Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Thursday, March 26, 2009
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PAUL KANGAS: It looks like confidence is growing on Wall Street that the worst is behind us. The tech stocks led the way higher today with the NASDAQ up 41 points by mid-session and the Dow gaining 105 points. Solid earnings from Best Buy and Conagra and a well received seven-year Treasury note auction added to the rally 's momentum so the market went on to close at the day's best levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 174 3/4 points exactly at 7924.56. That put it up over 20 percent since its March 9th low. Technically that's a bull market indicator. The NASDAQ added 58.05 to 1587 even today and today's rally put the NASDAQ Composite of territory (ph) on the year, something many thought we'd never hear. Standard & Poor's 500 rose 18.98 points ending at 832.86. In the bond market, the 10-year note rose 15/32 to par and 2/32, putting the yield at 2.74 percent.
Topping the active list on the New York exchange trading 83 million shares there, Citigroup (C) down $0.14. The company is expected to work with General Motors and Chrysler to decide how to distribute the Treasury's $5 billion aid program to auto parts suppliers.
Bank of America (BAC) in there with a $0.12 loss.
American International Group (AIG) dropped a dime a share. The New York state AG has issued a subpoena regarding the company's credit default swap contracts and it's all part of the probe into the company's bonuses.
Noble Corp (NE) down $0.51. After the close, that stock was removed from the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
General Electric (GE) $0.41 gain.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) up $0.54.
And then Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) with a $0.47 loss.
Pfizer (PFE) in there with a $0.12 gain.
US Bancorp (USB) rose $0.63.
And ExxonMobil (XOM) gaining $1.07 a share.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) led that strong high tech group into higher ground with that gain of $2.19, best in the Dow. RBC Capital has begun coverage of Hewlett with an "out perform" rating and a $39 per share target price.
Raytheon Co (RTN), the big defense manufacturer, up $2.87. The company is boosting its annual dividend by 11 percent from $1.12 to $1.24. That works out to $0.31 a share quarterly.
Texas Industries (TXI) which is in the construction materials business, up $5.76. Third quarter earnings dropped to $0.37 from $0.53 last year, but the Street was looking for a $0.02 per share loss so a lot better than expected.
Celanese (CE), the chemical company, up $1.21. Citigroup has added this stock to its top picks list.
Conagra Foods (CAG) up $1.43. Fourth quarter, let's make it third quarter earnings, $0.43, up from $0.34 last year, a nice move there and sales were actually up 6 percent. Standard & Poor's repeated a "buy" recommendation.
Dr Depper Snapple Group (DPS) up $2.36. Fourth quarter earnings dropped to $0.39 from $0.48 last year, but that was $0.02 above the Wall Street consensus and sales during the period dropped only 1 percent.
Red Hat (RHT) moving up $2.60. Fourth quarter earnings out today, $0.22, a penny more than last year and revenues up 18 percent. Those earnings were $0.02 above the Street estimate. Piper Jaffray repeated a "buy" on the stock, but interestingly, Standard & Poor's repeated a "sell." There's also been takeover speculation helping that stock along.
The solar stocks outstanding today. The Chinese ministry of finance plans to offer a solar subsidy. It means some of the companies that are expected to benefit. Look at the percentage gains here, LDK Solar Co (LDK), Suntech Power (STP), Trina Solar Ltd (TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding (YGE) all big moves up in one of the best groups.
Agilent Technologies (A) up $1.18. The company will restructure two of its units and cut 2700 jobs in order to cope with the sharp drop it's experiencing in revenues.
NASDAQ's most active, Apple (AAPL) up $3.38 in a strong high tech group.
Google (GOOG) up $9.22. (INAUDIBLE) Adams brokerage upgraded it "hold" to "buy," boosted its price target to $450 a share. Google is also cutting 200 jobs in its global sales force.
First Solar (FSLR) in that strong group, up $16.41.
Intel (INTC) an $0.88 gain.
Microsoft (MSFT) rose $0.95 a share.
Research in Motion (RIMM) gaining $2.12. Goldman Sachs repeated a "buy." Fourth quarter earnings due out a week from today on Research.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) $0.74 advance.
O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY) up $1.27. After the close today, this stock replaced Noble Corp. in the Standard & Poor's 500.
Qualcomm (QCOM) gained $1.04.
And Oracle (ORCL) rising $0.59.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
