Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened lower as investors reacted to last night's earnings shortfall from Alcoa and Advanced Micro Device's bleak outlook. The Dow fell 60 points at the outset of trading and the NASDAQ lost 18 points. A modest firming trend gained little traction as investors weighed news of record lows in February pending home sales and a dip in April consumer confidence. Minutes of the Fed's last meeting added to an overall pessimistic view of the economy. But some late bargain hunting helped the Dow trim a 70-point loss just ahead of the close. So the Industrial Average ended off just 35.99 at 12,576.44. The NASDAQ Composite was down 16.07 at 2,348.76. Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell exactly 7.00 ending at 1,365.54. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 4/32 to 99 16/32, putting the yield at 3.56 percent.
There you see Washington Mutual (WM) trading 27.2 million shares and down $1.31. The company will get that $7 billion capital infusion, but it still sees a first quarter loss of $1.40 per share.
Citigroup (C) closed down $0.84. After the close, the company stock went up $1 on a "Wall Street Journal" report that Citigroup is near a deal to sell $12 billion of loans and bonds to private equity.
Ford (F) an $0.18 gainer.
General Electric (GE) down $0.31.
Bank of America (BAC) fell $1.12.0
Pfizer (PFE) $0.48 loss there.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) losing $0.31. After the close yesterday as we reported, the company said it's cutting 10 percent of its workforce.
EMC Corp (EMC) a $0.06 loss. Now today after the close, the company announced it will make a cash tender offer to acquire Iomega (ph) for $3.85 a share. Iomega closed at regular trading at $3.64 and then moved up too, $3.85 in after hours trading.
Wells Fargo (WFC) $0.86 loss there.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), tenth in big board volume, down $0.68.
United Parcel Service (UPS) closed down $0.47. After the close, the company cut its first quarter earnings outlook from as high as $0.98 a share to as low as $0.86 a share. In after hours trading, that stock dropped $3 from the price you see there.
Humana (HUM) moved up $2.04. U.S. government reportedly is going to raise payments 3.6 percent next year to insurers that provide health care to seniors.
Home builders very weak today Lennar (LEN) down $1.81. That record low in pending home sales in February undermining the home building group.
Let's have a look at the sector and see the damage done to the rest, Centex Corp (CTX), KB Home (KBH), MDC Holdings (MDC), Pulte Homes (PHM) not too bad a loss.
But Ryland (RYL) down $1.56, all on the negative side in that group.
On the positive side, Arch Coal (ACI) gaining $4.81. The company's chief exec says 2008 earnings should be between $2 and $2.50 a share and that's way up from $1.21 in 2007. Wachovia Securities predicted demand will keep coal prices high.
Let's have a look at some of the other stocks in that sector, Consol Energy (CNX), Foundation Coal (FCL), Massey Energy (MSS) up only a penny.
But Peabody Energy (BTU) rose $2.93.
MSC Industrial (MSM) up $4.23. The company markets tools, electrical products, many of them and it had good earnings, second quarter $0.73, $0.04 above the Street estimate and up from $0.61 last year. Sales were up 8 percent. The company sees third quarter earnings as high as $0.79 a share.
Big percentage loser, Agria Corp (GRO) down $3.34. The chief operating officer resigned and a delay in the company audit could mean the company won't file its annual report on time.
And then First Marblehead (FMD) losing $2.84, big percentage drop. The company is seeking an alternative guarantor to replace Educational Resources Institute, which has filed for bankruptcy.
Apple (AAPL) topped the NASDAQ active list, down $3.05. Morgan Keegan downgraded it from "market perform" to "under perform."
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $2.91.
Google (GOOG) fell just over $9.
baidu.com (BIDU) $4.05 drop there.
First Solar (FSLR) up, I should say down, $0.26.
Microsoft (MSFT) was off $0.41.0
Intel (INTC) $0.67 drop.
Finally one up, Cisco (CSCO) $0.02 gain.
Oracle (ORCL) was down $0.31.
And Garmin (GRMN) down $4.23. That stock down in sympathy with its rival Tom Tom which reported a drop in first quarter sales for the first time since it went public.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
