Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Thursday, May 08, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Those better than expected retail sales, along with a drop of 18,000 in new weekly jobless benefit claims, gave Wall Street an opening boost. The Dow jumped 67 points at the outset of trading, while the NASDAQ rose 9 points. Then a flurry of sell programs wiped out most of the early gains. But bargain hunters moved in and rejuvenated the rally, sending the Dow to a 93 point gain by 2:00 p.m. Oil futures inched higher late in the session though and it closed at a fourth straight record high of $123.69 a barrel and that helped trim the market's gains by the final bell. The Dow Industrial Average did close up 52.43 though at 12,866.78. The NASDAQ Composite was up 12 3/4 points exactly at 2451.24. Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.11 ending at 1397.68. In the bond market, the 10-year note gained 24/32 to par and 25/32, putting the yield at 3.78 percent.
Most active big board issue today on 18.4 million shares, Citigroup (C) down $0.18. Followed by Pfizer (PFE) with a nickel gain.
Ford Motor Co (F) was up $0.24. The company's chief exec said Ford's turnaround is moving faster than expected.
SprintNextel (S) an $0.18 drop there.
Bank of America (BAC) off $0.67.
General Electric (GE) edged up $0.02.
Colfax (CPX), this is a new issue. Colfax is a manufacturer of pumps and the stock was offered to the public at $18 a share on an offering of 18 3/4 million, opened at $22.50 a share and the high of the day, $22.90, backed off a little, but still a nice debut.
Fannie Mae (FNM) down $1.42 in the midst of pricing of $2 billion offering of stock reportedly at a price of $27.50 a share.
Wachovia (WS) down $0.88. The company's CEO Ken Thompson handed his duties as chairman over to director Lanty Smith in a move he says will strengthen the company's independent leadership.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in there with a $0.52 loss.
American International Group (AIG) closed down $0.93 in regular trading and then after the close reported a loss of $3.09 in the first quarter. That is the equivalent of a $7.8 billion drop, bigger than expected. In after hours trading, the stock was just below $41 a share, but the company is boosting its quarterly dividend by $0.10 to $0.22 a share.
Big gainer RH Donnelley (RHD), publisher of Yellow Pages, first quarter excluding items, $0.22, a nickel above the Street estimate. The company's exploring ways to cut debt. Deutsche Bank also upgraded it from "sell" to "hold" today.
DRS Technologies (DRS) had a good day, up $10.15. "Wall Street Journal" reports an Italian aerospace firm is in advance talks to acquire DRS.
And then URS Corp (URS) up $3.54. First quarter earnings, $0.69, well above $0.58 last year. Revenues up 28 percent.
And then we see Treehouse Foods (THS) rising $2 a share. First quarter earnings $0.34, up from $0.24 a year ago. Sales jumped almost 40 percent.
Swift Energy Co (SFY) down $3.98 despite sharply higher first quarter earnings of $1.61 from $0.87 a year ago, but those earnings were $0.03 below the Street estimate, no room for disappointments.
Kingsway Financial (KFS), a Canadian company, losing $4.31. The truck and auto insurance unit of the firm, Lincoln General part of the reason for a big first quarter loss of $0.62 a share. The Street was looking for earnings of $0.38 a share.
Barr Pharmaceuticals (BRL) plunging $11.55. First quarter earnings fell to $0.57 from $0.73 a year ago, $0.21 below the Street estimate.
And then Pediatrix Medical (PDX) losing $9.79. First quarter earnings were higher, $0.67 versus $0.58 a year ago, but the company says its neonatal ICU volume growth is below normal and may not meet its 2008 earnings guidance. Down went the stock on that news.
OM Group (OMG), specialty chemicals, down $6.70. First quarter earnings plunged $1.81 from $3.85 last year. Gross margins narrowed.
Apple (AAPL) topped the active list on NASDAQ, up $2.47.
Google (GOOG) a $4.01 gain.
Research in Motion (RIMM) $1.20 advance.
Microsoft (MSFT) edged up $0.06.
Baidu.com (BIDU) down $3.96, fifth in volume.
Yahoo! (YHOO) up $0.58.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) an $0.08 drop.
Intel (INTC) $0.23 gain.
Energy Conversion Devices (ENED) up $15.10, a real turnaround. Third quarter earnings of $0.17 versus a loss of that much last year. The Street was looking for just break even.
And Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM) a nickel loser. It's going to be acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical for $25, so the stock is being removed from the Standard & Poor's midcap 400 index.
Hansen Natural (HANS), the beverage company, down $5.46, despite higher first quarter earnings of $0.29, up from $0.21, but $0.06 below the Street estimate.
And then American Superconductor (AMSC) jumping $8.10. The company had a fourth quarter loss of only $0.04. The Street was expecting a loss of $0.12 a share.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
