Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks on Wall Street moved steadily lower this morning, taking their cue from losses in most European markets and today's confluence of negatives, including the downgrades on the big financial stocks and the drop in consumer confidence. By midday, the Dow was off 146 points and the NASDAQ down 35 as investors also weighed a sizable decline in home prices which we'll detail in a moment. The afternoon release of the Fed minutes failed to stop the bearish bandwagon and stocks tumbled right on to the final bell. The Dow Industrial Average closed off 280.28 points at 13,041.85. The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 60.61 ending at 2500.64, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 34.43 at 1432.36. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note gained 17/32 to 101 31/32, lowering the yield to only 4.50 percent.
The most active New York exchange issue on 22.6 million shares, Pfizer (PFE) down $0.29.
Followed by GE (GE) with a $0.95 loss.
Citigroup (C) fell $1.65. As you heard, Merrill Lynch downgraded it from "buy" to just a "neutral" rating.
Bank of America (BAC) down in sympathy with $1.21 loss.
EMC Corp (EMC) fell $0.56.
And another weak banking stock, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) off $1.31.
Followed by Ford Motor (F) $0.29 loss there.
Home Depot (HD) bucked the trend, up $0.02. The company has accepted an $8.5 billion private equity bid for its wholesale supply business but that's 18 percent less than the original asking price.
ExxonMobil (XOM) was down $2.12.
And Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) a $0.42 drop there.
Newmont Mining (NEM) moved up $0.62, traded as high as $42.69, although Barrett Gold said there was no substance to rumors that it's eyeing Newmont as a takeover target. Barrett stock was down $1.31 at $30.82.
State Street Corp (STT) down $2.72. The company reportedly has exposure to some $22 billion of asset-backed commercial paper conduits, which have caused problems for European banks.
Freemont General (FMT) losing $0.60, quite a percentage drop there, 13 percent, traded as low as $3.86 after Moody's downgraded its ratings on the company because of low capital levels at its bank unit and rising uncertainty if the company can meet all of its obligations.
Cit Group (CIT) down $0.74. The company has closed its mortgage lending business and it'll take a $35 million pre-tax third quarter charge.
Wendy's Intl (WEN), a good gain of $0.70 and in this market, that's a good gain and it did trade as high as $33.48. The company signed a confidentiality pact with Triarc to share information needed to decide whether Triarc will acquire all or part of Wendy's.
Zale Corp (ZLC), the big jewelry chain, down $1.66. Goldman Sachs downgraded it today from "neutral" to a "sell" recommendation.
And Coachmen Industries (COA), the recreational vehicle maker, down $0.62. The company is suspending its $0.03 quarterly dividend in order to conserve cash.
Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) down $5.45. The Chinese stocks yesterday were very strong. This one in particular was up over $13 and a few others were just as strong and they got hit today in this sell off.
Sinopec Shanghai Petroleum (SHI) down nearly $8.
And China Life Insurance (LPC) good gainer yesterday, down over $9 today.
Apple (AAPL) topped the active list on NASDAQ, down $5.43.
And then Google (GOOG) fell $6.86. News coming from Google today its chief financial officer George Reyes plans to retire by the end of this year.
Intel (INTC) $0.49 drop.
$0.69 loss in Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Microsoft (MSFT) was down $0.56.
Research in Motion (RIMM) fell $3.91.
And another weak Chinese stock today, Baidu.com (BIDU) off $12.26.
But a big gain in Polymedica (PLMO) up $6.40. The story here, Medco Health Solutions will acquire Polymedica for $53 a share. Medco stock was down $1 at $85.11.
Sun Microsystems (SUNW) fell $0.08.
And then Dell (DELL) tenth in NASDAQ volume, was down $0.70 a share.
Omrix Biopharma (OMRI) up $4.89. The company received FDA approval for its blood clotting protein that will stop bleeding during surgery and Johnson & Johnson will distribute that product.
On the downside, the big grocery chain, Winn-Dixie Stores (WINN) tumbling $6.13, even though it had a fourth quarter profit of $0.38, versus a loss of $0.12 last year, but the company warned it's expecting a 2008 fiscal year net loss.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
