Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Thursday, June 01, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: That drop in oil prices helped stocks head higher this morning, as did an upward revision in first quarter productivity, a smaller than expected rise in unit labor costs, and good reports on May retail sales and April construction spending. At 11:30 a.m., the Dow posted a 45 point gain. NASDAQ was up 16. An afternoon rally was fueled by bottom fishing in high tech and healthcare issues. The Dow Industrial average closed up nearly 92 points at 11,260.28. The NASDAQ Composite gained almost 41 points to 2219.86. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index rose 15.62 ending at 1285.71. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 4/32 to par 5/32, putting the yield at 5.10 percent.
Big board volume leader on 18.2 million shares, Qwest Comm (Q) moving up $0.39.
Followed by AT&T (T) with a $0.85 gain. CIBC World markets brokerage upgraded AT&T from "sector perform" to "out perform" on the company`s strong earnings outlook.
Pfizer (PFE) a $0.24 gain there.
General Electric (GE) up $0.29.
Time Warner (TWX) gained $0.19, fifth in big board volume.
ExxonMobil (XOM) up $0.20, although the U.S. government is going to pursue $92 million in extra damage claims against ExxonMobil for the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
Ford Motor Co (F) $0.07 gain despite the lower sales.
And General Motors (GM) lost $0.03.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) a $0.06 loss there. The company as predicted, its May same store sales were up only 2.3 percent at the low end of the company`s forecast.
Lucent Tech (LU) was up $0.04, tenth in big board volume.
H.J. Heinz Co (HNZ) up $0.03 but it traded as high as $44 a share during the day. First the company reported fourth quarter earnings $0.54 a share, $0.04 better than the Street thought. It`s going to cut 2700 jobs or 8 percent of its workforce and close 15 plants. It will also boost its dividend from $1.20 to $1.40 annually and buy back up to $1 billion of its own stock. Company critic, Nelson Pelson (ph), his group should be happy after all this news on Heinz today.
JC Penney Co (JCP) up $4.03. May same store sales up a whooping 11 percent. The company boosted its second quarter earnings guidance by $0.02 up to about $0.62 a share.
Then we see Guess? (GES) up $3. Its May same store sales up 20 percent and the Greenbury (ph) brokerage upgraded it from "accumulate" to a "strong buy."
Movado Group (MOV) the watch maker, winding up with a gain of $4.42. First quarter earnings $0.11, up from $0.04 last year on a 4 1/2 percent jump in same store sales. Standard & Poor`s upgraded the stock from "hold" to "buy" because it thinks it`s under valued.
Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV), the home builder, up $1.44, despite lower second quarter earnings of $1.55, down from $1.62 a year ago, but that was $0.12 above the Street consensus.
Grief (GEF) which is in the container board business had second quarter earnings jump to $0.97 from $0.57 a year ago and it boosted its 2006 earnings guidance by $0.30 a share to as much as $3.95 a share.
Streettracks Gold (GLD), the tracking stock for the precious yellow, down $1.58. The New York August contract in gold tumbled $15.50 an ounce down to $633.50 today.
Volume leader Google (GOOG) on NASDAQ, up $10.80. Yesterday the company is upbeat on growth, but through partnerships not acquisitions.
Apple Computer (AAPL) snapping back $2.40.
And then Microsoft (MSFT) a $0.17 gain.
Intel (INTC) was up $0.02.
Juniper Networks (JNPR) gained $1.54. That stock was about to be added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index and of course you had index fund buying in there today.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) rose $0.82.
Qualcomm (QCOM) a $1.84 gain.
Sandisk (SNDK) fell $1.04.
Amgen (AMGN) moved up $1.20.
And Sears Holdings (SHLD) up $8.92 on those stronger than expected retail sales for May.
Rambus (RMBS) up $4.49. Email discovered between rivals Hynix and Micron Technology could help Rambus in its lawsuit against those two firms regarding alleged price fixing.
On the downside, we saw Novell (NOVL) tumble $1.13. Second quarter earnings $0.03 versus only a penny last year, but that was just in line with estimates. CS First Boston downgraded it from "out perform" to "neutral."
And on the American Exchange, InterOil (IOC) tumbled $1.80. The company adjusted its previously reported loss of $9.4 million in the first quarter to a bigger loss of $14.4 million.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
