Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, August 04, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks opened sharply higher on hopes that weaker than expected jobs report would cause the Fed to pause in its rate hikes. After an hour of trading, the Dow was up 72 points; NASDAQ gained 16. But the market then began to lose its luster as investors became concerned that July`s weak job creation could be signaling a serious economic downturn. At 3:00 p.m., the Dow was off 50 points, but then a late buying spree cut the market`s losses dramatically. The Dow closed off only 2.24 at 11,240.35 today. This week, it rose twice and fell three times, but still had a net gain of 20.65 points. The NASDAQ Composite was off 7.29 to 2,085.05 today. It also rose twice and fell three times this week, but had a net loss of 9.09 points. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index lost 0.91 closing at 1,279.36 today. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note gained a whopping 17/32 to 101 24/32, putting the yield way down to 4.90.
Most active New York exchange issue on 28.18 million shares, Sprint Nextel (S) down $0.21. Bank of America downgraded it from "buy" to just a "neutral" rating and cut its price target from $29 down to $20 a share.
Then Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) off $1.04. Medco Health Systems chief executive officer told analysts a generic version of Bristol Myers` very popular Plavix anti-clotting drug, the generic version will be on the market this year and that could take a lot of revenue away from Bristol Myers. Medco incidentally reported higher earnings second quarter, rising 24 percent today and the stock was up $1.55.
Lucent Tech (LU) a penny loss.
And then Pfizer (PFE) moved up $0.47.
Followed by Ford Motor (F), fifth in volume with a $0.27 gain.
Bank of America (BAC) rose $0.35. ExxonMobil (XOM) $0.32 gain there.
Motorola (MOT) lost $0.24.
EMC Corp (EMC) an $0.18 gainer.
And then AT&T (T), tenth in volume, edged up $0.07 a share.
Chicago Mercantile (CME) stock up $27.65. The stock will be added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index after the close next Thursday, replacing Kerr-McGee, which of course is being acquired.
Intermec (IN) used to be called Unova, second quarter earnings dropped to $0.16 from $0.19 a year ago, but that was $0.05 above the Street estimate. The company sees third quarter earnings as high as $0.21 and that`s $0.02 better than the Wall Street consensus.
Kinetic Concepts (KCI) major loser, down $17.63. A jury found that the company`s patents on its wound healing device are valid, but they were not infringed upon by Blue Sky Medical`s competing device, so kind of a let down for Kinetic.
Chiquita Brands (CQB), the banana company, up $3.53. Second quarter earnings, $0.54, down from $1.36 last year, but $0.05 better than the Street estimate. Sales were up 21 percent. Wachovia upgraded the stock from "market perform" to "out perform."
Spectrum Brands (SPC) did well, up $1.05, 13 3/4 percent rise. Yesterday the company did report sharply lower earnings but today Prudential upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "overweight" in the belief that the stock has bottomed out and it boosted its target from $9 to $10 a share.
Then Mastec (MTZ), which is a construction company for communications firms, down $2.30. It reported a second quarter loss $0.36 a share versus earnings of $0.02 a year ago.
Ryerson (RYI) which is in the steel business down $3.89. Second quarter earnings dropped to $0.76 from $0.99 last year and $0.03 below the Street estimate. The company said it lost two major customers. That was part of the reason.
John H. Harland (JH), the printing company, dropped $5.06. Second quarter earnings fell to $0.61 from $0.67 last year despite nearly a 9 percent rise in sales. Koppers Holdings (KOP), which is in the chemicals and carbon products business, off $1.49. Second quarter earnings $0.24 down from $0.35 a year ago and that`s despite a 12 percent rise in revenues.
Then we see if we can get our next board in there, Apple Computer (AAPL) down $1.29. That led the active list and traded - oh, there we go, Dreamworks, (DWA) one more stock that we wanted to put in there. Dreamworks had second quarter earnings of $1.13 versus a loss last year and sharply higher revenues, but Standard & Poor`s still repeated a "sell."
Now let`s have a look at that NASDAQ board. Apple Computer (AAPL) topped it in activity, down $1.29, traded as low as $64.96. Today the company said its July quarter 10Q report will be delayed because of irregularities in stock option grants. They`re likely to result in restating financial results. Bank of America nevertheless repeated a "buy."
Google (GOOG) was down $1.54.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) $0.32 loss.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.08 gain.
And Amgen (AMGN) down $2.13, fifth in volume.
Intel (INTC) rose $0.16.
Qualcomm (QCOM) $0.45 rise.
Oracle (ORCL) was down $0.15.
Starbucks (SBUX) a $0.03 loss.
And eBay (EBAY) was up $0.13 a share.
Career Education Corp (CECO) tumbling $8.08. Second quarter earnings fell to $0.36 to $0.50 a year ago as enrollments fell. Standard & Poor`s downgraded the stock from "sell" to "strong sell."
And finally Republic Companies Group (RUTX) an insurance company based in Texas will be acquired by Delek Group for $20.40 a share cash.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
