Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Thursday, November 29, 2007
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JEFF YASTINE: For most of the day, the markets churned sideways, waiting until the closing bell for those quarterly earnings from Dell. Not much follow-through in the financial stocks today, but the Dow plowed higher in the morning session, gaining nearly 60 points. Much of that strength was due to a 1 percent jump in Altria shares. And the NASDAQ spent most of the session marginally higher as well. But the Dow settled up 22.28 at 13,311.73. The NASDAQ rising 5.22 points to 2,668.13 and the S&P 500 edging up a fraction to 1,469.72 and bonds once again getting safe-haven status. The yield on the 10-year note climbing 30/32 to 102 20/32 and the yield once again below 4 percent, at 3.93 percent.
And once again, Citigroup (C) topping our list, unchanged. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau in a "Wall Street Journal" editorial critical of the Citigroup deal with the Abu Dhabi investment authority said quote, it's a sad day for the American financial markets when you've got to turn to Abu Dhabi to get bailed out, unquote.
General Electric (GE) falling $0.32. They're in the middle of selling $4 billion in 10-year notes.
Pfizer (PFE) rising $0.16.
Ford Motor Co (F) dropped $0.07 in the wake of yesterday's proposed class action settlement on SUV rollovers.
And EMC Corp (EMC) advancing $0.35.
Countrywide Financial (CFC) up $0.58 today.
And then Sprint Nextel (S) gaining $0.44. The "Wall Street Journal" reporting the company shunned a proposal from SK Telecom and Providence Equity partners to take a $5 million stake because it would mean the return of former Sprint Chairman Tim Donohue.
Freddie Mac (FRE) rising $0.09.
And then ExxonMobil (XOM) gained $0.67. ExxonMobil's getting into the battery business. They developed a plastics film that will make it easier for car makers to use long-lasting lithium ion batteries in electric cars. They've even inked a deal to build a plant in South Korea to make the plastic film components.
Fannie Mae (FNM) up $0.09 today.
Then we have Anadarko Petroleum (APC) up $1.49. Shares moving higher after the company said it would increase production levels among its wells.
Then shares of Alliance Data Systems (ADS) falling $0.55 after being down as low as $63.68, which would have been a huge drop. The company apparently, the shares responding to worries that Blackstone's proposed buyout of Alliance Data could be in jeopardy. But the company tells us that it has not been contacted by Blackstone about that, so possibly a reason for that big rebound in the stock intraday.
Atwood Oceanics (ATW) soaring over $9. The drilling contractor reporting better than expected profits of $0.69 a share, far above analysts' estimates.
And then Wellcare Health Plans (WCG), the company receiving a one-year contract renewal with Medicare to provide prescription drug services for Medicare Part D.
Men's Wearhouse (MW) plunging over $6. A profit warning here as the company cited fourth quarter and full year earnings would be below estimates, citing weak consumer spending.
And then Aeropostale (ARO) sliding $3.50. Third quarter sales less than what Wall Street wanted, even though quarterly profits rose 11 percent.
Now turning to the NASDAQ, there's Apple (AAPL) rising $4. Apple and AT&T will unveil a 3G iPhone which will be coming out sometime in 2008. It should work a little better over the 3G networks versus AT&T's Edge network.
Google (GOOG) advancing nearly $5.
Baidu.com (BIDU) up more than $12.
Research in Motion (RIMM) advancing $0.73.
Microsoft (MSFT) losing $0.11.
Sears Holdings (SHLD) off $12.25. The last time Sears was at this price was March of 2005, disappointing results, a 99 percent decline in third quarter profits. Same store sales dropped 5 percent at K-Mart, 4.2 percent at Sears. Speculation growing that CEO Aylwin Lewis may be fired at some point.
First Solar (FSLR) gaining $22.
E*trade Financial (ETFC) losing nearly $0.50, but they did manage to get Citadel hedge fund to buy about $2.6 billion of their stock and note (ph), Citadel will get a seat on their board.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) advancing a dime.
Intel (INTC) up $0.15.
Sigma Designs (SIGM) up more than $6. Third quarter profits rising sharply, $0.72 a share. The chip maker says it's benefiting from price drops in DVD players, Internet TVs and high definition TVs.
Tivo (TIVO) surging nearly $1.50. The regulators sending a clear signal to EchoStar that Tivo has the upper hand in their patent dispute over DVR technology.
And finally, American Woodmark (AMWD) ending off $4.69, another victim of the real estate slowdown. The maker of kitchen and vanity cabinets cutting its full year profit and sales targets, citing tighter credit conditions and falling house prices, hurting demand for their products.
And those are our stocks in the news tonight.
