Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, June 23, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: On Wall Street, a widespread early rally in oil and gas stocks disguised an otherwise dull morning as investors reacted to Anadarko`s premium bids for Kerr-McGee and Western Gas. An unexpected 0.3 percent drop in May durable goods orders had the Dow off 22 points at noon and the NASDAQ Composite down three points. The market rebounded with modest gains this afternoon, but lingering interest rate concerns and pre-weekend caution quashed the upturn. So the Dow Industrial Average closed down 30.02 at 10,989.09. This week it rose twice, fell three times at a net loss of 25.46 points. The NASDAQ Composite ended with a loss of 1.51 at 2121.47 today. The composite index fell in four of this week`s trading sessions, losing 8.48 points overall. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index dropped 1.10 points today to close at 1244.50. In the bond market, the 10- year note fell 5/32 to 99 6/32, putting the yield way up at 5.23 percent.
Big board volume leader on 23.3 million shares, Kerr McGee (KMG) with a huge gain of $18.31. That Anadarko bid translates into $70.50 per share in cash.
Nortel Networks (NT) in there with an $0.08 gain.
Then Anadarko Petroleum (APC) itself down $3.49. Of course it`s going to have to raise an awful lot of money, $21 billion.
SprintNextel (S) dropped a nickel.
And then Western Gas Resources (WGR) up a huge $18.76. The Anadarko bid in this case is worth $61 a share in cash.
Let`s have a look at some other stocks in the oil and gas sector. Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Devon Energy (DVN), Noble Energy (NBL), Southwest Energy (SWN) and Williams Cos (WMB) all nice gains on the Anadarko bidding.
Pfizer (PFE) a penny loss.
And then General Electric Co (GE) down $0.08.
Ford Motor Co (F) $0.09 gain there.
Six Flags (SIX) fell $1.90. The company said reaching its financial targets is going to be extremely difficult and it may be at risk of not meeting some of its financial covenants.
Time Warner (TWX) tenth in volume was down $0.15.
Alcoa (AA) up $0.19. The company and 9,000 of its unionized workers are in agreement for a new four-year labor contract. That should avoid a strike.
And then Consolidated Energy (CNX) in the right business today, up $4.50 and in addition, it`s going to be added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 on a date to be announced. It`ll replace Knight Ridder which is being acquired by McClatchey.
City National (CYN), bad day, down $7.71. The company cut its second quarter earnings growth forecast of growth of eight to 10 percent to only one to four percent and RBC Capital downgraded the stock from "out perform" to "sector perform."
Tektronix (TEK) falling $2.27 a share. Fourth quarter earnings higher $0.37, up from last year`s $0.24. Sales up 11 percent, but the company said first quarter earnings would only be around $0.31 to $0.34 a share, well below fourth quarter.
Stone Energy (SGY) yet another acquisition here. Stone is going to be acquired for $51 a share in cash or stock and Energy Partners incidentally was up $1.15 to $19.17 on that news.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list with a gain of nearly $5.
Qualcomm (QCOM) down $1.88. JPMorgan downgraded Qualcomm from "over weight" to just a "neutral" rating.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.38 drop there.
Apple Computer (AAPL) was down $0.75.
Oracle (ORCL) was fifth in dollar volume on NASDAQ, gaining $0.57.
Intel (INTC) $0.25 loss.
Medimmune (MEDI) fell $0.32.
Yahoo! (YHOO) $0.69 gain.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) down $0.08.
And then Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) after several days of weakness rebounding $0.94 a share.
Neurocrine Bioscience (NBIX) down nearly $4 a share on news that the company and Pfizer have dropped their joint venture for a drug to treat sleep disorders.
And then Sepracor (SEPR) moved up $3.84. AG Edwards upgraded it from "hold" to "buy" on the belief that the Pfizer Neurocrine fallout will actually help Sepracor`s venture into a sleep drug.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
