service, which will be offered later this year in major markets like Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, allows customers to place calls over computers and Internet protocol phones. Level 3 added 7.81 points, or 9.33 percent, to close at $91.56.

Exabyte Corp. increased 3.5 points, or 59.57 percent this session, and closed at $9.38. First Security Van Kasper initiated coverage on Exabyte with a “strong buy” rating and a 12-month price target of $23. Data storage analyst Brion Tanous said in a research note that “We are convinced that the company’s CreekPath Systems, Inc. subsidiary has the superior technology and business model to capitalize on the potentially enormous storage service provider (SSP) market over the next several years.” Exabyte was our top percentage gainer.

Shares of Evoke tanked this session, despite a “strong buy” reiteration by CIBC World Markets’ analyst John Corcoran, and the announcement that it has been selected by Film Scouts to provide streaming delivery for events and movie trailers on the Web site www.filmscouts.com. Evoke shed 2.44 points, or 23.35 percent, and was our top percentage loser. Evoke closed at $8.