Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Monday, August 28, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Blue chip stocks moved steadily higher this morning on that sharp drop in oil prices, while the tech sector advanced after a brokerage upgrade on Intel. By mid-session, the Dow posted a 73 point gain and the NASDAQ was up 20 points. Those deals in the energy sector we just told you about boosted bullish sentiment. So the Dow reached a 100 point gain around 2:00 p.m. Then it eased in late trading but the Dow Industrial Average still closed up nearly 68 points at 11,352.01. The NASDAQ Composite gained 20.41 points to 2160.70. Standard & Poor`s 500 up 6.69 ending at 1301.78. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note fell 3/32 to par and 20/32, putting the yield at 4.8 percent.
The most active New York exchange issue on 14.1 million shares was Pfizer (PFE) moving up $0.31.
Followed by ExxonMobil (XOM) down $0.33 on those lower oil prices.
EMC Corp (EMC) rose a dime.
Then a big gainer, Energy Partners (EPL) up $5.74. Woodside Petroleum launched a $23 a share cash takeover bid, but it is conditioned upon Energy Partners shareholders voting down a merger agreement with Stone Energy. Stone Energy stock fell $3.24 to $44.35 on that news.
Lucent Tech (LU) was a $0.04 gainer. That was fifth in volume.
Ford Motor Co (F) edging up a nickel. The "Detroit News" reported the company is considering the sale of its financing unit, Ford Credit.
SprintNextel (S) up $0.20.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) down $0.64, although the Friedman Billings brokerage boosted its price target by $4 a share to $26 a share. However, it did keep a "neutral" rating, so the stock didn`t do much.
Citigroup (C) was up $0.48. And General Electric (GE), tenth in volume, a $0.09 gain.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) moving up $0.55. The company said its August same store sales should be up about 2.7 percent. That`s at the high end of its guidance.
Then we see Kinder Morgan (KMI), as you just heard. The oil pipeline operator`s CEO, Richard Kinder, is leading an investment group to make a $107.50 per share buyout bid. That`s up from $100 bid that it made earlier, so it sweetened that a bit.
And then Giant Industries (GI) as you heard, up $10.43. Western Refining is acquiring it for $83 a share cash or a $1.5 billion. Western Refining stock was down $0.85 a share today.
US Steel (X) off $1.18. Prudential downgraded it from "neutral" to "under weight" and cut its price target down to $50 a share on over supply concerns in the steel industry.
Cott Corp (COT), the beverage firm, up $1.03. The company`s new line of ready to drink premium teas is now available.
And then another nice gain here, up $2.65, Maguire Properties (MPG). This is a real estate investment trust. Wachovia upgraded it from "market perform" to "out perform" and Merrill Lynch boosted its price target from $39 to $43 a share. Merrill sees the company as a potential takeover candidate.
Rohm & Haas Co (ROH) down $1.23. Citigroup downgraded it from "buy" to "hold" in the belief the falling home sales will hurt paint-related companies like Rohm & Haas.
NASDAQ`s most active, Apple Computer (AAPL) fell $1.77.
Followed by Google (GOOG) with a gain of $7.69. Google is in a pact with eBay to supply it with Internet search advertising outside the U.S.
Intel (INTC) up $0.48. Friedman Billings Ramsey brokerage upgraded it from "market perform" to "out perform" on Intel`s improving outlook.
Microsoft (MSFT) gained a dime.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) a $0.36 rise, fifth in dollar volume.
Then Ebay (EBAY) moved up $0.49 a share. That`s the other part of that Google pact. Oracle (ORCL) a $0.13 gain.
Dell (DELL) moved up $0.45.
Sandisk (SNDK) $0.36 drop.
And Qualcomm (QCOM), tenth in volume, lost $0.20.
Anadigics (ANAD), the company`s an electronics power amplifiers and phones and things like that. This week`s "Barron`s" financial magazine has positive comments about the company`s products. The stock reacted very nicely.
Oilgear (OLGR) up $3.98. Mason Wells, a unit of Mason Wells, will acquire it for $15.25 a share in cash.
And finally, Intervideo (IVII) up $3.05. It`ll be acquired by Corel & Company at $13 a share cash.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
