Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Monday, December 03, 2007
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JEFF YASTINE: Traders may have to wait another day or two for Santa's arrival, because it sure wasn't here today. The Dow jumped about 30 points through the morning session, reaching the 13,400 mark by midday. But then General Electric fell hard on an analyst downgrade. Same for the NASDAQ, where Research in Motion and some of the other big tech stocks dropped sharply, Research in Motion on a downgrade. The result: lower prices across the board and the Dow settling out the day down 57.15 to 13,314.57 and the NASDAQ off 23.83 to 2637.13. The S&P 500 sliding 8.75 to 1472.42. In the bond market, the 10-year note falling 27/32 to 103 9/32 and the yield now down to 3.85 percent
General Electric (GE) tops our list tonight, dropping $1.36. Citigroup lowering its profit forecast and price target for GE. The analyst sees pressure on GE's consumer finance unit and a tougher marketplace for sales at GE's health care division. And earlier today, NBC Universal said it would start buying two hour blocks of programming from outside producers of prime time documentaries because the programming costs a lot less than scripted programs or even network reality shows. There's Citigroup (C) giving back $0.24.
Invesco ADR (IVZ) rising $0.98, the company moving to simplify its corporate structure. It will eliminate its dual listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Countrywide Financial (CFC) also easing back $0.14.
And then Ford Motor Co (F) dropping $0.26 and as you heard, the auto maker posting a modest November sales gain. Analysts were expecting a decline.
Pfizer (PFE) off $0.21.
EMC Corp (EMC) dropping $0.23.
ExxonMobil (XOM) off $0.31.
Motorola (MOT) losing $0.54.
And then Bank of America (BAC) dropping $0.66.
General Motors (GM) falling $1.22. As mentioned a moment ago, a disappointing 11 percent drop in auto sales. GM also not offering as many sales incentives to prospective car buyers compared to Ford or Chrysler.
And while we're on the subject of autos, Lehman Brothers will a cautious note on auto parts suppliers with many anticipating large production cutbacks at the auto makers next year. American Axle & Mfg (AXL), Johnson Controls (JCI), Tenneco (TEN) all being cut back themselves in terms of their stock prices.
IBM (IBM) gaining $0.65. The company boosting its stock buyback program by up to $1 billion.
And the big loser of the day, Verifone Holdings (PAY) nose diving $2. Accounting errors mean Verifone will have to postpone announcing its fourth quarter and full year results.
Nokia (NOK) rising $0.93. The Finnish phone giant says it's gaining market share in India. That's the second largest cell phone market globally behind China.
And then Fannie Mae (FNM) down $2.17. Goldman Sachs cutting its earnings targets on a belief the write downs for the fourth quarter will be equally as large as those in the third quarter.
MBIA (MBI) falling $2.63. Analysts at Bank of America taking a knife to earnings estimates there due to a drop in new production and earned premiums.
On the NASDAQ, Apple (AAPL) dropping $3.36. Klausner Technologies filing $365 million patent infringement lawsuit against the iPhone maker.
Research in Motion (RIMM) sliding over $9. Morgan Keegan downgrading the shares of the Blackberry maker on valuation, thinking the stock's gotten a little ahead of itself.
Google (GOOG) off nearly $11.50.
Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.68.
Baidu.com (BIDU), it never seems to go down. It rose $3.29 today.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) falling $0.45.
Intel (INTC) though gaining $0.17.
Dell (DELL) off $0.60.
First Solar (FSLR) down nearly $8.
Qualcomm (QCOM) dropping $0.82.
Activision (ATVI) jumping nearly $3. How do you say guitar hero in French? The maker of the hugely popular Guitar Hero video game being bought by France's Vivendi for $27.50 a share, $1.7 billion. The new company combines Vivendi's own video game unit and it'll be called Activision Blizzard.
UAP Holding Co (UAPH) soaring more than $8. The seller of seeds, fertilizer, farm chemicals, being bought by Agrium for $39 a share, about $2.6 billion.
And Merrill Lynch boosting its price target on some several fertilizer companies because of that hook up. Agrium (AGU), CF Industries (CF), Mosaic Co (MOS) and Potash (POT) all sprouting nicely higher.
Another buyout deal, Cohesant Technologies (COHT) being bought by a Minneapolis firm, Graco for $35 million or $9 a share in cash. Graco will keep just one division, GlasCraft, and spin off all the rest of Cohesant's unit. That stock rising $3 or nearly $3 today.
Those are our stocks in the news tonight.
