Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Friday, May 15, 2009
|
|
|
|
JEFF YASTINE: Fresh economic data had Wall Street cheering this morning, but investors had second thoughts later in the day. Fears of deflation moderated as the Labor Department said consumer prices were unchanged in April. That helped the Dow to a 50-point gain in the first hour of trading. Those early gains disappeared as oil prices tumbled, losing more than $2 a barrel. That acted as a drag on energy stocks and the rest of the market. The Dow went on to close the day down 62.68 at 8,268.64 and this week, falling three times and rising twice for a net overall loss of 306.01. The NASDAQ Composite fell 9.07 today to 1,680.14 and that marked its fourth down session this week, logging an overall net weekly loss of 58.86. The S&P 500 ending off 10.19 to 882.88 and it was down 46.35 points on the week. In the bond market, the 10-year note falling 12/32 to 99 30/32 and the yield at 3.13 percent.
The financial Bank of America (BAC) topping our list tonight, losing $0.64. And there's Citigroup (C) Citi falling (ph) $0.07. They sold $2 billion in investment grade bonds without the backing of the U.S. Treasury. It's the first time Citi has sold its own bonds outside of the FDIC's temporary liquidity guarantee in quite a while. The bonds were rated with a single A by Standard & Poor's.
And there's Ford Motor Co (F) gaining $0.33.
American International Group (AIG) slipping $0.12. Fitch downgraded AIG's bond rating. Its mortgage business unit is now at junk bond status.
General Electric (GE) finishing down $0.18. The dredging of (INAUDIBLE) by Hudson River began today removing mud contaminated with PCBs. GE is paying for that clean up effort. It could cost $750 million or more.
Fortress Investment (FIG) dropped $1 and a penny. The publicly held investment firm will raise $125 million by selling more Class A shares of stock.
Wells Fargo (WFC) off $0.82.
And then Pfizer (PFE) dropping $0.33.
JPM Chase (JPM) sliding $0.63. They sold $2.5 billion in five-year notes. Analysts expect that money to be used to repay the government and be free of the TARP program.
And US Bancorp (USB) off $0.17.
WuXi Pharmatech (WX) jumped more than $2. The company reported strong demand for its China-based lab services. Executives believe the deal will hit their yearly profit targets.
And Red Hat (RHT) capped a gain of $1.74. The Jefferies brokerage issuing a "buy" there and a price target of $21.
American Dairy (ADY) soaring over $9. It certainly looked like a cash cow today, rising to an all-time high. The company getting top dollar for premium milk powder products including baby formula.
Anixter International (AXE) jumping almost $2.50. If you want a stock to watch in anticipation of an economic rebound, this is one to watch. So say analysts at William Blair. Anixter delivers electrical and cable products.
Nordstrom (JWN) up $1.63. The retailer beat earnings estimates last night. Executives see even better results in the year ahead.
And Firstenergy (FE) losing nearly $4. Barclays and Jefferies both downgraded the stock. They see lower profits based on lower wholesale power rates set by Ohio utility regulators yesterday.
And Chemed (CHE) (INAUDIBLE) $2.32. Their VITAS health care unit received subpoenas from the Justice Department. Investigators are looking at hospice services including patient records, policy and procedure manuals going back 6 1/2 years.
Over to the NASDAQ where Apple (AAPL) backed down $0.53.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) losing $0.17.
Microsoft (MSFT) up $0.16.
Google (GOOG) gaining $2.50 even.
Research in Motion (RIMM) up $1.22.
Intel (INTC) fell $0.35.
And then we have Dryships (DRYS) gaining $0.75. The dry boat shipper struck a waiver deal for $650 million in outstanding loans covering 23 ships in the fleet. Analysts say it's a step in the right direction but Dryships has issued a lot of new stock and the effect of that dilution isn't fully understood yet.
Qualcomm (QCOM) gaining $0.19.
Amazon.com (AMZN) down $1.51.
CME Group (CME) losing a little over $7 after some run ups of recent days.
Rightnow Technologies (RNOW) picking up $1.04. Roth Capital upgraded that one.
And OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP) falling $1.90. Clinical tests found their Tarceva cancer drug was helpful to lung cancer patients, but not to the extent analysts had hoped for. And expanding the drug's use, Cowan and Company keeping its "neutral" rating on the stock.
And those are our stocks in the news tonight.
