Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
|
|
|
|
PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened with a feeble attempt at a follow up to yesterday's 290-point blue chip rally. The Dow rose only 40 points at the outset of trading while the NASDAQ gained just 12 points before turning lower. And behind that pullback was that sharp drop in Lehman stock on liquidity concerns and doubts about how effective the Fannie/Freddie rescue would be. The Dow posted a 180-point mid-afternoon loss led by the financial and commodity sectors, and that retreat accelerated right into the final bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 280.01 points, at 11,230.73. The NASDAQ Composite tumbled 59.95, ending at 2,209.81, while the Standard & Poor's 500 was down 43.28, at 1,224.51. Over in the bond market, a flight to safety, the 10-year note gained 1 1/32 to 103 17/32, putting the yield at 3.57 percent.
By far most active Big Board issue, trading 42.1 million shares, Lehman Brothers (LEH) tumbling $6.36, or 45 percent. After the close, several big firms like Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) said they are still trading with Lehman however. And also, Lehman Brothers -- now this has just come in, Lehman Brothers has decided late today to report third- quarter results tomorrow morning and unveil key strategic initiatives tomorrow morning.
Second in volume was Washington Mutual (WM). Standard & Poor's cut its price target to as low as $2 a share. Citigroup (C) down $1.44, giving back just about everything it gained yesterday. Same story with Bank of America (BAC), down $2.21.
GE (GE), fifth in volume, was down $0.97.
American International Group (AIG) tumbling another $4.39 on concerns its large exposure to mortgage markets could trigger the need to raise fresh capital, which, of course, would dilute earnings.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) down $2.08.
Wells Fargo (WFC) off $2.39.
Pfizer (PFE) was down $0.90.
And then Wachovia (WB) losing $2.75. Merrill Lynch downgraded Wachovia from neutral to underperform.
McDonald's (MCD), there a pleasant sight, a gain of $0.77. The company's August same-store sales up 4.5 percent in the U.S. Global same-store sales up a very respectable 8.5 percent.
Then FedEx (FDX) closed down $0.11, but after the close, the company forecast first-quarter earnings will come in at a $1.23. That is $0.28 better than the Wall Street consensus. In after hours trading, FedEx stock was up $5 to the $89 a share level.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) down $2.36. KeyBanc brokerage downgraded it from buy to a hold. The steels on the stronger dollar very weak today. And also a Harbinger Capital Partners fund sold about 3.1 million shares of AK Steel (AKS) last month. That had quite a negative impact on the whole group: Allegheny (ATI), Nucor (NUE), Reliance Steel (RS), Steel Dynamics (STLD), and Big Steel (X) all major losers on the day.
Korn/Ferry International (KFY), this is the executive search firm, doing well, up $1.22. Flat first-quarter earnings, $0.36, same as a year ago. But that was $0.06 better than the Street consensus. And the company predicting second-quarter $0.26 to $0.33 versus the $0.30 Wall Street estimate.
Pep Boys (PBY) down $2.36. The auto parts company had flat second-quarter earnings of $0.07. And had sales that were also lower.
Moving along we see DineEquity (DIN) off $6.20. This is company that owns IHOP and Applebee's. And the chief financial officer, Thomas Conforti, has resigned. Quite a negative reaction.
Apple (AAPL) topped the NASDAQ active list, down $6.24. As you heard, the company introduced its new iPod Nano.
Google (GOOG) down $1.29, even though Standard & Poor's upgraded it from hold to buy on valuation.
Research In Motion (RIMM) down $3.37.
Microsoft (MSFT) a $0.02 drop there.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) fell $0.40.
Intel (INTC), $0.64 loss.
Similar drop in Qualcomm (QCOM).
Oracle (ORCL) off $0.09.
First Solar (FSLR) down $22.42 on concern of an oversupply of solar panels next year.
And then Dell (DELL) was down $0.87.
SanDisk (SNDK) lost $1.20. The Lazard brokerage downgraded it from buy to hold.
And then after the close, Standard & Poor's announced the following two stocks will replace Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) in the Standard & Poor's. First we have Fastenal (FAST), which trades on the NASDAQ. And that stock in after hours trading jumped to $54 a share on the news.
The second stock involved is Salesforce.com (CRM), I don't know if we have a chart of it. But it trades on the New York Exchange. And the stock jumped to about $55 a share -- there it is, in after hours trading, up to $55 after hours on the news it will be the newest member of the Standard & Poor's 500.
And those are the "Stocks in the News tonight.
