Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, February 13, 2009
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PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street started the day in a narrow trading range as investors showed little reaction to another decline in consumer confidence or that moratorium on foreclosures. They were also hesitant to take positions ahead of the holiday weekend. After the House passed the stimulus plan however, stocks moved to the sell side, ending near their lows of the day. The Dow Industrial Average closed off 82.35 points at 7850.41. This week, it rose only once and it lost 430.18 points overall. The NASDAQ Composite fell 7.35 to 1534.36 today. It rose twice and fell three time this week, had a net loss of 57.35 points. Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 8.35, ending at 826.84 today and it dropped 41.76 points for the week. In the bond market, the 10-year note fell 30/32 to 98 24/32, putting the yield at 2.90 percent.
Once again topping the active list today on 42.3 million shares, Bank of America (BAC) down $0.30. It's halting those foreclosures as you heard.
So is Citigroup (C) which lost $0.12.
General Electric (GE) $0.24 loss there.
Pfizer (PFE) $0.07 drop.
And JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell $1.50.
Sprint Nextel (S) bucked the trend, up $0.32.
And Co Vale do Rio (RIO) up $0.35.
Wells Fargo (WFC) down $1.04. After the close yesterday, Wells said it will take a $328 million charge on certain preferred securities and that'll cut its previously reported 2008 earnings of $0.75 a share down to $0.70 a share.
Petrobras (PBR) in there with a half dollar gain.
Then came ExxonMobil (XOM) down $0.63.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) fell $1.60 today. Fourth quarter earnings are due out next Tuesday. The Street estimate is about $0.99, but today Citigroup anticipates a guarded outlook from Wal-Mart next Tuesday.
Texas Instruments (TXN) moved up $0.56 after UBS Financial upgraded it from "neutral" to a "buy" recommendation.
And then Pepsico (PEP) up $0.57. Fourth quarter earnings $0.46, down from last year's $0.77, but excluding restructuring charges, its earnings were $0.88, up from $0.79 a year ago. That was about in line with Street estimates.
Mastercard (MA) closed up only $0.10, but it traded as high as $168.81 today after Cowan and Company brokerage upgraded it from "under perform" to "out perform."
The big British bank, Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) down $1.53, huge percentage drop. The company expects to report a 2008 loss of $14.4 billion.
MEMC Electronic (WFR) up $1.27. The story here, UBS Financial upgraded it from "neutral" to "buy" and did the same for a host of other chip stocks.
McAfee (MFE) $0.15 gain, but it traded as high as $33.25 today after reporting first quarter earnings of $0.53, up from last year's $0.46. Revenues were up 19 percent.
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) $2.08 gain there, nice move. Fourth quarter earnings excluding items, $1.10 a share, $0.09 above the Street estimate and the company is upbeat on its plans for expansion overseas.
Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) down $1.76, huge percentage drop there. Fourth quarter results excluding items, $0.47, up a penny from last year, but the company sees first quarter earnings falling to only $0.35 to $0.40 a share.
And then Treehouse Foods (THS) up $2.72. Fourth quarter operating earnings, $0.55, up a dime from last year. Sales up 7.3 percent. The company sees 2009 earnings rising 11 to 14 percent.
NASDAQ's most active, Apple (AAPL) down $0.11.
And then Google (GOOG) a $5.37 drop.
Research in Motion (RIMM) off $1.91. Credit Suisse downgraded it from "neutral" to "under perform."
Microsoft (MSFT) down $0.17. It plans to open retail stores to better compete with Apple.
Intel (INTC) $0.12 loss there.
And Cisco Systems (CSCO) a dime loss.
Finally some gains, Qualcomm (QCOM) up $0.14.
Oracle (ORCL) a $0.17 advance.
First Solar (FSLR) down $1.15.
And Amgen (AMGN), tenth in volume, lost $0.51.
Electro-Optical Sciences (MELA), look at that percentage gain, up $2.83. The company's non-invasive device for melanoma detection is looking promising in late trials.
And those are the stocks in the news tonight.
