Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Monday, December 15, 2008
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JEFF YASTINE: Investors spent the day waiting on tomorrow's Fed decision with stocks churning lower. The Dow lost a little over 100 points in the first 90 minutes as investors reacted to word of November industrial production falling 0.6 of a percent. That's the third decline in four months. The NASDAQ was the weaker index off 50 points. At one point in trading on weakness in shares of Apple and Research in Motion, but the indexes pared their losses going into the close and the Dow ended off just 65.15 points at 8564.53. The NASDAQ Composite falling 32.38 to 1508.34 and the S&P 500 dropping 11.16 to 868.57. And In the bond market, the 10-year note rising 16/32 to 110 25/32, with the yield at 2.52 percent.
Starting things off, Citigroup (C) falling $0.30.
And then Pfizer (PFE) slipping $0.29.
Bank of America (BAC) dropping $0.82. B of A denying reports from China that it will sell its stake in China construction bank at a discounted price of $3 billion.
AT&T (T) dropping $1.05. Goldman Sachs lowered estimates there. They expect AT&T's enterprise division to report weaker results and its pension plan probably lost value too, meaning AT&T will have to make up the difference.
General Electric (GE) finished off a fraction.
And then there's Ford Motor Co (F) climbing $0.14. President Bush this morning said no rescue plan imminent, but hopes remain on some kind of bail out cash forthcoming from Washington.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) dropping $2.31. Analysts noted JPMorgan likely to post another $2.8 billion loss on its mark to market assets meaning it will need to create additional reserves at the same time the deals will be pull back in consumer spending.
There's ExxonMobil (XOM) dropping $0.50.
Petrobras (PBR) edged up $0.30.
And then Huntsman (HUN) falling nearly $3. The company's leveraged buyout was called off over the weekend. Hexion Specialty Chemicals is walking away from its earlier $28 a share buyout offer, another victim of the credit crisis.
Shares of Honeywell International (HON) rising $1.83. That's a 5 1/2 week high. Investors relieved that Honeywell's forecast for next year wasn't worse than already expected. Analysts see $3.40 a share and executives think a range just above or below that is possible.
Another stock rising on speculation things aren't as bad as first thought, Aetna (AET) gaining $2.32. Tomorrow, the company will detail earnings targets as well as its cash position, any trouble spots on the horizon.
Vail Resorts (MTN) rising $0.63. The shares at a high of $23.44 before backing off. Last week, the ski resort operator posted a bigger than expected loss, but Wachovia thinks the stock at this price is quite compelling and nearly eight feet of snowing falling at Vail since the start of the ski season. That's not too bad either.
Capital One Financial (COF) falling over $2, reporting a rise in delinquencies and charge offs last month.
And then Beckman Coulter (BEC) falling $2.20. An analyst at Baird is cautious on all the life science stocks, thinks that hospitals could rein in their spending next year and that could mean Beckman Coulter will sell fewer medical instruments.
Then onto the NASDAQ where Apple (AAPL) fell $3.52. Goldman Sachs downgrading Apple shares, mainly on pessimism about consumer spending in the first half of next year.
Then we move onto Google (GOOG) which dropped more than $5. A "Journal" story last night suggested Google may be abandoning its position of supporting Internet neutrality but today, Google said that "Journal" story was quote, confused and reiterated its support of network neutrality.
Microsoft (MSFT) shedding $0.32.
Intel (INTC) down $0.16.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) also off a fraction.
Research in Motion (RIMM) falling nearly $2.
Oracle (ORCL) dropping $0.39.
Qualcomm (QCOM) losing $0.11.
Baidu.com (BIDU) gaining more than $4.
First Solar (FSLR) though dropping more than $5.
Liberty Media (LMDIA) climbing $3.14. John Malone's company spinning out one of its tracking stocks, Liberty Entertainment. The deal would make it easier to sell or merge the majority ownership of DirecTV and perhaps put that unit up for sale.
Oceanfreight (OCNF) dropped $1.21. The Greek shipping firm suspending its dividend and will cut the cost of chartering its ships from $42,000 a day to $15,000 a day.
And finally Rofin-Sinar (RSTI) sliding more than $3. The fund cut its first quarter sales forecast, lowered estimate sales by about 20 percent as customers deferred orders because of the weak economy.
And those are our stocks in the news tonight.
