Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened modestly higher after the Chinese markets recouped about half of yesterday`s losses. As we mentioned, buyers became more confident when Fed chief Bernanke made those positive comments about the U.S. economy and how well the markets were functioning after the meltdown. By 1:30 this afternoon, the Dow was up 100 points and the NASDAQ up 18. Higher interest rates and oil prices caused stocks to back down a bit this afternoon, but the markets still ended the day on the upside. Dow Industrial Average rose 52.39 points at 12,268.63. The NASDAQ Composite climbed 8.29, ending at 2,416.15. Standard & Poor`s 500 index advanced 7.78 points to 1,406.82. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 15/32 to par and 14/32, putting the yield at 4.57 percent.
Big board volume leader on 30.5 million shares, ExxonMobil (XOM) down another $0.15. It was the biggest point loser in the Dow Industrials yesterday, down again day (ph) a little bit.
Pfizer (PFE) was off $0.18.
General Electric (GE) $0.26 gainer.
And then Citigroup (C) or now Citi they`re just calling it, down $0.20.
Sprint Nextel (S) an $0.83 gain. Sprint out this morning with adjusted fourth quarter earnings of 26 percent over last year at $0.29 a share and that was a penny above the Street`s consensus. And Citi in the meanwhile, issued a "buy" recommendation.
Ford Motor (F) up $0.14.
AT&T (T) rose $0.65.
Time Warner (TWX) a $0.14 gainer.
Bank of America (BAC) up $0.63.
Tenth in volume was EMC (EMC) with a $0.20 gain.
Merck (MRK) up $0.98, traded as high as $44.70 today. Merck experts first quarter earnings in the range of $0.63 to $0.67 a share. That`s excluding restructuring charges. The Street estimate is only $0.60 a share, so a nice move in the stock there.
Procter & Gamble (PG) up $2.24. The company postponed the $2.6 billion Euro portion of a $4 billion debt offering.
NewPlan Excel Realty Trust (NXL) was up $4.05. The news here today, it`s going to be acquired by Central Property Group at a price of $33.15 a share in cash.
Dycom Industries (DY), an engineering construction firm, up $3.14. Second quarter earnings $0.14, up from a dime last year, a penny above the Street consensus and it sees third quarter earnings rising to $0.23 to $0.28 a share.
Kenneth Cole Productions (KCP) in the apparel, footwear and handbag business, had fourth quarter earnings a bit higher, $0.39 versus $0.37 a year ago, a penny above the Street estimate. Yesterday that stock was down well over $2, a nice rebound.
Hospira (HSP) up $2.37. The company`s into pharmaceuticals and medications. Its fourth quarter adjusted earnings, $0.43, well above $0.32 a year ago and $0.05 above the Street consensus.
On the downside, Syniverse Holdings (SYR), this is a technology services company. Fourth quarter earnings excluding items, $0.20, down from last year`s $0.25 and $0.04 below the Street estimate. The company sees 2007 earnings flat. Bear Stearns today downgraded the stock from "peer perform" to "under perform."
And Fremont General (FMT) losing $2.85, big percentage drop. The sub- prime lender will not file its 2006 10K form by the March 1st deadline.
Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI) fell $1.71. Fourth quarter earnings fell to $0.25 from $0.32 a year ago, $0.04 below the Street estimate. The company also had a cautious outlook.
On the upside, however, Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) rising $28.14 after setting multiple volume records yesterday and today Sander O`Neal (ph) brokerage repeated a "buy" recommendation.
Google (GOOG) topped the NASDAQ actives, up $0.68.
Same story with Apple (APPL), $0.68 gain.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.30 rise there.
Intel (INTC) dropped $0.17.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) a $0.23 gain, fifth in dollar volume.
And then Xilinx (XLNX) down $0.36.
Research in Motion (RIMM) moved up $1.91.
Qualcomm (QCOM) gaining $0.17.
Amgen (AMGN) edged a penny higher.
Yahoo! (YHOO), tenth in volume, down $0.09 a share.
Joy Global (JOYG), this is a mining equipment manufacturer, down nearly $6. First quarter earnings were higher, $0.51 versus $0.47 a year ago, but $0.09 below the Street estimate.
And Steel Technologies (STTX) a big gain of $10.93. Mitsui and Company will acquire this firm for $30 a share.
And finally, Audible (ADBL) rose $1.58 on news its losses in the fourth quarter narrowed to $0.03 from $0.09 a year ago. Also, Jefferies upgraded the stock from "hold" to "buy" and boosted its price target from $7.50 to $16 per share.
