Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Monday, July 14, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Bolstered by strong openings in the stocks of Freddie and Fannie, Wall Street's blue chips jumped about 100 points on the Dow at the outset. But the gains did a quick fade when there was little follow-through buying. And then lingering doubts about whether the government backstop would be successful kept the market on the defensive for the rest of the day. So the Dow Industrial Average closed off 45.35 points at 11,055.19. The NASDAQ Composite lost 26.21, ending at 2,212.87. Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 11.19, ending at 1,228.30. In the bond market, the 10-year note rose 28/32 to par and 4/32, putting the yield at 3.86 percent.
Washington Mutual (WM) down $1.72. The company reportedly maybe forced to take another big second-quarter loss as it adds $4 billion to its loan-loss reserves. But after the market closed, the company said it has a current excess liquidity of $40 billion. And in after hours trading, the stock moved up $0.50 a share from what you see here.
Wachovia (WB) down $1.70. UBS Financial downgraded it from buy to neutral today.
And then Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH) off $2.03. The Wall Street Journal reports the company is examining the possible alliance with a partner, the sale of assets, or perhaps a stock buyback.
National City Corp. (NCC) down $0.65 in response to rumors the company might be experiencing a run on its bank. But the company today said there were no unusual depositor or creditor activities today. No run on the bank whatever.
And then M&T Bank (MTB) down $10.88. It traded as low as $53.61 after reporting second-quarter earnings of $1.44, down from $1.95 a year ago. Standard & Poor's downgraded it from hold to a sell.
And as we touched on, Republic Services (RSG) up $3.86. Waste Management bidding $34 a share for all of the outstanding stock.
And then Waste Management (WMI) itself losing $2.12.
Allied Waste (AW), which was in a deal to be acquired by Republic, down $0.20 a share.
Allegheny Technologies (ATI) up $4.86. The company sees second-quarter earnings coming in at around $1.66, way above the first-quarter level of $1.40.
Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) up $1.70, Deutsche Bank upgraded it, hold to buy. There was a rumor SABMiller is eyeing the company as a takeover.
And speaking of brewers, another good gain by AmBev (ABV), up nearly $3 a share. The Anheuser-Busch (BUD) takeover has started up quite a bit of speculation of takeovers in the brewing industry in general.
Offshoring drilling stocks very strong today after President Bush lifted the ban on drilling. Ensco (ESV), Noble (NE), Rowan (RDC), Schlumberger (SLB), and Transocean (RIG) all doing very well, indeed.
Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a $0.52 loss. After hours it tumbled $4 from there after the company said its second-quarter preliminary earnings would be $1.03, about $0.06 below the Wall Street estimate.
And Apple (AAPL), down $1.30. The company sold 1 million iPhones over the last three days since it was introduced last Friday.
And then Yahoo! (YHOO) losing $1. The company again has rejected Microsoft's advances.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell $0.10 to close at $25.15.
And those are the "Stocks in the News" tonight.
