Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, October 20, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks opened broadly lower as Caterpillar's bad news gave investors a reason to take profits in what many thought was an overbought market. The Dow fell 50 points early on, while the NASDAQ Composite lost nine. But cushioning the sell-off and then helping a rebound were better- than-expected earnings from 3M, Schlumberger and Schering-Plough. So the markets closed narrowly mixed. The Dow Industrial Average lost only 9.36 at 12,002.37 today. This week, it fell twice, rose three times, had a net gain of 41.86 points. The NASDAQ was up $1 - not $1, but 1.36 to 2,342.30 today. It also fell twice and rose three times this week, but it lost nearly 15 points overall. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.64 ending at 1,368.60 today. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 1/32 to par and 21/32, putting the yield at 4.79 percent.
Big board volume leader on 28.3 million shares was Caterpillar (CAT) tumbling $10.02. That hurt the Dow by 80 points on the shortfall in earnings, quite a drop. Pfizer (PFE) was unchanged. Raymond James financial brokerage did downgrade it from "strong buy" to just "market perform."
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) down another $0.89. It was off over $3 yesterday on JPMorgan's downgrade from "neutral" to "under weight."
Coca-Cola co (KO), which had better than expected earnings out yesterday, up $1.84.
And then Time Warner (TWX) with an $0.08 gain, fifth in volume.
General Electric (GE) up $0.19.
AT&T (T) $0.69 gainer.
But ExxonMobil (XOM) on the lower oil prices, fell $0.18.
Lucent Tech (LU) a penny loss there.
And Bank of America (BAC) edged up $0.36 a share, tenth in volume.
3M Co (MMM) a Dow stock, helped it, up $2.07. Third quarter earnings came in at $1.18 versus $1.08 last year, $0.06 better than the Street was expecting, so that was some good news.
And Merck & Co (MRK) did well today, another Dow stock, up $1.15. Third quarter earnings were lower, $0.43 versus last year's $0.65, but that included $598 million in litigation costs regarding the Vioxx problem.
Schering-Plough (SGP) up $0.35, traded as high as $23 earlier today after it reported third quarter earnings of $0.19, way up from $0.03 last year and $0.04 better than the Street was expecting.
Schlumberger ltd (SLG), the oil service firm, down $2.47, although this morning it was up around $63.31 after third quarter earnings came in at $0.81, up from $0.44 a year ago and $0.04 better the Wall Street consensus.
AMR (AMR), parent of American Airlines, up $1.42. Fitch and Company boosted the company's debt ratings and also did the same for Continental
Let's have a look at Continental Air (CAL) up $2.40 and this had a positive impact on many of the airlines like Alaska Air (ALK), UAL Corp (UAUA) and US Airways Group (LCC), all good gainers there.
Martin Marietta (MLM) down $2.69. Due to the housing slump, the company cut its third quarter earnings estimate from around $1.80 down to $.164 on average and Goldman Sachs downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral," did the same for another aggregates firm, Vulcan Materials and that stock dropped $4.77.
Arch Coal (ACI) fell $2.22. Third quarter earnings were higher, $0.35, up from last year's $0.13, but that was a nickel below the Street estimate and the company warned about its fourth quarter and next year results as well.
Cytec Industries (CYT) specialty chemical company, down $3.60. Third quarter earnings fell to $0.51 from only $0.75 last year.
And then Unionbancal (UB) down $4.73. Third quarter earnings, $1.21, lower than $1.36 last year. Standard & Poor's downgraded it from "buy" to "sell" today and AG Edwards issued a "sell" on the stock.
NASDAQ's most active, Google (GOOG) up $33.61 on those better than expected earnings.
Sandisk (SNDK) tumbling $12.59. After the close yesterday, it reported lower third quarter earnings, $0.51 versus last year's $0.55 and also said its gross margins were lower.
Apple Computer (AAPL) a $0.96 gain.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.14 rise.
Intel (INTC) fifth in dollar volume, was up $0.30 a share.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) gained $0.39.
And Yahoo! (YHOO) a $0.07 rise.
Amgen (AMGN) up $0.90.
Broadcom (BRCM) fell $1.46 after the company warned fourth quarter sales will be flat to maybe only 1 percent higher from the third quarter level.
And Qualcomm (QCOM), tenth in volume, down $0.26.
Over on the American exchange, Graham Corp (GHM), which makes heat exchangers and vacuum pumps, things like that, tumbled $4.28. Second quarter earnings tumbling $0.14 versus $0.36 last year.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
