Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Monday, October 02, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks began the fourth quarter on a narrowly mixed note reflecting some mixed economic reports like an unexpected 0.3 percent rise in August construction spending and then a slowdown in September manufacturing activity. But that sharp drop in oil this morning lifted the Dow to a 37 point gain by noon when NASDAQ was up two points. Early weakness in Apple stock on a Citigroup downgrade spread to the broader market this afternoon, leading stocks to a lower close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 8.72, at 11,670.35. The NASDAQ Composite lost 20.83 points ending at 2237.60, while the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index was down 4.53 at 1331.32. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 6/32 to 102 2/32, putting the yield at 4.61 percent.
The most active New York exchange issue on 13.4 million shares was Harrah`s Entertainment (HET) jumping $9.25 in response to that $81 a share buyout proposal. The stock traded as high as $80 at one stage today.
Then came Hewlett-Packard (HWP) with a $0.97 gain.
ExxonMobil (XOM) dropped a dime.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) losing $0.88, traded as low as $48.05 after saying September same store sales were up only 1.8 percent. That was definitely at the low end of the company`s guidance.
Then we see General Electric Co (GE) gaining $0.20, fifth in big board volume.
Pfizer (PFE) a nickel drop there.
Sprint Nextel (S) dropped $0.28.
Halliburton Co (HAL) losing $0.59.
Time Warner (TWX) a $0.09 drop.
And then tenth in volume was AT&T (T) losing $0.33 a share. Boyd Gaming (BYD) up $2.11, obviously on that Harrah`s buyout proposal. A lot of the gaming stocks did well, but Boyd is also in a deal with Harrah`s to exchange its Barbary Coast hotel and casino for 24 acres of Las Vegas strip property owned by Harrah`s.
Now let`s look at a few other gaming issues that benefited by the Harrah`s takeover, potential takeover. MGM Mirage (MGM) doing well.
As did Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) and Station Casinos (STN), all nicely higher.
First Republic Bank (FRC) dropped $3.95. The company now sees third quarter earnings falling below its previous guidance of $0.57 a share, didn`t say how much below.
Keane (KEA), an information technology firm, down $2.82. The company cut its third quarter earnings guidance from the range of $0.18 to $0.20 a share down to $0.16 to $0.18. Meanwhile, Citigroup downgraded the stock from "out perform" to "neutral" and Keybanc downgraded Keane from "buy" to just a "hold" rating.
Intertape Polymer Group (ITP) down $1.31, big percentage drop there. The company forecast third quarter revenues will fall about 12 percent below the second quarter level and the company meanwhile plans to explore financial alternatives.
Sierra Health Services (SIE) up $1.29. Bank of America upgraded it from "sell" to "neutral" and boosted its 12-month price target on Sierra from $33 to $40 a share, (INAUDIBLE)
Then Boston Beer (SAM) turning a bit flat, off $1.56. Prudential downgraded the stock from "over weight" to just a "neutral" rating.
NASDAQ`s most active was Apple Computer (AAPL) losing $2.12. As I touched on earlier, Citigroup downgraded Apple from "buy" to just a "hold" rating.
Then Google (GOOG) with a $0.46 drop.
Microsoft (MSFT) bucked the trend with a penny gain.
Qualcomm (QCOM) down $1.69.
Research in Motion (RIMM) off $2.64 after some big gains last week. Intel (INTC) dropped $0.13.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) down $4.49. Of course, it`s going to have to raise $2.5 billion for its acquisition of Myogen.
There you see Myogen (MYOG) up $16.36. That`s a 46 1/2 percent jump on that $52.50 buyout bid from Gilead Sciences.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) no change there.
And Oracle (ORCL) was down $0.08. That was tenth in volume.
Optimal Group (OPMR) down $2.95. Now this company provides payment processing for online gaming which as you heard earlier is about to be outlawed for U.S. customers.
And another company affected by the same thing, Cryptologic (CRYP) losing $4.06. It makes online gaming software.
And in another group, we see LCA-Vision (LCAV), this is a laser vision surgery company and it cut its 2006 earnings estimate from about $1.85 down to $1.65 and the company`s president is resigning this week.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
