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Subject: NASDAQ Amex Market
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 13:00:39 EST
Message-ID: <4.1992Nov2.130040@AmeriCast.com>

11/2/92


TITLE NASDAQ Amex Market Nasdaq Absorbs Profit-Taking, Ends Mixed

Tokos Medical Extends Gain To 57/8 In Last Three Sessions

Lance Ignon The Nasdaq market closed narrowly mixed Friday, re-
covering some of the losses incurred by profit-taking early in
the session.  The Nasdaq composite index eased 0.65 point, or
0.11%, to 605.82. The index was down as much as 3.56 points but
rallied near the close.  Despite two days of losses at the begin-
ning of the week, the index gained 8.05 points for the week after
rising 1.5% on Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday's advances led de-
clines 1,267 to 1,112 as volume contracted 10% to 214 million
shares. Eighty-three issues posted new highs and 47 closed at new
lows.  Bill Punk, managing director of Punk, Ziegel & Knoell,
called the action "orderly profit-taking." Punk said technology
and, to a lesser degree, medical stocks, have shown marked im-
provement lately, moving up sharply, then backing off modestly
before advancing again.

"Clearly people are coming into some of the secondary stocks," he
said. "There's a lot of good value in the Over-The-Counter market
and people are starting to recognize that." Punk said investors
will be glued to election results Tuesday before determining
their next step.  On the listed exchanges, the New York Stock Ex-
change composite index slipped 0.37%, but the American Stock Ex-
change market value index rose 0.11% as winners led 378 to 229.
Profit-takers zeroed in on the Nasdaq's networking stocks, which
have been the leading performers in the technology group. SynOp-
tics Communications Corp., up 5.5 in the previous two outings,
backed down 11/2 to 61. Wellfleet Communications Inc.-
 lost 11/8 to 525/8 Cisco Systems Inc. a point to 60 and Novell
Inc. 1 to 301/2.  Among software developers, Autodesk Inc. fell
11/2 to 503/4 and Microsoft Corp. 11/4 to 883/4.  Semiconductor
stocks did better. Intel Corp. gained a point to 671/2 and was
the session's second-most active issue with nearly 2.8 million
shares traded. Altera Corp. climbed a point to 117/8 in heavy
trading of 1.4 million shares.  Among medical stocks, Curaflex
Health Services Inc., a member of the battered outpatient medical
industry, plummeted 3 to 51/2 in heavy trade. After Thursday's
close, the provider of home infusion therapy posted a third-
quarter profit of 7 cents a share, up 40% from a year earlier but
far below the pace of the first and second periods, when profits
soared 700% and 267%.

Curaflex came public at $13 a share in March, about the time the
home health-care industry started to fall from favor. One of the
better performers of 1991, the Medical - Outpatient/Home Care in-
dex has dropped about 37% this year.  Once seen as a low-cost al-
ternative to hospitals, home health-care companies have come
under increasing pricing pressure from insurance firms, especial-
ly managed-care health plans.  Not all members of the group fared
poorly, however. Tokos Medical Medical Corp.- , rose 17/8 to
227/8 after climbing four points in the previous two sessions. At
1.8 million shares, trading was four times average.  The Santa
Ana, Calif.-based company specializes in treating women at risk
from premature births. Its stock picked up support last week from
upbeat comments by a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel
about a controversial drug similar to one Tokos uses.  The FDA
panel recommended further study of the drug, ritordine. But it
also said it had no major concerns about its safety. It also said
ritordine, nearly identical to a drug used by Tokos, helped delay
pre-term labor until patients could be moved to a hospital.
"It's an extremely positive event," said Howard Rosencrans,
analyst with HD Brous & Co. in Great Neck, N.Y. "The bears were
hovering, thinking this was the beginning of the end." But even
with last week's advance, Tokos is still trading 50% below its
January peak. The stock took a big hit earlier in the week, fal-
ling 41/8 in one session, after the company reported a third-
quarter profit of 14 cents a share - 11 cents below expectations
collected by Zacks Investment Research Inc.

On the upside, Corvel Corp., a medical-cost management service,
jumped 23/4 to 14. A company spokesman noted that it doesn't take
much to drive up the stock, given that it has an effective float
of only about 1.7 million shares.  Less than two weeks ago, the
Irvine, Calif.-based firm reported a fiscal second-quarter profit
of 15 cents a share, 67% better than a year ago.  Elsewhere,
Roadway Services Inc. drove up 2 to 683/4 in lower than average
volume. An anti-trust suit against the Akron, Ohio, trucking com-
pany was dismissed.  An initial public offering of 2.3 million
shares from Microtest Inc. got a warm welcome. The issue was
priced at $14.50 but first traded at 173/4 and closing the day at
17.  In Amex action, U.S. Cellular Corp. added 1 to 183/4. Ken-
neth Meyers, the company's vice president of finance, attributed
the action to a block of 100,000 shares purchased early in the
session. He said he didn't know who made the purchase but noted
that the stock is thinly traded and widely held by institutions.

"When one of them comes in or out, it usually has a significant
effect," on the stock price, he said.  Johnson Products Co. which
emerged from a four-month base two weeks ago, vaulted 3 to 215/8
as 28,400 shares changed hands, 16 times average. The Chicago-
based cosmetics maker posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of
$1.38 a share - up 331% from a year earlier. Johnson Products ad-
ded that gross margins continued to improve in the fourth period.
For the year ended in August, profits rose 80% to $2.86 a share
for the year.

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