Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Thursday, March 30, 2006
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JEFF YASTINE: And the jump in interest rates gave a handy excuse for some profit-taking in blue chip stocks, following yesterday`s gains. The Dow made an early stab higher and that brought out sellers, who drove the index nearly 100 points lower through the early afternoon. The NASDAQ managed to hold its own, as the Dow trimmed its losses over the remainder of the session. The Dow closing down 65 points at 11,150 and change, while the NASDAQ rose three points to 2340.82, yet another five-year high, a marginal high and the S&P 500 falling 2 2/3 points to about 1300 and change as well.
Bonds sold off as traders weighed a higher than expected reading on the Fed`s favorite inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures portion of the GDP report. That reading led to growing fears the Fed may hike rates beyond its May meeting. So the 10-year note falling 14/32 to 97 6/32, putting the yield at 4.86 percent, its highest level in more than 20 months.
And today we have General Electric (GE) gaining $0.72. An analyst at Morgan Stanley believes shares are drastically undervalued and could rise to $65 a share over the next three years. The stocks been rallying the last six weeks or so, but it`s still off about 4 1/2 percent compared to year ago levels.
Lucent Tech (LU) gaining a nickel.
Nokia (NOK) gaining more than $1. A nice move for the stock, which is up better than 40 percent in the past 12 months. The company raised sales growth estimates and said it would buy back more shares.
Pfizer (PFE) dropping a fraction.
And Nortel Network (NT) advancing $0.14.
Then we have Texas Instruments (TXN), another cell phone supplier of parts, jumping $1.09. Many of its chips are used in Nokia`s cell phones.
And then Motorola (MOT) gaining $0.18.
Time Warner (TWX) advancing $0.06.
ExxonMobil (XOM) losing $0.16.
Bank of New York (BK) up $1.50. JPMorgan is in reported talks to acquire Bank of New York`s retail banking network in the New York metro area. That`s more than 300 branches worth an estimated $4 billion and that unit has been an under performer for Bank of New York.
Then on the shares of mining companies, which are the talk of the town on Wall Street as gold, silver and copper prices all soar to new multi-year highs. Phelps Dodge (PD) up nearly $4.50. Morgan Stanley upgrading the shares. We saw Citigroup issue a similar recommendation on the metals and the stock earlier in the week. Gold surged over $13 to $5.86 and change per ounce. Silver also set its highest price since September 1983 and some other gainers today Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (FCK) gaining nearly 6 percent.
Newmont Mining (NEM) climbing $1.44. Those stocks though are still off from their highs which they set back at the start of February.
Brokerage stocks another standout. AG Edwards (AGE) rising over $2. The firm posted a 58 percent jump in fourth quarter profits helped by hefty demand for fee-based asset management services.
Shares in Lamson & Sessions (LMS) gaining $2.33, a ramp up in orders from the big telecom companies helping that stock. Total sales expected to climb by nearly 40 percent from year ago levels.
Carmax (KMX) falling more than $2. The used car retailer said fiscal 2000 results will not meet analyst forecast. They did notch a 35 percent jump in earnings for this quarter, but same store sales fell by 3 percent.
And then Texas Industries (TXI) off over $4 on profit taking. It posted stronger than expected third quarter results of $0.47 a share and those shares are still up more than 24 percent for the year, for the quarter, rather, despite today`s sell off.
Google (GOOG) falling 6 1/2. In an SEC filing, Google says it`s selling an additional 5.3 million shares. The filing says the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, but most think it will be used to help liquidity and accommodate the indexed mutual funds as they accumulate more shares prior to the stock being added to the S&P 500 tomorrow at the close.
Apple Computer (AAPL) gaining $0.42.
Microsoft (MSFT) also up for the day.
Intel (INTC) down a fraction.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) up about $0.40.
Oracle (ORCL) gaining just a bit there.
Broadcom (BRCM) falling $0.34.
Qualcomm (QCOM) a gainer for the day.
Symantec (SYMC) up more than $1.
Level 3 Comm (LVLT) dropping $0.45.
G-III Apparel (GIII) gaining $1.18. It landed a new contract with Wal- Mart to design and produce Wal-Mart`s branded men`s sportswear line due out in the fall.
And finally, Sigmatel (SGTL) ended off $1.27. The company makes chips for handheld music players. It issued a sales warning for the current quarter, blamed the slowdown on lower chip prices, inventory build up and slack demand in Europe.
And those are our stocks in the news tonight.
