Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, May 12, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street headed broadly lower this morning for the second straight day with the tech sector leading the way. An unexpected drop in the U.S. March trade deficit had little positive impact because of a rise in import prices raised inflation fears. At mid-session the Dow was off 88 points and the NASDAQ down 25. A weaker dollar and pre-weekend caution sent stocks even lower this afternoon. The Dow Industrial Average closed off 119 3/4 points at 11,380.99 today. This week, it rose three times, fell twice, but had a net loss of 196 3/4 points exactly. The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 28.92 to 2243.78 today. It fell four times and rose just once this week, losing 98.79 points overall. Standard & Poor`s 500 down 14 2/3 points today, closing at 1291.24. In the bond market, the 10-year note lost 13/32 to 99 14/32, putting the yield up to 5.20 percent. Most active issue on the big board, trading 23.6 million shares, Lucent Technology (LU) down $0.07.
Nortel Networks (NT) moved up $0.09.
Time Warner (TWX) a $0.19 gain. The company is buying Liberty Media`s 50 percent stake in a Court TV cable channel. Price, $375 million. That gives Time Warner sole ownership.
MOTOROLA (MOT) was up $0.18.
But Pfizer (PFE) dropped $0.31 even though the FDA approved the company`s new smoking cessation product called Chantix. Pfizer fifth in volume on the big board.
GE (GE) fell $0.23.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) down $0.83.
ExxonMobil (XOM) lost $1.22.
Ford Motor (F) dropped a penny.
And Citigroup (C) tenth in volume, $0.49 loss there.
General Motors (GM) bucked the trend with a $0.24 gain. Keybanc brokerage upgraded it from "hold" to "buy" in the belief that a strike by the UAW at Delphi Corp. is unlikely. Toyota Motors (TM) down $4.97 after Bank America downgraded it from "buy" to just a "neutral" rating.
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (JTX) up $2.57. The company did 3.66 million tax returns in fiscal 2006. That`s up 10 percent from the previous year. As a result, the company boosted its full year outlook from earnings of about $1.54 up to $1.58 a share.
Analog Devices (ADI) up $1.35. Second quarter earnings higher, $0.39, up from $0.31 last year, $0.03 above the Street estimate. Revenues up 7 percent. The company boosted its quarterly dividend by 16 percent.
Best Buy (BBY) losing $1.22. The company will acquire the majority interest in Jiansu five star appliances, China`s fourth largest appliance retailer. The price, $180 million.
Wendy`s International (WEN) losing $1.04. The company said falling sales has cut the number of new stores it plans to open this year from the 185 level all the way down to 145.
Then we see Barr Pharmaceuticals (BRL) losing $2.66. U.S. Patent Office issued a preliminary rejection on the company`s renewal request for a key patent for its oral contraceptive called Seasonale.
And then the oil refining company Holly Corp. (HOC) up $0.33. It set a two for one stock split.
Over on NASDAQ, we see Google (GOOG) plunging $12.87, although Nokia will add Google`s talk service to its handsets. Nokia (NOK) was down $0.39.
Microsoft (MSFT) a $0.05 drop. The Justice Department says it wants to extend oversight on some of the software maker`s business practices through 2009, specifically its licensing documentation. Microsoft has agreed. The judge in Microsoft landmark antitrust case still must sign off on the extension.
Apple Computer (APPL) down $0.45.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) bucked the trend with a $0.29 gain.
Intel (INTC) down $0.32, fifth in volume.
Broadcom (BRCM) fell $0.31.
$0.41 drop in Qualcom (QCOM). Amgen (AMGN) gaining $0.83.
Nvidia (NVDA) down $2.14.
Hansen Natural (HANS) which has been volatile all week, down $11.29 on some more profit taking.
New issue today, Basin Water (BWTR). The company builds systems to treat contaminated groundwater. Six million shares offered to the public at 12, opened at $15.70. The high of the day $16.99, so it had a good debut.
Threshold Pharmaceutical (THLD) terrible day, losing 75 percent of its value. The FDA halted clinical trials for the company`s prostate drug because of possible liver toxicity. Morgan Stanley downgraded it from "overweight" to "equal weight."
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
