Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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PAUL KANGAS: It was no surprise to see Wall Street open as today's negatives on housing and consumer confidence came on top of last night's earnings warnings from Lowe's and Target. The Dow fell some 60 points at the outset of trading while the NASDAQ fell eight points. The market staged a slow but steady recovery as the day wore on thanks to firm tech stocks, lower oil futures and lingering hopes for a General Motors strike settlement. The Dow Industrial Average closed up 19.59 at 13,778.65. The NASDAQ managed to gain exactly 15.50 points at 2683.45. Standard & Poor's 500 index however lost 0.52 ending at 1517.21. In the bond market, the 10- year note rose 2/32 to par and 30/32, putting the yield at 4.63 percent.
For the second day running, EMC Corp (EMC) topped the active list, today on 18.7 million shares, moving up another $0.40. Yesterday the stock was up $1.48 on upgrades by Citigroup as well as Bear Stearns. Pfizer (PFE) down $0.18.
Motorola (MOT) moved up $0.57.
And then USEC (USU) up $0.58. This is a company that provides uranium for nuclear power plants and it's in the process of selling $500 million in seven-year convertible notes.
General Electric (GE) in there with a $0.25 gain.
AT&T (T) moved up $0.30.
But Home Depot (HD) in a very weak retailing sector down $0.80.
ExxonMobil (XOM) moved up $0.23.
Another weak retailer is big old Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) down $0.81.
And then Citigroup (C) was down $0.28.
Lowe's Cos (LOW) off $2.04. After the close yesterday as we reported, the company warned full year earnings could fall below its previous $1.97 per share estimate.
And then another big retailer down, Target (TGT) off $2.95. After the close yesterday as we reported, this company warned its September same store sales would rise only 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 percent well below its previous guidance for a 4 to 6 percent rise. All this bad news from Target and Lowe's seems to portend fears that Christmas and other holiday sales coming up won't be so great and that had the whole group down.
JC Penney Co (JCP), Macy's (M), Nordstrom (JWN) and Sears Holdings (SHLD) all substantially lower on the day.
BP Plc (BP) the big British oil company, down $1.91. The giant said revenue would be dreadful in the third quarter. The company plans a major revamping. It cited outages at three of its five U.S. refineries and project delays.
Metal Management (MM), this is a company in the scrap metals business, up $5.88. Sims Group Ltd., an Australian firm, will acquire this one for stock worth about $55 a share.
Kirby Corp (KEX) up $3.35. The company's in the tugboat and barge business and it now sees third quarter earnings above the $0.60 versus previous guidance of $0.53 to $0.58 a share, nice move in the stock.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) moving up $1.05. The Department of Transportation has granted the company approval to fly to China next year, did the same for United Airlines, whose stock moved up $0.88.
Factset Research (FDS) up $1.88. The company provides services to the investment community. Higher earnings out today, fourth quarter, $0.60, up from $0.46 a year ago, $0.04 better than the Street was expecting.
Nice move in Navteq (NVT) up $7.62. The company is licensing map data in a format optimized for wider use through EM Solutions Group.
Then Marcus (MCS), which runs hotels and theaters, down $1.53. First quarter earnings lower, $0.38 versus $0.45 a year ago, $0.07 below the Wall Street estimate.
And then Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) up $9.34. The stock was added to the Standard & Poor's 500 index after the close of trading today. That replaces First Data which is being acquired.
Apple (AAPL) topped the NASDAQ most active list, up $4.90.
Then Microsoft (MSFT) $0.48 gain.
Baidu.com (BIDU) on some profit taking, a $3.48 loss.
Google (GOOG) edged up $0.98.
$0.56 rise in Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $2.32.
But Intel (INTC) dropped $0.09.
Then a big gain, Focus Media Holdings (FMCN), this is a Shanghai ad agency and an internal investigation regarding undisclosed rebates concluded that none occurred so the company's in the clear apparently.
Qualcomm (QCOM) $0.09 loss there.
Comcast "A" (CMCSA) was up $0.42.
Superconductor Technologies (SCON), look at that percentage move, up nearly $4 or about 68 percent. The company is in a joint venture with a Chinese firm to market its products in China.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
