Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, September 05, 2008
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PAUL KANGAS: That jump in August unemployment kept stocks on Wall Street on the defensive this morning, even after yesterday's steep sell-off. By 11:00 a.m., the Dow was off 130 points and the NASDAQ down 36 points. During mid-session, the financial sector staged a rally, and the hard-hit material and commodity stocks joined the upturn this afternoon. Bargain hunters persisted and lifted the major indices, with the exception of the tech sector, to closing gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 32.73 at 11,220.96. In this four-day trading week, it rose twice and fell twice, had a net loss of exactly 323 points. The NASDAQ Composite closed down 3.16 at 2,255.88 today. For the week, it fell all four days, dropping 111.64 points overall. Standard & Poor's 500 gained 5.48 to close at 1,242.31 today, and it lost 40.52 points for the week. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note fell 22/32 to 102 14/32, putting the yield at 3.70 percent.
Big board volume leader, Ford Motor (F), on 17.7 million shares, moving up $0.02.
Followed by Citigroup (C), up $0.77.
Bank of America (BAC) did well on that rally in the financial sector, up $1.63.
Pfizer (PFE) dropped $0.16.
And GE (GE) was up $0.18. And after the close, the company said federal regulators are considering filing a civil complaint against the company in the wake of a three-year probe into GE's use of hedge accounting for derivatives.
Wells Fargo (WFC), another strong bank stock, up $1.53.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) gaining $1.69.
Companhia Vale (RIO) down a nickel a share.
Washington Mutual (WM), a $0.23 gain.
And then Wachovia (WB), another strong banking stock, up $1.22.
Nokia (NOK) fell $1.69. The story here, the company says its mobile device market share is going to be lower than it expected this year.
And UST (UST), this is the smokeless tobacco company, up $13.55. Altria (MO), reports The New York Times, is in advanced talks to acquire UST for over $10 billion, as the word goes. No specific terms though. Altria's stock was up $0.29 at $20.95.
Merrill Lynch (MER) up $0.52, even though Goldman Sachs issued a sell recommendation on the stock.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX) down $1.02. Copper hit a seven-month low on the New York market, the December contracts down $0.1675 to $3.10 a pound.
The apparel company Quiksilver (ZQK) up $1.07. Third-quarter earnings, $0.25, down from $0.28 a year ago, but that was $0.04 better than the Street consensus.
Then Graftech International (GTI) up $2.34. Jefferies brokerage upgraded it from hold to a buy.
A major loser was Pike Electric (PEC), losing almost $3 a share. Flat fourth-quarter earnings of $0.17, same as last year on a 4.5 percent drop in revenues. And the company was very cautious on its outlook.
ABM Industries (ABM) losing $4.81. Third-quarter earnings, $0.32 up from $0.24 a year ago, but $0.07 below the Street estimate. And the company sees 2008 at $1.05 a share, the Street estimate a $1.25.
Cascade (CAE), this is a company that makes freight handling equipment, down $5.63. Second-quarter earnings fell to $0.94 from $1.21 last year. The company says North American sales this year will be down 10 to 15 percent from a year ago.
Genco Shipping (GNK) down $3.07. Lazard brokerage downgraded it from buy to hold. And Safeway (SWY) lost $1.05. Morgan Stanley downgraded it from equal weight to underweight.
And then Cooper Companies (COO) down $2.16, $0.67 in third-quarter earnings, down from $0.71 last year.
Moving along to the NASDAQ, Apple (AAPL) topped the active list, losing $1.04. Research In Motion (RIMM) off $0.54.
Microsoft (MSFT) fell $0.70.
Google (GOOG) dropping $6.01.
Intel (INTC) bucked the trend with a $0.09 gain.
Qualcomm (QCOM), $0.87 loss there.
And First Solar (FSLR) off $1.12.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) dropped just $0.02.
SanDisk (SNDK) was up $4.18. The company said it had talks with various parties, including Samsung, about business combinations. Standard & Poor's upgraded it from sell to hold.
And then 10th in volume was Oracle (ORCL), moving up $0.14.
Martek Biosciences (MATK) up $2.77. Third-quarter earnings came in at $0.28 versus $0.19 a year ago, $0.04 better than the Street consensus. And the company gave an upbeat outlook.
Those are the "Stocks in the News" tonight.
