Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, May 09, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street's day began with a sharp sell-off triggered by AIG's huge loss reported after the bell yesterday and more weakness set in by those higher oil futures and the falling dollar. A half hour into trading, the Dow posted a 119-point loss. The NASDAQ was down 18. The market stabilized over the midday hours thanks to some cautious bargain hunting, but it wasn't enough to keep the Dow from posting a 150-point loss around 2:00 p.m. However, some late buying trimmed the loss a bit. The Dow Industrial Average closed down 120.90 at 12,745.88. This week, the Dow rose twice, fell three times, had an overall loss of 312.32 points or 2.4 percent. The NASDAQ Composite fell 5.72 ending at 2445.52 today. And like the Dow, the Index falling in three out of the last five sessions, had an overall loss of 31.47. Standard & Poor's 500 ended down 9.40 at 1388.28 today for the week overall, it was off 25.62. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note climbed 2/32 to par and 26/32, putting the yield at 3.78 percent.
Most active big board issue on 25 3/4 million shares, Fannie Mae (FNM) moving up $0.18. Today the company priced $2 1/4 billion of common stock at $27.50 a share and also $2 1/4 billion of non-cumulative convertible preferred with a yield of 8 3/4 percent.
Citigroup (C) down $0.67. As you heard, it's selling off about $400 billion in assets.
Then American International Group (AIG) down $2.87. That accounted for over 30 points of the Dow's drop right there. After the close yesterday as we reported, the company had an expectedly large $7.8 billion first quarter loss and plans to raise $12 1/2 billion in capital. Today, Moody's placed the company's ratings on review for possible downgrade.
SprintNextel (S) up $0.40.
And then Pfizer (PFE) with a $0.18 loss.
Bank of America (BAC) down $0.68.
General Electric (GE) $0.32 drop there.
Ford Motor (F) off a dime.
And then Petrohawk Energy (HK) was down $0.23. The company's in the midst of selling 25 million of its common shares at $26.39 each.
And then Altria (MO), tenth in volume, was down $0.39.
Fedex Corp (FDX) down $2.84. After the close, the company cut its fourth quarter earnings guidance from a high of $1.80 to $1.50 a share at best. In after hours trading, the stock dropped about $3 a share after hours.
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) down $1.08 on upcoming competition in Europe for a generic version of the company's Plavix blood thinner.
Then moving along in the list of bigger movers, Mylan (MYL) off $1.04. First quarter earnings of only $0.09, down from $0.47 last year, higher operating expenses the reason.
American Reprographics (ARP) up $3 a share. First quarter earnings up 9.8 percent to $0.41 for $0.37 a year ago. That was $0.04 better than the Street estimate.
Systemax (SYX) gained $2.80. First quarter earnings jumped to $0.48 from $0.37 last year. Revenues were up 7 1/4 percent.
And then Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp (MRX) up $2.15. First quarter operating earnings, $0.38, way up $0.15 a year ago. Revenues jumped 38 percent. Standard & Poor's upgraded the stock from "strong sell" to a "hold."
FBL Financial Group (FFG) plunging $4.43. First quarter earnings fell to $0.50 from $0.73 last year, way below the Street estimate. The company sees earnings challenges ahead.
And then Pike Electric (PEC) off $1.65. Third quarter earnings, $0.13, down from last year's $0.18. Revenues dropped 15 percent.
And then we see Sotheby's (BID) down $2.56. First quarter loss of $0.19 versus $0.37 in earnings last year. Revenues dropped 12 percent.
Moving along to the active NASDAQ, Apple (AAPL) down $1.61.
Google (GOOG) fell $9.81.
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $1.59.
And then Microsoft (MSFT) with a $0.12 gain.
Baidu.com (BIDU) down $8.89 a share.
Nvidia Corp (NVDA) rose $0.58.
Followed by First Solar (FSLR) up $8.70.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) a $0.21 loss there.
Intel (INTC) a $0.03 drop.
And then Priceline (PCLN) with a huge gain of $14.85 after reporting first quarter earnings of $0.37 versus a loss of $0.44 a year ago. The company's international bookings doubled in this period of time.
And Activision (ATVI) up $3.94, nice move there, turnaround, fourth quarter earnings of $0.14 versus a loss of a nickel last year. Revenues jumped 93 percent thanks to Guitar Hero video game sales.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
