Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened slightly lower, but soon began to rebound as investors gained confidence those sub-prime mortgage problems weren't likely to derail the general economy. At noon, the Dow was sporting a 63- point gain and the NASDAQ was up eight points. The market maintained its comeback after Philly Fed bank President Charles Plosser said banks appear to be holding up well despite the recent woes in the sub-prime sector. So the Dow Industrial Average went on to close with a gain of 76.17 at 13,577.87. The NASDAQ gained 12.63 to 2651.79. Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 8.64 ending at 1518.76. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note fell 16/32 to 95 14/32, lifting the yield to 5.09 percent.
For the second day running, Pfizer (PFE) topped the active list today on 19.4 million shares. The stock down $0.13.
Followed by Ford Motor Co (F) down $0.19.
Then General Electric (GE) with a $0.30 gain. After the close, the company said it terminated an $8 billion proposed purchase of two diagnostic units from Abbott Laboratories. After the close, GE stock was up $0.15 but Abbott stock fell $2 down to around $51.20.
SLM Corp (SLM) off $5.65, used to be called Sallie Mae and the company said today that its takeover by JC Flower private equity group could be jeopardized by proposed legislation which is in Congress right now.
Micron Tech (MU) moved up $0.30. Yesterday, Jeffries issued a "buy." Today, the WR Hambrecht brokerage issued a "hold" to "buy" (ph) and both companies, both brokerages, have a $17 a share target for the stock.
Motorola (MOT) a $0.33 gain there. There's speculation CEO Ed Zander may step down amid criticism from activist shareholders.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) moved up $0.62.
AT&T (T) $0.31 gain there.
There you see Citigroup (C) moving up $0.41.
And then came ExxonMobil (XOM) with a $0.79 per share gain.
Alcan (AL) up $3.46. The company's in a standstill pact with a white knight bidder, rumored to be either BHP Billiton (ph) or Rio Tinto. This is an attempt to be rescued from Alcoa's possible buyout bid. Alcoa stock moved up $0.77 a share.
Unilever Nv (UN) up $1.06, traded as high as $34.86 today on word that some analysts are saying Colgate might make a takeover bid. Colgate stock moved up $1.12.
Campbell Soup Co (CPB) rising $1.17. JPMorgan upgraded it from "neutral" to "overweight" in the belief the stock price does not adequately reflect the benefits of the company's entry into Russia and China.
Yum! Brands (YUM) up $1.46 and UBS financial upped it to a "buy" from a "neutral" rating and after the close, Yum Brands reported second quarter earnings $0.39, up from last year's $0.34, $0.03 above the Street estimate. After the close, Yum Brands stock jumped about 2 percent, then came back to practically unchanged from the closing price in regular trading.
Rock-Tenn Co (RKT) up $4.10. This is a firm that makes packaging and paperboard and Deutsche Bank brokerage upgraded it from "hold" to a "buy."
And then came Toro Co (TTC) up $2.46. Janney Montgomery stock brokerage upgraded it from "neutral" to "buy."
NYMEX OR NYSE Euronext (NYX) I should say, up $4.31. Lehman Brothers upgraded this stock from a "neutral" to a "buy" today.
On the downside, American Home Mortgage (AHM) off $2.12. Understandably, the troubled mortgage market is a downer for stocks like AHM.
And Chico's Fas (CHS) off $1.17. The apparel retailer had a 7.3 percent drop in June same store sales.
But Aeropostale (ARO), a casual apparel retailer, up $0.81. The company announced a three for two stock split.
Apple (AAPL) topped the active list on NASDAQ, moving up $0.04.
Then Google (GOOG) $1.13 gain.
Chaparral Steel (CHAP) did well, up nearly $8 a share. Gerdow (ph) Ameristeel (ph) will acquire Chaparral for $86 a share. Gerdow stock fell $1.18 to $14.51.
Research in Motion (RIMM) gained $1.86.
Akamai Tech (AKAM) an $0.87 gain. After the close today, it was added to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Intel (INTC) $0.40 drop.
Microsoft (MSFT) a $0.16 gain.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) was up $0.45.
Baidu.com (BIDU) up $1.62.
And then Qualcomm (QCOM) a $0.63 gain. It was tenth in NASDAQ trading volume.
Compuware (CPWR) down $2.04. The company cut its first quarter earnings guidance from $0.04 a share to just break even. The Street was looking for $0.10 in earnings.
And finally, Vital Images (VTAL) tumbled $5.79 after forecasting a first quarter loss of $0.02 to $0.05 per share. Analysts were expecting the company, which makes medical imaging products, to post a profit of $0.15 per share.
