Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street's bulls were no match for the bad news blanketing the market this morning. That surge in oil prices had investors fretting about inflation and heightened concerns about a rise in interest rates. By late morning, the Dow had lost 181 points and the NASDAQ was off 36 points. Any attempt to rebound this afternoon was precluded by the Fed's weak beige book survey of the economy, suggesting a possible recession. So, stocks went on to close near the day's worst levels. The Dow Industrial Average dropped 205.99 points at 12,083.77. The NASDAQ Composite fell 54.93 points ending at 2,394.01, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 22.95 points to 1,335.49. Over in the bond market, the 10- year note gained 5/32 to 98 11/32, putting the yield at 4.08 percent.
Big board volume leader on 23.8 million shares, Citigroup (C) losing $1.05 in a very weak financial group.
Then Washington Mutual (WM) down $0.62 on fears over the extent of its losses.
Pfizer (PFE) fell $0.39.
Bank of America (BAC) $0.77 drop there. The CEO still is confident about the Bank America's takeover of Countrywide Financial.
General Electric (GE) fell a half a dollar a share and that was fifth in volume.
Lehman Brothers (LEH) $3.75 drop there. "Financial Times" reported the company may need more capital on top of the $6 billion it's already raised.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) another weak bank, down $1.16.
Wachovia (WB) off $0.79.
Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) down $0.36.
And Co Vale do Rio (RIO) down $0.81, tenth in volume.
Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD) up $1.20 in regular weight trading and after the close as we touched on, ImBev made an unsolicited $65 a share cash buyout bid. In after hours trading, Anheuser stock was very close to $63 a share. The company said it will evaluate that bid from ImBev.
Alcoa (AA) down $3.40. Disruption of gas supplies to the company's western Australian facilities will cut second quarter earnings by $0.02 to $0.03. On top of that, JPMorgan today downgraded the stock from "over weight" to just a "neutral" rating.
Merrill Lynch (MER) losing $2.49. CEO John Thane told investors at a conference he favors selling Merrill's stake in Bloomberg, rather than raising capital through equity sales.
Big gainer, Agrium (AGU) up $7.97. The company boosted its second quarter guidance of as much as $2.22 to now a high of $3 a share because of strong demand for its fertilizers.
And speaking of fertilizers, Mosaic Co (MOS) which is in that business, up $5.72. Goldman Sachs boosted its price target on Mosaic from $1.65 to $1.95, $195 a share I should say.
And Potash, Saskatchewan (POT) up $2.54. Goldman Sachs boosted its price target from $235 to $285 a share.
On the downside, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI), the big rail, down $7.79. UBS financial issued a "short-term sell" in the belief the company might miss its second quarter earnings guidance.
Major loss in US Shipping Partners Lp (USS) tumbling $2.74 or 37 percent after the company said high crude oil prices and reduced demand for shipping are hurting its results. It is in negotiations with its lenders to amend loan covenants.
FirstFed Financial (FED) tumbling $1.31. That company's stock caught in the downdraft of the weak financial sector.
And then we see Amerigroup (AGP) losing $3.82. The company suspended its 2008 earnings guidance of $2.35 to $2.45, pending completion of medical cost negotiations with the state of Tennessee.
And then on the upside, Nortel Networks (NT) rising $1.09 on positive prospects for its efforts in the next generation wireless phone standard.
NASDAQ's most active, Apple (AAPL) down $4.83. It's in a pact with Spain Telefonica to sell new iPhones in 16 Latin American countries.
Google (GOOG) down $8.97.
Research in Motion (RIMM) off $3.16.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell $0.77.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) down $0.71 a share.
Intel (INTC) lost $0.87.
What's this, a gainer, First Solar (FSLR) up $8.04.
Qualcomm (QCOM) down $1.11.
Baidu.com (BIDU) fell $7.36.
And Applied Materials (AMAT) down $0.24.
And finally, Staples (SPLS) rose $1.23 on news it will acquire Corporate Express for its sweetened buyout bid of 9.25 euros per share cash.
