Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, August 29, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened on a downbeat note as investors generally viewed today's economic reports as pessimistic. The tech sector was weak after Dell's earnings shortfall late yesterday. So in a steady sell-off, the Dow fell 165 points by mid-session while the NASDAQ Composite lost 49 points. Stocks remained broadly lower this afternoon amid nervousness over hurricane Gustav's path and caution ahead of the long Labor Day weekend. The Dow Industrial Average closed off 171.22 points at 11,543.96. This week it fell twice and rose three times, had a net loss of 84.10 points. The NASDAQ Composite was down 14.12 to 2367.52 today. This week, it rose twice, fell three times and dropped 47.19 points overall. Standard & Poor's 500 lost 17.85 to 1282.83 today and for the week, it was down 9.37 points. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 11/32 in the day's shortened session to 101 13/32, putting the yield at 3.83 percent.
New York exchange volume leader on 18.1 million shares, Merrill Lynch (MER) moving up $0.83. Followed by Citigroup (C) down $0.09.
Then General Electric (GE) with a $0.73 loss.
Freddie Mac (FRE) a little profit taking after recent gains, down $0.77.
Wamu (WM) was up $0.18.
AT&T (T) $0.24 loss.
Ford Motor Co (F) edged $0.03 higher.
Pfizer (PFE) a $0.16 drop.
Bank of America (BAC) lost $0.29.
And Fannie Mae (FNM), after six consecutive closing gains, down $1.11 on some profit taking.
Moving along, we see International Paper (IP) down $1.25. Deutsche Bank downgraded it from "buy" to a "hold" today.
And MGM Mirage (MGM) was a good mover on the upside, gaining $1.71. The company has secured $2.3 billion of the remaining $3 billion in funding needed for its huge city center project on the Las Vegas strip, good news there on the financing.
Another gambling company, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) up $1.56. The chairman today dismissed concerns over the prospect of a slowing economy in Macau, which has been prompted by China's recent measures to restrict its citizens from visiting Macau.
Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (FCX) down $1.31. Deutsche Bank cut its price target from $135 to $125 a share.
And then Constellation Energy (CEG) losing $1.78. Jefferies brokerage downgraded it from "hold" to "under perform" and Lehman cut its price target from $108 down to $76 a share.
Esterline Technologies (ESL), the aerospace company, up $3.10. Third quarter earnings $0.68, up from $0.61 a year on a 17 percent rise in revenue.
Then we see Excel Maritime (EXM) up $1.64. Maxim group upgraded it from "hold" to a "buy" rating.
Genesco (GCO), the shoe company, up $1.09, traded as high as $37.55 today after reporting second quarter earnings, excluding one-time items, $0.18, way up from the Wall Street estimate of only $0.04 a share.
Eagle Materials (EXP) gained $1.51. Longbow research upgraded it from "neutral" to a "buy."
And then on the downside, Santander Bancorp (SBP) losing $1.21. The company is stopping payment of a $0.10 quarterly cash dividend. That's due to poor economic conditions in Puerto Rico. Also the company's president resigned.
NASDAQ's most active, Apple (AAPL) down $4.21.
Dell (DELL) losing $3.48 after the shortfall in earnings out after the close yesterday. Today Bank America cut its price target from $29 to $27 a share and cut its 2009 earnings estimate of $1.58 down to $1.53. On top of that, Standard & Poor's downgraded the stock from "buy" to "hold," bad day for Dell.
$5.05 drop in Research in Motion (RIMM).
Google (GOOG) losing $10.49.
Microsoft (MSFT) $0.65 loss there.
Intel (INTC) $0.72 loss.
Oracle (ORCL) down $0.71.
And Qualcomm (QCOM) fell $1.32.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) off $0.61.
And Marvel Technology Group Ltd (MRVL) $0.65 loss.
Petsmart (PETM) up $2.58. Second quarter earnings were lower, $0.30, versus $0.35 last year, but that was $0.02 above the Wall Street estimate, though the stock reacted positively.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
