Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
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JEFF YASTINE: Investors looked past gas prices today and focused on a big buy of Citigroup shares. The Dow fell early on after news of building permits nosedived in April to a 10-year low. Then came word hedge fund manager Eddie Lambert bought a chunk of Citigroup and Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway bought big in health care firms, also Norfolk Southern. Both moves drove stocks higher, the Dow adding 103.69 points to a new record of 13,487.53. The NASDAQ gained 22.13 to 22, excuse me, 2547.42 and the S&P 500 rising 12.95 to 1514.14. And in the bond market, the 10-year note falling 2/32 to 98 10/32 and the yield at 4.72 percent.
Leading things off, Citigroup (C) advanced a little over $2. That`s a three-month high for the stock. This was the stock that got the Dow moving sharply higher today. Eddie Lambert bought 15 million shares in Citi for his hedge fund ESL Investments. Analysts taking Lambert`s move as a sign for change that may help rejuvenate growth at the company. Halliburton (HAL) gaining $1.57. The oil service firm raising its dividend by 20 percent as the company prepares a second corporate headquarters and relocation of its CEO from Dallas to Dubai.
Ford Motor Co (F) dropped $0.15.
And then General Electric (GE) gaining $0.19.
AT&T (T) up $0.75. The stock received an upgrade from the Matrix brokerage. AT&T and Apple will launch the new iPhone in June and CEO Stan Sigmund called the launch the largest commercial product launch in electronics history. So expect a lot of fireworks from AT&T on that as they bring out the iPhone.
Pfizer (PFE) advancing $0.22.
EMC Corp (EMC) up $0.34.
Motorola (MOT) with a similar move.
Advanced Micro (AMD) edging up $0.18.
And then Limited Brands (LTD) dropping $0.71. As we reported last night, the retailer is selling its Express Unlimited Stores, chain brands and updating, rather focusing on its Victoria Secret store brand.
Deere & Co (DE) falling over $2. Profit taking after hitting an interday lifetime high of $123 and change. Second quarter profits rose 21 percent, but analysts were surprised Deere`s guidance wasn`t more bullish.
Then Quanex Corp (NX) surging over $4.50. The steel producer hired Lazard to advise on the sale of its building products division which raked in over $1 billion last year for the company.
Shares of Copa Holdings (CPA), parent of Panama`s Copa Airlines taking off, soaring more than $6 after releasing stronger than expected profits. Earnings weighed in at $1.12. That was $0.13 above estimates.
And on the downside, Sothebys Holdings (BID) falling $2.62, a downgrade from J&P securities.
Now let`s move onto the NASDAQ where Apple (AAPL) slipped $0.18.
But Google (GOOG) gaining more than $14. The company will introduce an enhanced universal search feature which will include books and YouTube videos and also boosting the NASDAQ quite a bit today.
Applied Materials (AMAT) losing $0.61.
Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC) both advancing $0.17.
Then we have Cisco Systems (CSCO) which upped $0.35.
Qualcomm (QCOM) losing $0.88.
Yahoo! (YHOO) advancing $0.40.
Amgen (AMGN) gaining $0.32 after yesterday`s $2 drop.
Amazon.com (AMZN) advancing $2.64. The online retailer getting into the music download business with plans to launch a digital music store later this year. They`ll offer millions of MP3 music files, but without the copy protection features used by most online music retailers.
Then East Penn Financial (EPEN) soaring over $5. It`ll be acquired by Harleysville National for $14.50 a share.
Then finally, Gaming Partners International (GPIC) off $5.24. Yesterday, the company posted profits of just a penny a share. Analysts were expecting $0.11 a share. The company is also having problems with its internal financial reporting controls.
