Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, June 30, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street`s blue chips opened higher on that General Motors news. The Dow jumped 45 points at the outset of trading, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 10 points. But the early upturn soon faded as profit takers moved in to cash in on some of yesterday`s big gains. By noon, the Dow was off 12 points and the NASDAQ down three. The market turned very choppy this afternoon amid end of quarter portfolio shuffling, which resulted in a lower close. The Dow Industrial Average ended down 40.58 at 11,150.22. This week, it fell twice, rose three times, did have a net gain of 161.13. The NASDAQ Composite was down 2.29 to 2,172.09 today. It also fell twice and rose three times this week and gained 50.62 points overall. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index was down 2.67 at 1,270.20 today. In the bond market, the 10-year note rose 14/32 to 99 27/32, putting the yield down to 5.15 percent.
Big board volume leader on a very active 41.6 million shares, EMC Corp. (EMC) down $0.28. After the close yesterday as we reported, the company said it`s going to acquire RSA Security for $2.1 billion and some analysts say that price is a bit expensive.
Ford Motor (F) in there with a $0.53 gain.
General Electric (GE) dropped $0.31.
General Motors (GM), the star of the Dow, up $2.35, traded as high as $30.42 on news that Tracinda wants a partnership alliance with Renault and Nissan.
ExxonMobil (XOM) down $1.02. That was fifth in big board volume.
Lucent Tech (LU) lost $0.03.
Pfizer (PFE) moved up $0.23
Procter & Gamble (PG) off $1.39. I saw no specific news there.
Home Depot (HD) down $0.67. And Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) off $0.35, tenth in volume.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) edged down $0.54 after Merrill Lynch cut its price target from $59 to $57 a share. But Merrill maintained a "buy" rating on Wal-Mart stock.
Computer Sciences (CSC) plunging $7.44. The SEC is requesting more information on the company`s stock option grant practices. Separately, the company said its $1 billion stock buyback, that effectively ends its efforts of exploring strategic alternatives, including the sale of the company. Down went the stock on that news.
Michaels Stores (MIK) up $3.24. Last March as you might recall, the company put itself on the auction block. Now it says it has two bidders from private equity groups and those bids are worth over $44 a share, all of this according to the "New York Times."
Rogers Corp (ROG) up $3.66. After the close yesterday, the company boosted its second quarter earnings guidance from the range of $0.63 to $0.67 a share, up to $0.69 to $0.72 a share.
Intl Securities Exchange (ISE), the biggest U.S. equity options market, downgraded by Keefe Bruyette, which cut its second quarter earnings estimate from $0.33 to $0.31 on lagging June trading volume at the exchange.
Azz Inc (AZZ), which makes electrical equipment, up $1.71. First quarter earnings $0.71 versus $0.38 last year, 17 percent rise in sales and the company boosted its fiscal 2007 earnings forecast.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list with a gain of $1.52.
Followed by Apple Computer (AAPL) down $1.70. Apple reported potential problems with its stock option granting program.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.17 loss.
RSA Security (RSAS) up $4.22. As I mentioned, EMC is going to acquire it for $28 a share cash.
Intel (INTC) was down $0.32, fifth in volume on NASDAQ.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) $0.38 loss.
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $3.79. First quarter earnings $0.68, a penny better than last year and revenues better than expected at $613 million, $11 million above the Street estimate.
$0.25 loss in Oracle (ORCL).
Amgen (AMGN) up $0.13.
And Yahoo! (YHOO) a $0.03 gain.
Palm (PALM) down $2.56. Fourth quarter earnings higher, $0.25, versus $0.17, but the company sees first quarter earnings falling to $0.18 to $0.19. The Street estimate is $0.22.
Finally over on the American Exchange, Mexco Energy (MXC) up $2.21. Fiscal 2006 full year earnings, $0.43, up from $0.32 a year ago. Revenues up 25 percent.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
