Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Thursday, March 22, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street felt the sting of profit taking this morning after yesterday`s sharp rally. Selling was also linked to Motorola`s forecast of a first quarter loss and a rise in oil prices. By 11 a.m., the Dow was off 30 points, NASDAQ down 12. The blue chips improved this afternoon with the help of a brokerage upgrade on Procter & Gamble and some strong oil stocks, but the broader market ended lower. The Dow Industrial Average closed up 13.62 at 12,461.14. NASDAQ Composite lost 4.18, ending at 2451.74. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index fell exactly a half point to 1434.54. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note fell 12/32 to par and 10/32, lifting the yield to 4.59 percent.
Big board volume leader on nearly 51 million shares, Motorola (MOT) down $1.24. After the close yesterday as we reported, the company predicted a $0.07 to $0.09 per share first quarter loss.
Then Pfizer (PFE) down $0.06.
General Electric (GE) moved up $0.33. The company is teaming up with News Corporation to launch an online video site to compete with youtube. The details coming up shortly.
Ford Motor Co (F) was up $0.07.
CVS Caremark (CVS), this is the first day of trading for the new merger company of CVS Caremark, down $0.36 a share, fifth in volume.
AT&T (T) rose $0.25.
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) down a half a dollar. Goldman Sachs downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral" because it sees no sales recovery for the firm before the third quarter of this year.
ExxonMobil (XOM) up $1.13 on that sharp rise in oil.
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) down $0.15.
And Time Warner (TWX), tenth in volume, was off $0.28.
Procter Gamble (PG) moved up $0.89. Bear Stearns upgraded it from "peer perform" to "out perform" because of its attractive valuation in the price of the stock, according to Bear Stearns.
And then AMR (AMR) parent of American Airlines, down $1.54, not only today because of the sharp rise in oil, but airfares are expected to tumble next spring when the open skies package you just heard about goes into effect.
Let`s have a look at some other major carriers. Continental Air (CAL) down $1.60.
And UAL Corp (UAUA) losing $1.77.
Raytheon Co (RTN) off $1.41. The company boosted its annual dividend 6 percent from $0.96 to $1.02, but nevertheless, Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock from "neutral" to a "sell."
Conagra Foods (CAG), the big packaged foods company down $0.02 despite a turnaround. Third quarter earnings of $0.38 versus a loss last year. Those earnings $0.03 above the Street estimate.
Another packaged foods company, General Mills (GIS) moving up $0.44. Third quarter earnings there were up nearly 9 percent to $0.74, $0.04 above the Street estimate and the company boosted its 2007 earnings guidance.
Nortel Networks (NT) fell $1.53. The company launched a $1 billion offering of convertible debt, which of course has potential earnings dilution.
Then we see Barnes & Noble (BKS), the book seller, down $1.10. The company says preliminary fourth quarter earnings will be $1.84, up from $1.76 last year, but $0.04 below the Wall Street estimate.
IHS (IHS), a $3.90 gain. The aerospace defense contractor had nicely higher first quarter earnings, $0.32 versus $0.24 last year and revenues up 18 percent.
Clarcor (CLC) which is a big filtration company off $2.87. Third quarter earnings $0.32, a penny above last year, but $0.04 below the Street estimate. Sales actually fell 1.7 percent.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list on NASDAQ gaining $5.49.
Apple (AAPL) a $0.09 rise.
Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.25.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) a $0.42 loss.
Intel (INTC) dropped $0.18 a share, fifth in dollar volume. Research in Motion (RIMM) up $1.64.
Then Oracle (ORCL) a $0.32 gain there.
Palm (PALM) closed down $1.71. Speculation appears to be cooling that it might be the target of a takeover attempt. After the close, Palm reported third quarter earnings excluding items, $0.16 a share, $0.04 above the Street estimate. In after hours trading, the stock was about $0.20 higher than this.
Broadcom (BRCM) down $1.29, hurt by Motorola`s earnings warning.
And then Qualcomm (QCOM) tenth in volume was off $0.38 a share.
Intuit (INTU) down $2.46. The company says its Turbotax software sales are off to a slow start this tax season so far.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
