Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Monday, December 10, 2007
|
|
|
|
PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street posted solid gains this morning amid growing confidence the Fed will cut its Fed funds rate tomorrow by at least a quarter of a percentage point. Stocks were also buoyed by a big 0.6 percent rise in October pending home sales and the National Association of Realtors comment that the housing market is on the verge of stabilizing. At midday, the Dow was up 107 points and the NASDAQ up 17. An afternoon fade was so mild, it encouraged buyers to come back and the market closed near the day's best levels. The Dow Industrial Average ended up 101.45 points at 13,727.03. The NASDAQ Composite rose 12.79 ending at 2718.95. Standard & Poor's 500 gained 11.30 points to 1515.96. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note fell 14/32 to par 23/32, putting the yield at 4.16 percent. New York exchange volume leader on 19.3 million shares, General Electric (GE) moving up $0.18. The company will host an investor meeting tomorrow to discuss the company outlook. Then Citigroup (C) moving up $0.46. There is speculation the company may pick Vikram Pandit as its new CEO. Also Credit Sites (ph) Incorporated thinks JPMorgan might make a buyout bid for Citigroup.
Ford Motor Co (F) moving up $0.08. Friday the company said it issued 62 million shares to brace up its balance sheet.
AT&T (T) $0.57 loss there.
Then came Bank on America (BAC), you heard the story on that, stock up $1.27, fifth in big board volume.
Countrywide Financial (CFC) moved up $0.97 a share.
Followed by Pfizer (PFE) with a $0.03 loss.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) up $1.34. This week's "Barron's" financial magazine suggests JPMorgan stock is under valued. Also the investment company of Dubai is in talks with JPMorgan about increasing cooperation between the two firms.
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) moved up $0.93.
And then came bond insurer Ambac Financial (ABK) up $2.58.
The strength tied there in sympathy with another bond insurer, namely MBIA (MBI), which gained $3.95. A private equity group namely Warburg Pincus will invest up to $1 billion in stock purchases in MBIA.
Then we see McDonald's (MCD) moving up $1.74. The company said November worldwide same store sales were up 9.6 percent on a constant currency basis.
Honeywell Intl (HON) up $0.97. The company is boosting its annual dividend 10 percent, go from $1 to $1.10.
Then LDK Solar Co (LDK) up $13.06. The company signed a 10-year contract to supply a big German firm with multi-crystalline wafers.
Then Dyncorp Intl (DCP) moving up $2.08. The company got a five-year contract for management and translation services in support of U.S. operations in Iraq.
ITT Educational Services (ESI) moving up $9.03. Lehman Brothers brokerage upgraded it from "equal weight" to "over weight."
And then Myers Industries (MYE) plunging $6.59. The maker of plastic and rubber products says GS Capital Partners has asked for more time to complete the acquisition of Myers and down the stock went on that news.
Texas Instruments (TXN) closed in regular week trading with a gain of $0.19, but after the close, the company boosted its fourth quarter earnings and revenue estimates and the stock rose almost $2 a share in after hours trading from this level.
Apple (AAPL) topped NASDAQ's most active with a $0.09 loss.
But Google (GOOG) moved up $3.55.
Baidu.com (BIDU) up $7.30.
Celgene (CELD) plunging $8.18. The company got mixed reviews on late stage trials for its cancer drug. Analysts say a rival drug belonging to Millenium Pharmaceuticals may be very tough competition for Celegene.
MGI Pharma (MDON) up $6.55. A Japanese company called Eisai will acquire MGI for $41 a share in cash.
Research in Motion (RIMM) fell $1.27.
Followed by Cisco Systems (CSCO) with a $0.21 gain.
Intel (INTC) a nickel rise.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.23 gain there.
And First Solar (FSLR) up $14.33. Credit Suisse reinstated an "outperform" rating on First Solar stock and up it went.
Adams Respiratory Therapeutics (ARXT) up $15.62. The company will be acquired for $60 a share by Reckitt Benckiser Group.
And then over on the American exchange, major loss in American Mortgage Acceptance Co (AMC) down 43 1/3 percent. The news here, the company got margin calls on some derivative securities it owns. So in order to boost liquidity, it sold the last of its Fannie Mae and Ginnie Mae debt securities and down the stock went.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
