Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
|
|
|
|
JEFF YASTINE: Well, caution was the word of the day on Wall Street as the recent big declines in stocks continued to weigh on investors` minds. The Dow chopped above and below breakeven levels most of the day, with a 3 percent drop in Home Depot shares limiting much of the Dow`s upside. At midday, the Dow was up 15 points. The NASDAQ spent most of the session underwater, just above its 200-day moving average. But traders saw few reasons to try to catch the proverbial "falling knife." So the Dow closing down almost nine points at 11,419 and the NASDAQ Composite also falling nine points to close at 2,229 and a fraction. The s&p 500 ending down nearly 2 1/2 at 1,292 and a fraction. And in the bond market, the 10-year note rising 15/32 to 100 6/32, the yield down to 5.10 percent.
And starting things off tonight, Nortel Networks (NT) losing $0.11. The Canadian firm reporting a bigger first quarter loss and flat sales. The CEO says they`re going to cut costs to boost profits. And we have Home Depot (HD) down a little over $2. Outlook profits of $0.70 a share. That was $0.03 above estimates, but CEO Bob Nardelli says he was disappointed with the company`s overall retail sales and it appears investors were too. Perhaps more troubling, Home Depot says it will no longer report same store sales data and the future of the company will instead report only total sales.
Shares in Carnival (CCL) torpedoed for a loss of nearly $4. Executives see rising fuel prices denting this year`s profits. The company guided profits lower by about seven to eight percent.
Time Warner (TWX) with a gain of $0.08.
General Electric (GE) up $0.23.
And then we have News Corp "A" (NWSa) rising $0.46.
Pfizer (PFE) with just a fractional gain.
And Lucent Tech (LU) with a two penny gain.
Then we have Elan Plc (ELN) advancing $0.94.
And Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down $0.52, but the shares were up over $1 after hours and as you heard at the top of the show, the company posted a higher than expected 51 percent gain over year ago results and taking market share from Dell to boot.
Then we have Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) which rose $0.64. First quarter profits rose a better than expected 6 percent but soaring energy prices the company says, may hamper growth in the second quarter.
Caterpillar (CAT) jumping $0.13. This Dow component is buying progress rail. It`s a private railroad maintenance company for cash and stock worth about $1 billion.
Then another heavy equipment maker Deere & Co (DE) jumping $1.79. It posted stronger than expected second quarter profits and sales topped $6.5 billion.
AMR (AMR) falling $2. The airline preparing to issue $400 million of additional shares to go on the market Friday. Investors not liking that additional dilution. Also oil prices briefly rose to nearly $71 a barrel before finishing back around $69.50, but that put a scare into a number of airline stocks and this is a look at some of them.
Continental Air (CAL), US Airways Group (LLC) and UAL Corp (UAUA) falling fairly noticeably today.
Shares in Agilent Tech (A) taking a hit. It fell over $3. The outlook for third quarter sales projected to be flat or below analysts by the company.
And then another loser, Sirva (SIR) falling $1.68. The company restating 2004 results because of an accounting error.
Then we have IDT Corp (IDT) which led the percentage gainers, rising $1.60. Liberty Media is buying IDT`s computer animation unit.
Looking at the NASDAQ, Apple Computer (AAPL) sliding nearly $3. Creative Technology is suing Apple, claiming that the iPod infringes on one of Creative`s U.S. patents. That suit seeks to block sales of the iPod.
Google (GOOG) falling nearly $5.
Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.14.
Intel (INTC) losing $0.26.
And a $0.35 loss for Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Then Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) plunging nearly $34 or 62 percent. The FDA requesting more information on its Indiplon sleep aid tablet before granting final approvals.
But that news helped Sepracor (SEPR) shares. The stock jumping over $6 because it delays more competition for Sepracor`s strong selling sleep aid Lunesta. We`ve all seen the commercials there.
Broadcom (BRCM) moving up a fraction.
Qualcomm (QCOM) falling $0.44.
Ebay (EBAY) down nearly $1.
Cognos (COGN) sliding over $4. The SEC launching an investigation into the company`s accounting practices and Cognos will delay filing its annual report for now.
NCO Group (NCOG) soaring nearly $7. The company`s chairman and CEO wants to take it private, offering $27.50 a share in cash to acquire the outstanding shares.
And finally, Medifast (MED) jumping nearly $3. Earnings more than tripled from a year ago and sales more than doubled. Medifast also raising its full year earnings guidance by half.
Those are our stocks in the news tonight.
