Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Blue chip stocks moved modestly higher this morning as oil prices eased a bit and the tech sector got a boost from a brokerage upgrade on Advanced Micro Devices. Just before noon, the Dow posted a 35 point gain and the NASDAQ Index was up 15 points. Then the Dow fell to a 25 point loss after Chicago Fed bank President Michael Moskow (ph) said more rate hikes may be needed to combat inflation. Nevertheless, a late recovery ended with a narrowly mixed close. The Dow Industrial Average off only 5.21 points at 11,339.84. The NASDAQ Composite actually gained 2.27 to 2150.02. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index rose 1.30 at 1298.82. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 2/32 to par and 16/32, putting the yield down to 4.81 percent.
Most active New York exchange issue on 19.1 million shares, Ford Motor Co (F) losing another nickel. Yesterday Credit Suisse brokerage downgraded it from "neutral" to "under perform."
Sprint Nextel (S) off $0.13.
And Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) having a nice gain of $1.48. As I touched on earlier, the company said it aims to capture 40 percent of the global market for computer processors by the end of the year 2009. And incidentally, today Bear Stearns upgraded AMD from "peer perform" to "out perform."
Pfizer (PFE) was down or up $0.34.
And ExxonMobil (XOM) up $0.38 a share. That was fifth in volume.
Time Warner (TWX) edged $0.08 higher.
Disney (DIS) very active but down $0.33.
No change in General Electric (GE) today.
EMC Corp (EMC) rose $0.02.
Home Depot (HD) down $0.24, tenth in big board volume.
Weyerhaeuser Co (WY) up $2.98 a share. The company`s in a pact to sell its Ireland-based composite panels business to a state-owned wood products company over there. No amount was disclosed, but the stock certainly did well. Mirant (MIR) up $1.15. The electric utility is going to buy 80 percent of the shares tendered in its Dutch auction that expired last night. The price they`ll pay, $28.50 a share. Eighty percent is pretty good (INAUDIBLE)
Goodyear Tire (GT) up just $0.25, but it traded as high as $11.98. JPMorgan upgraded it today from "neutral" to "over weight" on the company`s improved earnings outlook.
The Mills (MLS), this is the troubled REIT, but it wasn`t troubled today. The company did secure funding for its $2 billion development in northern New Jersey which is going to be called Meadowlands Xanadu.
Harman Intl Industries (HAR) down $3.58 on news that Chief Executive Officer Douglas Pertz has resigned. Now the company has begun a search already for his replacement.
Longs Drug Store (LDG) down $1.29. JPMorgan downgraded it from "neutral" to "under weight" in the belief that the stock has gotten ahead of itself and you can see it`s had a sharp rise recently.
Resmed (RMD) off $2.35. The stock started heading lower last Friday when the company noted the competition is heating up in the market for sleep disorder devices and that`s what they do.
NASDAQ`s most active, Microsoft (MSFT) losing $0.50 a share.
Followed by Google (GOOG) with a $0.99 gain.
Then Apple Computer (AAPL) up $1.06. Pacific Quest brokerage sees Apple launching full length films on iTunes in the fourth quarter of this year.
Intel (INTC) $0.09 gain there.
Cisco Systems (CSCO), fifth in dollar volume, was up $0.33 a share.
Oracle (ORCL) down $0.16.
And then Ebay (EBAY) a $0.68 gain. EBay says it`s going to increase certain listings fees immediately and the shareholders like the idea.
Qualcomm (QCOM) was up $0.41.
And then Dell (DELL) up a dime. XM Satellite (XMSR) rising $2.28. Good percentage move there. Bear Stearns upgraded XM from "under perform" to "out perform" in the belief that the recent negative news about the company is now pretty much behind it.
Candela (CLZR) tumbling $4.16. The company`s in the medical laser business. Its earnings in the fourth quarter fell to $0.10 from $0.14 last year and that was $0.13 below the Wall Street estimate.
Delta Petroleum (DPTR) an independent oil company, up $2.06 on news the company will sell its properties in the Appalachian and east Texas basins for $31.3 million.
And then over on the American exchange, Bolt Technology (BTJ) up $2.18. Fourth quarter earnings jumped to $0.29 from only $0.12 a year ago. Sales jumped 79 percent. The company`s in the geophysical equipment business.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
