Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
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JEFF YASTINE: On Wall Street, wait-and-see was the order of the day. Stocks flat- lined through the morning session, before a small rally unfolded. The Dow up 30 points as the announcement time approached. Once the news hit the wires, down stocks went on disappointment there was not some clue on when the rate hike cycle would be over. The Dow dropped 95 1/2 points to close at 11,154.54. The NASDAQ Composite falling over 11 points to 2304.46 and the S&P 500 dropping 8 1/3 points to 1293.23. In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries fell sharply, with most bond traders focusing on the Fed`s statement that more rate hikes may be needed. The 10-year note falling 19/32 to 97 25/32, with the yield at 4.79 percent.
Now let`s take a look at some stocks in the news tonight.
And starting things off today, Lucent Tech (LU) dropping $0.04.
Time Warner (TWX) dropping $0.19.
EMC Corp (EMC) down $0.35.
General Electric (GE) also off a fraction.
Pfizer (PFE) dropping $0.41. The drug company being sued by several labor unions. They accuse Pfizer of marketing its Lipitor cholesterol drug for uses outside of Federal guidelines. Therefore the unions claim they spent billions more in prescription overpayments by union members.
ExxonMobil (XOM) down $0.34.
Citigroup (C) finished down a fraction.
Bank of America (BAC) also losing $0.76 on somewhat higher interest rates, the result of that Fed meeting today.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down $1.04.
Unitedhealth Group (UNN) also losing $0.61.
After the close, shares of Boston Properties (BXP) jumped nearly $4 in after hours on news it will be added to the S&P 500 index. That`s on Friday. It will replace Synergy.
And then another real estate investment trust, Kimco Realty (KIM) rising $0.63. In regular trading, but up over to $40 - above $40. In after hours it will replace Jefferson Pilot after the market closed. That`s on Monday.
Shares in Eli Lilly (LLY) falling over $2. The drug maker coming in for a round of analyst downgrades, concerned about a lack of new product development in that drug development pipeline.
Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) rising over $3. The oil field services company will split its businesses into two groups in order for them both to pursue better strategic growth opportunities.
And then Best Buy Co (BBY) climbing $0.41. Credit Suisse raised its price target on the stock to $59 a share. That`s ahead of fourth quarter results which the company reports on Thursday and the retailers already indicate a strong demand for a lot of its products during the holiday, should have a nice earnings boost there.
Shares in Manitowoc Co (MTW) also getting a nice boost, up over $9. Demand for construction cranes overseas giving a nice lift to this year`s profits. Management raised its fiscal first quarter estimates by about 30 percent.
And Lennar (LEN) rising over $0.71. The home builder saw first quarter profits rise by more than 30 percent but orders for new homes rose by only 4 percent. CEO Stuart Miller sees signs of weakness in the broader housing market, still optimistic about future growth for his company though.
On the downside, ElkCorp (ELK) falling more than $3. The company, which makes roofing materials cutting its profit estimates. ElkCorp says it`s costing more to produce and ship goods into areas hit by last year`s hurricanes.
And then Luby`s Inc (LUB) skidded over $3 on disappointing quarterly profits. Earnings in the second quarter came in to about $0.04 below analyst estimates.
Over on the NASDAQ, Google (GOOG) climbed over $7. A new report says Google picked up market share in Internet search activity over Yahoo! and MSN.
Apple Computer (AAPL) falling $0.80.
Microsoft (MSFT) also down for the day.
Intel (INTC) down a fraction.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) losing $0.36.
But we have Ebay (EBAY) which gained $1.72.
Yahoo! (YHOO) also a winner today.
Level 3 Communications (LVLT) gaining $0.71.
Amgen (AMGN) and Oracle (ORCL) both on the downside.
Hythiam (HYTM) gained $1.47. UBS upped its price target. Hythiam has a promising treatment for abusers of alcohol and controlled substances.
Then Color Kinetics (CLRK) rising over $2. The company develops lighting systems based on LED technology. The firm`s cofounder is moving to more of a research role, while someone else takes over his former position as chief technology officer.
Then Oplink Communications (OPLK) dropped $1.54. The optical networking firm coming in for an analyst downgrade. That analyst noting potential inventory build up at one of Oplink`s major Chinese customers.
And finally on the American exchange, Pioneer Drilling Co (PDC) rising $1.17. That`s on an analyst upgrade.
And those are our stocks in the news tonight.
