Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Thursday, June 19, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Investors tested the Dow 12,000 level again this morning as Citigroup said more mortgage-related write-downs are on the way. But the Dow bounced back with a 20 point gain at mid-session after an analyst upgrade on AIG stock. Trading remained choppy until mid-afternoon when oil fell sharply on that news that China is boosting fuel prices to curb demand. That sparked a late rally led by the airline, rail and tech stocks. So the Dow Industrial Average closed up 34.03 at 12,063.09. The NASDAQ Composite gained 32.35 ending at 2462.06. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index rose 5.02 ending at 1342.83. In the bond market, the 10-year note lost 17/32 to 97 10/32, putting the yield at 4.21 percent.
Big board volume leader, 28.3 million shares traded, Citigroup (C) down $0.23, traded as low as $19.41. As we touched on, the company reportedly said it could take some more big losses in the second quarter from its exposure to troubled bond insurers. Bank of America (BAC) lost $0.23.
Then came Wachovia (WB) with an $0.89 gain.
No change in Pfizer (PFE).
General Electric (GE) edged a penny higher.
Moving along, Motorola (MOT) down $0.51, down on fears that it`s losing ground to its competitors.
BB&T Corp (BBT) ended up $0.02 a share after trading as low as $21.40 this morning. That`s when the regional banker disputed an analyst comment that a dividend cut is in the works. Instead, BB&T said it now sees some increase in its dividend this year and the stock rallied. Earlier this work on NBR incidentally, Citi stock credit strategist said the troubles were just beginning for the regional banks.
United Health Group (UNH) down $2.33. That`s in sympathy with Coventry Health which second quarter and full year earnings estimates today and that sent the whole group down. Let`s have a look at some of those other health care companies.
Coventry (CVH) itself off $8.70.
Aetna (AET) just a fractional loss.
But Cigna (CI) down $2.76.
Humana (HUM) Wellpoint (WCP) pretty bad losses there. Getting back into the active list, we see JPMorgan Chase (JPM) with a $0.09 loss.
Followed by ExxonMobil (XOM) down $2.04 on that sharp drop in oil prices.
American International Group (AIG) up $1.55. Citigroup upgraded it from "hold" to "buy" in the belief the stock is under valued.
Apria Healthcare (AHG) up $4.18. Blackstone Group will acquire this company for $21 a share in cash.
IHS (IHS) up $3.63. This is an information technology company and they`re out with higher second quarter earnings today, $0.37, up from $0.32 a year ago and revenues jumped 34 percent. The company boosted its 2008 revenue growth estimate.
Pier 1 Imports (PIR) down $1.23. It had a loss of $0.37 in the first quarter, well smaller than the $0.64 last year, but the Street estimate was for only a $0.15 loss, so the stock got hit.
Huntsman (HUN) also got hit for an $8 drop. Hexion specialty chemicals and Apollo Management have filed suit to cancel their proposed merger because of Huntsman`s increase in debt and lower than expected earnings in recent times.
JM Smucker (SJM) losing $4.39. Fourth quarter earnings fell to $0.67 from $0.75 a year ago as restructuring costs offset a 20 percent rise in sales.
Apple (AAPL) topped the NASDAQ active list, up $2.15.
Followed by Google (GOOG) with a loss of $2.18.
Then Research in Motion (RIMM) up $3.10.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.47 gain.
Qualcomm (QCOM) up $1.26 a share.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) gained $0.24.
Intel (INTC) up $0.57.
Oracle (ORCL) edged up $0.26.
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) edging back $0.49 after dropping $3.47 yesterday when the company cut its quarterly dividend 66 percent and today, Citigroup cut its price target from $24 all the way down to $11 a share.
Baidu.com (BIDU) was up $2.32, tenth in NASDAQ volume.
Casella Waste (CWST) up $1.42, nice percentage move. The company slashed its fourth quarter loss to only $0.31 from $0.80 a share last year and today, Standard & Poor`s upgraded it from "hold" to a "buy."
XM Satellite (XMSR) down $1.77, big loss there. Goldman Sachs issued a negative outlook on the company today and saying the demand for satellite radio is diminishing. Its proposed merger partner Sirius stock was down $0.30 at $2.13 a share. Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
