Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: The stock market moved higher from the open, shrugging off investor caution as the Federal Reserve's open market committee began its two-day policy meeting. Instead, investors focused on earnings and a strong reading on consumer confidence. At midday, the Dow posted a 38 point gain. NASDAQ was up seven. That jump in oil prices sent energy stocks higher in the afternoon, giving the broader market a firm undertone. So the Dow Industrial Average closed up 32.53 at 12,523.31. The NASDAQ Composite was up 7.55 ending at 2,448.64. Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 8.20 ending at 1,428.82. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note gained 5/32 to 98 2/32, putting the yield at 4.88 percent.
Most active issue on the New York exchange, trading 32.5 million shares, Motorola (MOT) with a good gain of $1.27. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says he owns 1.4 percent of Motorola and is seeking a seat on the board of directors. He also said the stock is cheap here and if he's buying it, so should the company.
General Electric (GE) a $0.16 loss.
And then ExxonMobil (XOM) in that strong energy group, giving the market support.
AT&T (T) up $0.58.
And Pfizer (PFE) $0.04 gain there, fifth in big board volume.
Bank of America (BAC) moved up $0.66.
Halliburton (HAL) a $0.56 gain.
Ford Motor Co (F) dropping $0.17.
Boston Scientific (BSX) moved up $0.62. The company got FDA approval to expand usage of one of its angioplasty products.
Then tenth in volume was Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) with a loss of $0.35 a share.
Alcoa (AA), a Dow stock, moved up $0.51 after Morgan Stanley upgraded it from "equal weight" to "over weight," boosted the price target from $30 to $40 a share.
Then we see US Steel (X) up $3.39. A good earnings report for the fourth quarter, $2.50, way up from $0.85, sales up nearly 9 percent over last year.
Wyeth (WYE) $1.24 loss. Despite higher fourth quarter earnings of $0.63 versus last year's $0.54.
Unumprovident (UNM), which is in the process of changing its name to just Unum Group, up $2.09. Fourth quarter earnings almost doubled to $0.80 versus last year's $0.43. Then we see the freight shipper Con-way (CNW) up $3.14. Fourth quarter earnings excluding one-time items, $0.82, down from $0.89 last year, but that was $0.08 better than the Street was expecting.
Illinois Tool Works (ITW) up $3.24. The story here, good earnings fourth quarter, $0.77, up from last year's $0.71, $0.04 above the Street estimate. Company's upbeat on first quarter results.
Weatherford Intl (WFT), the oil service company, up $2.46. Fourth quarter earnings excluding one-time items, $0.76, way up from last year's $0.46.
Big loser, Tenneco (TEN) in the auto replacement parts business. Fourth quarter earnings excluding items, $0.06, way down from $0.28. The Street was looking for $0.19 in earnings.
Lexmark Intl (LXK) fell $3.72. Fourth quarter earnings $0.91, $0.20 better than last year, but the company sees first quarter earnings of only $0.90 to $1 a share. The Street estimate is up there at $1.04.
And United Parcel (UPS) $0.95 loss, traded as low as $70.38. Fourth quarter earnings were up to $1.04 versus last year's $0.95, but the company sees first quarter earnings dropping to $0.94 to $0.98 a share.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list on NASDAQ. Earnings due out tomorrow on that one, up $1.85.
Microsoft (MSFT) a nickel drop.
$0.39 loss in Apple (AAPL).
Intel (INTC) $0.04 gain.
Same story with Cisco Systems (CSCO), which was fifth in volume on a dollar basis.
Amgen (AMGN) up $0.36.
Oracle (ORCL) dropped $0.11.
Sandisk (SNDK) $0.59 gain.
EBay (EBAY) moved up $0.09.
And Sun Micro (SUNW) up $0.08, tenth in volume. Genesis Microchip (GNSS) losing $1.79. The company had a third quarter loss of $0.21 versus earnings of $0.27 last year and revenues tumbled 31 percent.
Align Technology (ALGN), which is in the teeth straightening business had a fourth quarter loss versus - of a penny, versus a penny earnings last year, but it sees first quarter earnings rising to $0.02 to $0.04 a share. The Street was expecting a loss of $0.15, so much better than expected.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
