Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Monday, July 28, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Stocks on Wall Street stumbled as the new week began amid growing concerns about the health of the economy after Federal regulators closed down two more western regional banks late Friday. By noontime, the Dow fell 131 points and the NASDAQ was down 21 points. With buyers a scarcity ahead of a host of upcoming economic reports, the market continued to decline this afternoon. With the financial sector leading the way lower, stocks ended the day at their worst levels. The Dow Industrial Average closed off 239.61 at 11,131.08. The NASDAQ Composite lost 46.31 to 2264.22, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 23.39 points, ending at 1234.37. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 26/32 to 98 30/32, lowering the yield to 4.01 percent.
New York exchange volume leader on 21 1/2 million shares, Washington Mutual (WM) bucking the overall trend with an $0.11 gain.
Then some more weak banks, Citigroup (C) off $1.52 - 42.
And then Bank of America (BAC) $1.52 deficit. Ford Motor Co (F) fell $0.30.
And then General Electric (GE) down $1.02 per share.
Wachovia (WB) fell $0.87.
Followed by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) off $1.86.
American Intl Group (AIG) losing $3.28.
And there you see Kraft Foods (KFT) up $1.45. As you heard, second quarter earnings of $0.58, $0.08 above the Street estimate. The company also boosted its 2008 earnings guidance by $0.02 a share to at least $1.92.
Tenth in volume was Wells Fargo (WFC) losing $1.16.
Alcoa (AA) moved up $0.85. Highfields Capital plans to boost its stake in Alcoa from 2 percent to 8 percent.
Lehman Brothers (LEH) down $1.78. Merrill Lynch said the company will post a third quarter loss. Lehman says it's keeping it's $0.17 quarterly dividend, but the whole brokerage sector was weak.
Goldman Sachs (GS) down $5.76.
Merrill Lynch (MER) dropped $3.19. After the close, Merrill's entered into a pact with XL Capital to eliminate its $11 billion exposure to U.S. asset-backed CDOs. It'll also take a $5.7 billion write down on the third quarter for losses on mortgage assets and it's going to sell $8.5 billion in stock.
Another weak brokerage, Morgan Stanley (MS) down $1.79.
American Axle (AXL) down $1.13. Friday the company reported a second quarter loss of $1.33. Today Keybanc downgraded it from "buy" to just a "hold" recommendation.
Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) tumbling $8.25. Second quarter earnings were higher, $0.55 versus $0.48 a year ago, but a nickel below the Street estimate. The company says weakness in municipal spending is tempering its expectations.
Teledyne Tech (TDY) losing $3.59. Jefferies brokerage downgraded it from "buy" to a "hold."
And then Verifone Holdings (PAY) down - up $1.51 on news it'll restate financials for the last several quarters and first two quarters of this year. I think this was kind of a relief rally from investors now that they're going to do that.
Alberto Culver (ACV) up $2.22. Third quarter earnings, $0.31, up from $0.24 last year. Sales up 12 percent. The company will buy back up to five million of its own shares.
Apple (AAPL) topped the NASDAQ's most active, losing $7.72. Dow Jones reported the company's expected to continue cutting prices on its popular cell phones. That'll help market share, but it'll hurt its profit margins.
Amgen (AMGN) up $6.56. After the close, second quarter earnings for Amgen, $1.14, $0.12 above the Street estimate and the company also announced that results were positive for the treatment of - that is has for postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Google (GOOG) down $14.86.
Microsoft (MSFT) A0.66 drop.
Research in Motion (RIMM) down $3.92.
Qualcomm (QCOM) fell $1.03.
Intel (INTC) $0.34 drop there.
baidu.com (BIDU) bucked the trend with almost a $2 gain.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) $0.45 loss.
And amazon.com (AMZN) down $2.33.
Energysouth (ENSI) up $9.44. Sempra Energy will acquire this company for $61.50 a share in cash.
And Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY), the Irish airline, down $8.68. The company's first quarter profits tumbled 85 percent as its fuel bill almost doubled from last year. The company sees full year just break even, maybe even a loss.
And those are the stocks in the news.
