Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, September 22, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks headed lower this morning as oil prices rose, while the health sector came under selling pressure from Boston Scientific`s revenue warning. Ninety minutes into trading, the Dow was off 47 points and the NASDAQ Composite was down 24 points. The market trimmed some of its losses this afternoon as oil prices weakened and bond prices rose, but at the final bell, the bears prevailed. The Dow Industrial Average closed down 25.13 at 11,508.10. It rose only once this week and had a net loss of 52.67 points. The NASDAQ Composite lost 18.82 to 2,218.93 today. This week, it rose twice and fell three times for an overall loss of 16.66. The Standard & Poor`s 500 Index was down exactly 3.25 points today at 1,314.78. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 13/32 to 102 7/32, putting the yield all the way down to 4.59 percent.
Most active big board issue on 37.2 million shares, Boston Scientific (BSX) taking it on the chin, down $1.51. The company gave an earnings warning because the sales of its drug eluding (ph) stents are falling short of expectations. Prudential brokerage downgraded it from "neutral" to "under weight" and also cut its price target from $21 down to $14 a share and it`s almost there.
AT&T (T) a $0.62 gain. As you just heard, the merger with Bellsouth is going smoothly.
Time Warner (TWX) was up $0.24.
And so was Ford Motor Co (F).
Fifth in volume, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), which closed up $0.24 and gained another $0.40 in after hours trading, incidentally.
Then we see ExxonMobil (XOM) rising $0.13.
Followed by First Data Corp (FDC) which is in the process of spinning off Western Union.
Pfizer (PFE) a nickel loss.
Then Western Union (WU w) when issued (ph) itself was down $0.37.
And CVS Corp (CVS), the big drug chain, snapping back $0.56 after dropping almost $3 yesterday on Wal-Mart`s deep discount generic drug plan.
Caterpillar (CAT) off $1.77 on concern the economy is slowing down more than generally expected.
Then we see another similar company, Deere & Co (DE) down $1.30 on that flagging economy and Merrill Lynch was disappointed the company wasn`t more specific on earnings projections. Longbow Research meanwhile, downgraded Deere stock from "neutral" to a "sell."
Borgwarner (BWA) down $0.73. It traded as low as $51.45 today. The company will cut 850 jobs or 13 percent of its North American workforce because of slowing demand for auto parts. The company cut its 2006 earnings guidance from as much as $4.60 a share down to $4.10 at best. The Street estimate, $4.42. Then we see Nike (NKE) up $3.90. After the close yesterday, the company reported first quarter earnings excluding one time items, came in at $1.63 and that was $0.22 better than the Street consensus.
Genesco (GCO) also in the shoe business, a retailer, up $2.57 after Wachovia upgraded it from "market perform" to an "out perform" rating.
And the Tribune Co (TARB) stock up $1.94. The company has created an independent committee to oversee management`s search for strategic alternatives, including the company going private or being taken over by someone outside.
Heico (HEI) up $0.76, but it traded as high as $35.82. The Suntrust Robinson Humphrey brokerage upgraded it from "neutral" to "buy" and a company unit has acquired 80 percent of Prime Air (ph) Corporation and that acquisition will help earnings in Heico in the first full year of its ownership.
Bowater (BOW), the paper company, off $1.55. UBS financial says the company is going to have a third quarter loss of $0.17. The Street estimate was for a loss of only $0.07.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list, down $3.07.
Followed by Apple Computer (AAPL) with $1.65 loss.
Microsoft (MSFT) losing $0.24.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) down $0.13.
Intel (INTC) down $0.12.
Finally, I think we`re going to see a company of gainers on this board, Oracle (ORCL) was off $0.54 though.
Sandisk (SND) off $2.31.
Amgen (AMGN) off $1.12.
And then Dell (DELL) managed to rise $0.26.
Followed by Yahoo! (YHOO) an $0.18 gain there, tenth in dollar volume.
Priceline.com (PCLN) gained $1.69. Piper Jaffray brokerage boosted its 2006 and 7 earnings estimate on the company`s upbeat outlook. Piper also boosted its price target on the stock from $38 to $42 a share. And over on the American Exchange, a big gainer, over 50 percent rise Trio-Tech Intl (TRT) which is in the semiconductor testing business. It reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.22 from only $0.02 last year and revenues soared 61 percent.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
