Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened with a rollicking rally as oil prices plunged on those signs the UK and Iran might resolve the hostage crisis. Bullish conviction was also bolstered by those better than expected pending home sales. Just before noon, the Dow was sporting a 130 point gain and the NASDAQ was up 31 points. Early second quarter institutional demand helped stocks hold their gains right on through to the final bell. So the Dow Industrial Average closed up 128 points exactly at 12,510.30. The NASDAQ Composite was up 28.07 at 2450.33. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index gained 13.22, closing at 1437.77. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 6/32 to 99 21/32, putting the yield at 4.67 percent.
New York exchange volume leader on 25.3 million shares, Kraft Foods (KFT) down $0.52. Yesterday, Altria completed and put the final touches on the spin off of Kraft.
Then First Data Corp (FDC), which was up over $5 yesterday, down $0.12. Of course the company being acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts for $34 a share. But today, AG Edwards brokerage downgraded the stock from "buy" to a "sell" and Calyon securities downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral."
Halliburton (HAL) was up $0.49. The company says KBR, that`s the Kellogg, Brown and Root exchange offer has been over subscribed, so as a result, only about 40 percent of the shares tendered will be accepted for exchange. KBR stock was unchanged at $20.69. It also trades on the big board now.
Time Warner (TWX) was a $0.45 gainer.
And then General Electric (GE), fifth in volume, edged $0.03 higher. Ford Motor (F) a penny loss. Those lower sales didn`t help.
KBR Inc (KBR) itself, there it is as I mentioned, showing no change on the day.
EMC Corp (EMC) a $0.20 gain.
Pfizer (PFE) moved up $0.33.
And Altria Group (MO) itself had a good day, up $1.43. It`s now a pure tobacco play since the spin off of Kraft Foods.
Boeing (BA) up $1.07. That`s because its rival Airbus in Europe is having its labor problems, no doubt that helping Boeing stock.
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (JTX) plunging $5.87. The Department of Justice is suing five companies that operate various Jackson tax services franchises and the charge is alleged defrauding the U.S. Treasury out of over $70 million.
Marshall & Ilsley (M) up $3.97. This is a bank holding firm and it plans to spin off to shareholders its Medevent payment processing unit, good news on that stock today.
Continental Airlines (CAL) up $3.03. Its March traffic up a respectable 3.4 percent. The load factor gained 1.4 percent and of course today`s drop in oil helped all the majors. Let`s have a look at some.
AMR (AMR) up $1.60, parent of American Airlines.
UAL (UAUA) $1.82.
And US Airways (LCC) up $2.82.
Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI) moving up $2.76 after Goldman Sachs upgraded it from "neutral" to a "buy."
And Valhi Corp (VHI), big percentage move there, up $3.03. Saw no news on the wires. The company did not return our calls. The company`s in the pigments business, also involved with titanium dioxide and things like that, but the company didn`t call us back.
Assurant (AIZ) up $2.23. The company`s stock will be added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index after the close next Monday. It`ll replace Realogy Corp.
North American Energy (NOA) down $1.78. UBS financial brokerage downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral."
And then we see Bunge Ltd (BG) down $2.29. The company warned its first quarter results will be below year ago results, due to lower than expected agribusiness performance.
NASDAQ`s most active, Google (GOOG) moving up $14.07.
Followed by Apple (AAPL) $0.85 gain there.
$0.45 rise in Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Microsoft (MSFT) edged up $0.13.
Intel (INTC) $0.18 rise, fifth in dollar volume.
Research in Motion (RIMM) did well, up $3.60.
Qualcomm (QCOM) $0.63 gain.
$0.22 rise in Oracle (ORCL)
Amgen (AMGN) up $0.18.
And EBay (EBAY) moved up $0.80. Bear Stearns boosted first quarter earnings and revenue estimates for eBay.
Accredited Home Lenders (LEND) up $1.56. The company received $1.1 billion in financing from several entities, so it can stay afloat for a while.
And then Iridex Corp (IRIX), which is involved in lasers for the eye, down $1.85. A fourth quarter loss of $0.48 versus earnings of a nickel last year. The Street was looking for a loss of only $0.01, not $0.48.
Over on the American Exchange, Phoenix Footwear (PXG) down nearly $1, a 22 percent drop. Fourth quarter loss reported of $2.95 a share, versus earnings of a penny last year. Sales in the period dropped 13 percent and the company thinks it may not be able to meet its financial covenants for the first quarter.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
