Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened higher despite investor caution ahead of the Fed's rate announcement. A decline in oil futures prompted some of the early buying. A rally in the tech sector also helped the blue chip Dow post a 70-point gain after two hours of trading with the NASDAQ up 38 points. When the Fed's decision came at 2:10 p.m., the Dow was up 40 points. It eased a bit and then rallied to an 83-point gain, only to give most of that back by the final bell. The Dow Industrial Average closed up just 4.40 at 11,811.83. The NASDAQ rose a solid 32.98 points to 2401.26. Standard & Poor's 500 gained 7.68 to 1321.97. In the bond market, the 10- year note held steady at 98 6/32, leaving the yield at 4.10 percent.
New York exchange volume leader on 25.8 million shares, Citigroup (C) showing no change on the day.
Followed by Bank of America (BAC) with a penny loss.
And then Countrywide Financial (CFC) down $0.08. You heard the news there.
General Electric (GE) $0.40 gainer.
And then Washington Mutual (WM) a $0.26 loss.
Pfizer (PFE) edge up $0.19.
Wachovia (WB) gained a penny.
AT&T (T) rose $0.20. Sanford Bernstein brokerage upgraded it from "market perform" to "out perform."
Ford Motor Co (F) an $0.08 loss.
And then JPMorgan Chase (JPM) with a $0.19 gain.
American Express (AXP) down $1.16 even though Mastercard will pay the company $1.8 billion over 12 months to settle a lawsuit that alleged Mastercard blocked banks from issuing American Express credit cards. AXP stock still fell mainly because it said the credit conditions have weakened more than expected.
On the other hand, Mastercard (MA) jumped $9.42 despite settling with that huge payment, but it does remove an overhanging uncertainty as to how the lawsuit would impact Mastercard, so the stock moved up and also helping a Standard & Poor's upgrade of Mastercard from "hold" to a "buy."
On the downside, Boeing Co (BA) losing $5.15. Goldman Sachs downgraded it from "neutral" to "sell" on concern that up to one third of its new jet aircraft orders could be canceled because of soaring fuel prices. Goldman Sachs put a $60 a share target on the stock over the next six months, but the news from Boeing had a very weak aerospace group today.
Honeywell Intl (HON), Precision Cast (PCP), Spirit Aerosystems (SFD) and Textron (TXT) all multiple point losers.
Rockwell Automation (ROK) down $6.42. It issued a 2008 earnings warning and Standard & Poor's downgraded it from "buy" to just a "hold."
Even Monsanto Co (MON), which has been so strong down $4.27 despite higher third quarter earnings of $1.45 versus last year's $1.02, $0.09 better than the Street expected, but as you can see, the stock has had a huge run up, so it was susceptible to profit taking and we saw some of that today.
American Greeting (AM) down $4.26, sharply lower first quarter earnings, $0.27, way down from $0.54 a year ago.
Best Buy Co (BBY) edged up $0.63 a share. The company will boost its quarterly dividend by 8 percent to $0.14 a share.
Darden Restaurant (DR) had a good day, up $2.16. Fourth quarter earnings higher, $0.72 versus $0.67 last year. Same store sales up 20 percent. The company sees fiscal 2009 earnings growing by 14 to 15 percent.
Nokia (NOK) up $1.44. "Wall Street Journal" reports the company is buying full control of the British software firm Simbian for $410 million, positive reaction to that news.
Apple (AAPL) topped the active list up $4.14 on optimism over the iPhone outlook.
Then Research in Motion (RIMM) closed up $1.86 after the close out with first quarter earnings, $0.84, well above last year's $0.39, but a penny below the Street estimate and the company's outlook fell short of Street expectations. In after hours trading, I saw the stock as low as about $129.77, so it dropped sharply after hours.
Google (GOOG) in there with an $8.70 gain.
Microsoft (MSFT) edged up $0.62.
baidu.com (BIDU) $25.37 advance there.
Oracle (ORCL) up $0.32. After the close, fourth quarter earnings, $0.47, $0.03 above the Street estimate, but it fell about $1 in after hours trading.
Then Intel (INTC) $0.24 gain.
$0.89 advance for Qualcomm (QCOM).
Cisco Systems (CSCO) a $0.22 rise.
And First Solar (FSLR) was up $1.91.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
