Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Thursday, November 02, 2006
|
|
|
|
PAUL KANGAS: Stocks opened lower on those disappointing retail sales and the news that third-quarter productivity was flat while unit labor costs rose more than expected. The Dow fell 43 points at the outset of trading, NASDAQ down 12. Declining oil futures helped the market trim its losses as the day wore on, but caution ahead of tomorrow's employment report restrained bullish enthusiasm. So the Dow Industrial Average closed down 12.48 at 12,018.54. The NASDAQ Composite off 0.33 of a point at 2,334.02. Standard & Poor's 500 down 0.47, ending at 1,367.34. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 7/32 to 102 5/32, putting the yield at 4.60 percent. Big Board volume leader on nearly 18 million shares, CVS Corp. (CVS), down $0.17. As we reported yesterday, it is going to buy out Caremark (CMX) for stock.
Then Time Warner (TWX), a $0.21 gain. Second in volume.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) down $0.56 on that mere half percent rise in October same-store sales.
Caremark (CMX) up -- or down $0.67. That deal from CVS worth about $48 a share in stock.
Pfizer (PFE) a $0.15 gain, was fifth in volume on the Big Board.
Then Exxon Mobil (XOM) up $0.13.
Followed by Motorola (MOT), a $0.17 drop.
GE (GE) fell $0.19.
AT&T (T) closed up $0.26. But after the close, the FCC said it is canceling Friday's scheduled vote regarding the company's planned buyout of BellSouth (BLS).
Home Depot (HD) down $0.15, another retailer on the weak side.
Clark Incorporated (CLK) wasn't, though, up $3.90. This company designs corporate benefit programs among other things. And it will be acquired by AEGON (AEG), the Dutch insurance firm. The price, $16.55 a share in cash.
National Financial Partners (NFP) up $5.88. Third-quarter earnings, $0.66, $0.02 above the Street estimate, even though they were down from $0.69 last year. But revenues were up 13 percent. That is respectable. Metal Management (MM) a respectable gain of almost $4. Second-quarter earnings jumped $1.09 from only $0.66 a year ago. And revenues soared 55 percent.
Guess? (GES), the retailer for apparel, up $7.39, third-quarter earnings, $1.05 up from $0.46 last year. Same-store sales in that period up 8.6 percent.
Nautilus Group (NLS) up $1.52. The company says fourth-quarter earnings could be as much as $0.45 a share. The Street estimate is down there at $0.40.
Cabot Corp. (CBT) up $3.96. A turnaround here, fourth-quarter earnings of $0.43 versus a loss of $1.02 last year.
And then another retailer, Gap (GPS), down $1.14. As you heard, October same-store sales dropped 7 percent.
On the upside, Wellcare Health Plans (WCG) up $4.35. Third-quarter earnings of $1.06, way up from $0.41 a year ago.
And then we see Callaway Golf (ELY) up $0.71. It traded as high as $14.35, despite third-quarter loss of $0.18, bigger than last year's $0.07 per share loss. But the A.G. Edwards brokerage upgraded it from hold to a buy.
Google (GOOG) topped NASDAQ with a gain of $2.41.
Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.04. You heard the news there.
Intel (INTC), a $0.34 loss.
Apple Computer (AAPL) dropped $0.18.
And Dell (DELL) moved up $0.78, fifth in dollar volume.
Yahoo! (YHOO), a $0.54 gain.
Cisco (CSCO), a nickel drop.
Qualcomm (QCOM) up $0.63. After the close, Qualcomm said fourth-quarter earnings came in at $0.42. That is a penny above the Street estimate. And that does exclude one-time items.
Oracle (ORCL) was down $0.20 a share. And then, of course, you heard the news. It is going to acquire a management software maker called Stellent Incorporated (STEL). The price, $440 million in cash. Research In Motion (RIMM) was up $0.08. Tenth in volume.
Valueclick (VCLK) up $2.69. Third-quarter earnings $0.17, up from $0.13 a year ago, $0.03 above the Wall Street estimate.
And then Mid-State Bancshares (MDST), look at that gain, $7.06. The story here, Rabobank will acquire this company for $37 a share in cash.
And finally, we take a look at Whole Foods Market (WFMI), down $3.04. After the close, fourth-quarter earnings came in at $0.28, way up from $0.06 a year ago. But the company then warned of slower sales growth in 2007. And in after-hours trading, the stock plummeted about $0.09, all the way down to $51.20 a share on that news after the close.
Those are the "Stocks in the News" tonight.
