Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened in a broad sell off on that sharp drop in Countrywide`s results and Dupont`s earnings miss. The Dow fell 90 points at the outset of trading and the NASDAQ lost 20. The selling spread into the financial sector on growing fears the credit market will not be able to satisfy the heavy demands it`s experiencing without a big jump in interest rates. This combination of negatives sent stocks into free fall by the final bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 226.47 points, ending the day at 13,716.95. The NASDAQ plummeted 50.72 points to 2639.86, while the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index was down 30.53, ending at 1511.04. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 9/32 to 96 26/32, pushing the yield down to 4.91 percent. The most active New York exchange issue on 22.5 million shares, General Electric (GE) down only $0.60 after some nice recent gains.
Followed by AT&T (T) off $0.35. AT&T had second quarter earnings of $0.70 versus $0.58 last year, excluding one-time charges and that was $0.03 above the Street estimate. However, the company said it activated only 146,000 iPhones in the first two days of the launch. That was well below the Street estimate.
Pfizer (PFE) moved down $0.14.
And Citigroup (C) in a very weak financial group, off $1.55.
And that all started with Countrywide Financial (CFC) down $3.56. As you heard, quarterly earnings only $0.81, down from $1.15 last year. That was $0.14 below the Wall Street estimate.
Bank of America (BAC) in that weak group, down $1.
And JPMorgan Chase (JPM) also down $1.81.
Motorola (MOT) fell $0.12.
ExxonMobil (XOM), whose earnings are due out Thursday, off $2.60.
EMC Corp (EMC) was down $0.46. The data storage company reported second quarter earnings of $0.16, up from $0.12 a year ago, a penny above the Street estimate. The company sees full year earnings at around $0.64 or a bit better. The Street estimate is $0.67 a share.
Dupont (DD) hurt the Dow with that loss of $3.36. As you heard, second quarter earnings $1.04 versus $1.01 last year, but $0.02 below the Street estimate. The BB&T brokerage downgraded Dupont from "buy" to just a "hold" rating.
Then we see American Express (AXP) off $3.49. After the close yesterday as we reported, second quarter earnings came in at $0.83, up from $0.78 last year, but $0.03 below the Street estimate. And then the company said it`s increasing provisions for credit card losses by about 36 percent to $992 million. Incidentally the only Dow stock that had a gain today was Verizon (VZ) which edged up $0.32 to $43.11.
Lockheed Martin (LMT) had a good day despite the sell off, up $3.57. Second quarter earnings rose to $1.82 from $1.34 last year, 7 percent rise in sales and those earnings $0.29 better than the Street consensus. Standard & Poor`s upgraded the stock from "hold" to a "buy" today.
USG Corp (USG) down $3.10. The building materials company had second quarter earnings falling to $0.56 from $3.03 last year. The CEO said the housing slump is far from over.
And then Republic Property Trust (RPB) bucking the trend with a gain of $2.55. Liberty Property Trust will acquire this company for $14.70 a share in cash.
And Dominos Pizza (DPZ) sliced off a gain of $2.93 after reporting second quarter earnings $0.28, $0.04 better than the Street estimate.
NASDAQ topped the - or the Apple (AAPL) was top in NASDAQ, down $8.81. It was hurt by that news that AT&T activated smaller than expected 146,000 iPhones in the first two days of the launch.
Google (GOOG) bucked the overall trend with a gain of $1.49.
Then Cisco Systems (CSCO)
lost a half dollar.
Intel (INTC) down $0.19.
amazon.com (AMZN) closed down $2.49. After the close, the company reported second quarter earnings of $0.19, better than triple $0.05 last year and $0.03 above the Street estimate. In after hours trading, that stock was higher than $78 a share.
baidu.com (BIDU) down $5.04.
ebay (EBAY) a $0.03 loss there.
Comcast "A" (CMCSA) fell $0.54.
Gilead Sciences (GILD) off $0.14.
And then Amgen (AMGN) topped off the active list with a $0.36 loss.
JDA Software Group (JDAS) up $2.17. Second quarter earnings more than triple last year, $0.14 versus $0.04 then, 75 percent increase in revenues.
And then over on the American Exchange, Protalix Biotherapeutics (PLX)
down $2.30 on news the company plans to sell up to $200 million of its common stock, potential earnings dilution there.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
