Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, January 05, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Helping to send the Dow into a downdraft, a downcast outlook for Motorola. Last night, the cell phone maker warned that sagging sales will cut into its 4th quarter profits. The company`s now expecting earnings of between $0.13 and $0.16 a share. Wall Street had been looking for around $0.39. Analysts say Motorola`s new phone models, like the "Q" Smartphone, and the "Krazer" are not selling well. That`s a tough challenge, since Motorola generates more of its revenue from handset sales than some of its competitors do.
Sales of stocks had Wall Street on the ropes this morning as that Motorola news reversed yesterday`s big tech rally and the strong employment report dashed investor hopes for a near-term cut in the rate -- in the interest rates. At noon, the Dow had tumbled 110 points. NASDAQ was off 33. The market cut its losses slightly this afternoon but was hampered by weak bond prices and pre-weekend caution, so it still ended broadly lower. Dow Industrial Average closed off 82.68 at 12,398.01 today. In this three- day week, it rose twice, fell once for an overall loss of 65.14. The NASDAQ Composite was off 19.18 to 2434.25 today. And like the Dow, this index was up on Wednesday and Thursday, down today, but it still gained 18.96 points overall. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index dropped 8.63, ending at 1409.71 today. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 10/32 to 99 26/32, putting the yield at 4.65 percent.
Most active big board issue as you might expect, Motorola (MOT) trading almost 54 million shares, down $1.61. The low of the day was $18.03. As you heard, the company sees lower than expected fourth quarter sales and earnings and today, Bear Stearns brokerage downgraded it from "buy` to "hold" and there were also downgrades coming from Deutsche Bank and Piper Jaffray.
Nokia Corp (NOK) in a sympathetic move to Motorola, losing $1.08, traded as low as $19.69. Credit Suisse downgraded Nokia stock from "out perform" to just "neutral."
Ford Motor Co (F) in there with an $0.08 loss.
ExxonMobil (XOM) was up $0.52 despite a Lehman Brothers downgrade from "over weight" to "equal weight."
Pfizer (PFE) an $0.08 loss and that was fifth in big board volume.
AT&T (T) moving down $0.54.
$0.19 loss in General Electric Co (GE). Halliburton Co (HAL) off $0.23.
Time Warner (TWX) dropped $0.19.
Tenth in volume Home Depot (HD) losing $0.78.
General Motors (GM) moved up $0.60. The company is cutting more jobs in order to cut expenses and better compete with Toyota, which has been giving it some tough competition.
NYSE Group (NYX) up $7.29. The chief exec of Euronext expects the merger with the big board to close in the first quarter and that would be right on track.
Then we see Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) up $3.55. It expects to close its merger with the New York Board of Trade as early as next week. Meanwhile, Raymond James financial brokerage began covering the stock with an "out perform" rating.
Major loss in Lenox Group (LNX), that`s the tableware company, tumbling $2.44, almost 37 percent, traded as low as $4 a share today. The company sees a 2006 loss of $2.07 to as much as $2.17 a share and on top of that, the CEO of Lenox resigned today.
Herbalife ltd (HLF) down $9.56. The company cut its 2007 estimate of sales growth from growth of 10 to 15 percent down to 6 to 10 percent and it cited slower than expected growth in sales in Mexico.
Global Payments (GPN), there you see it, tumbling $7.96. Second quarter earnings were higher, $0.42, versus $0.37 last year, but it`s the first time in six quarters the company did not meet Wall Street earnings estimates. It also cut its 2007 revenue guidance. Standard & Poor`s downgraded it from a $50 down to $46 on a price target.
Humana (HUM) down $2.37. Lehman Brothers downgraded it from "equal weight" to "under weight."
And Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) losing $3.35. The company will offer 10 million new shares, earnings dilution potential there.
Azz Inc (AZZ), electronics firm, was up $0.12 on the close. It traded as high as $55.53 and as low as $49.21 after reporting third quarter earnings $0.88 versus $0.30 a year ago, $0.04 above the Street estimate. Google (GOOG) topped the NASDAQ actives, up $3.93.
Followed by Apple Computer (AAPL) down $0.61.
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $2.73.
Yahoo! (YHOO) an $0.89 gain.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) edged a penny higher, fifth in dollar volume.
Intel (INTC) a $0.07 loss. Credit Suisse reinstated coverage on Intel with an "under perform" rating. Its previous rating was "neutral."
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.17 loss.
Dell (DELL) down $0.08. JPMorgan downgraded it from "neutral" to "under weight."
Amgen (AMGN) $0.17 gain.
A $0.46 loss in Qualcomm (QCOM).
Nvidia (NVDA) up - down $2.25. American Technical Research downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral" on a valuation basis.
And Broadcom (BRCM) off $1.07. Credit Suisse downgraded this stock from "out perform" to "under perform."
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
