Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, November 17, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: After five straight sessions of gains on Wall Street, that weak housing data gave investors an excuse to do some profit-taking this morning. So after an hour of trading, the Dow posted a 22-point loss and the NASDAQ was off 12 points. Helping cushion the sell-off was that hugely successful Nymex initial public offering and the blue chips got a boost from a major court victory for Altria. So it was a mixed close. The Dow Industrial Average gained 36.74 to another record high at 12,342.56 today. This week, it rose every single day, for a net advance of 234.13 points. But the NASDAQ Composite fell 3.20 ending at 2,445.86 today. It did however rise in four of the five sessions this week, gaining 56.14 overall. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.44 closing at 1,401.20 today. In the bond market, the 10-year note gained 18/32 to par and 5/32, putting the yield at 4.61 percent.
Most active big board issue on 26.7 million shares, Pfizer (PFE) moving up $0.45.
Then Peabody Energy (BTU) up $1.07. That stock will replace HCA in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index on a date to be announced.
Time Warner (TWX) gained a dime. General Electric (GE) $0.29 rise.
And then ExxonMobil (XOM), fifth in volume, up $0.41 on the close, but it traded as low as $71.76 this morning after Sanford Bernstein brokerage downgraded it from "out perform" to "market perform" on a valuation basis.
Citigroup (C) up $0.14.
A penny rise in Lucent Tech (LU).
AT&T (T) up $0.80.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) down $0.39. After the close yesterday, better than expected earnings as we reported, but the SEC has now elevated its probe of the company's boardroom leaks to the media.
Qwest Comm (Q) was down $0.17, tenth in volume.
There you see Altria Group (MO) up $1.44. A U.S. appeals court has stopped the proceedings of a $200 billion class action suit regarding light cigarettes in order to review a lower court ruling, helped the stock quite a bit, very active.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) up $6.55, traded as high as $104.83 after the Nymex chairman said he wouldn't rule out a merger with the Intercontinental or even the Chicago Merc. Chicago Merc closed at $535, down $5.05, but traded as high as $546.75 on that news.
Allergan (AGN) up $1.76. Just after the close, the FDA said it's approving the return of silicone breast implants after a 14-year ban. In after hours trading, Allergan was as high as $118 a share and Mentor, the other silicone breast maker, jumped about $5 a share to $52.75 in after hours trading.
The steels were hot today as you heard. United States Steel (X) up $5.98. The Russian steel maker Severstal is considering a buyout bid. The whole group was strong.
AK Steel (AKS), Nucor (NUE), Oregon Steel (OS) and Steel Dynamics (STLD) all on the upside today.
Newfield Exploration (NFX) up $2.77. The company says recent horizontal oil drilling is showing significantly higher production rates in some of its wells.
Then HB Fuller Co (FUL) the specialty chemical firm, up $1.78. JPMorgan upgraded it from "neutral" to "over weight."
Then AnnTaylor stores (ANN) losing $3.11. Third quarter earnings were up 29 percent to $0.54, $0.02 above the Street estimate, but the company predicted sales for the fourth quarter or let's make it same store sales for the fourth quarter will be flat and that's what the hurt the stock.
Google (GOOG) up $2.89, led the active list on NASDAQ.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.07 drop.
Apple Computer (AAPL) was up $0.24.
Intel (INTC) $0.23 loss.0
Similar drop in Cisco Systems (CSCO). That was fifth in dollar volume.
Starbucks (SBUX) down $2.01. Fourth quarter earnings just barely higher, $0.17 versus $0.16. Standard & Poor's says the earnings below most estimates. Sales were up only 5 percent.
Sears Holdings (SHLD) up $3.72.
And then Conor Medsystems (CONR) up $5.16. Johnson & Johnson will acquire Conor for $33.50 a share in cash.
Oracle (ORCL) was up $0.36.
And then tenth in dollar volume, Research in Motion (RIMM) with a $0.58 loss.
Initial public offering today, First Solar Incorporated (FSLR), 20 million shares offered to the public at 20, opened at $24.50, the high $25.18 and it backed off a little bit, still had a nice debut.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
