Paul Kangas' Stocks in the News
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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JEFF YASTINE: Concerns about the economy kick the legs out from underneath today's stock market. The Dow moved sideways in early trading but as the day wore on, investors turned their focus to the economy and a six month high in inventories of existing home sales adding to the selling, a six month high on the 10-year Treasury note yield, neither of which bodes well for a rapid recovery in real estate. So the selling intensified into the close. The Dow dropped 173.47 to 8300.02. The NASDAQ tumbling 19.35 to 1731.08 and the S&P 500 falling 17.27 to 893.06. And in the bond market, the 10-year note falling 1 28/32 and the yield rising to 3.74 percent, again a six month high.
Bank of America (BAC) falling $0.07. The CFO says it won't be long before the bank can get the entire $34 billion needed to satisfy the government's stress test requirements. But analyst Dick Bove cut his earnings targets because raising all that dough will cost current shareholders and the bank plenty of bread.
Citigroup (C) had a similar loss.
And then there's General Motors (GM) sliding $0.29. As you heard, GM's board will meet to decide what to do if anything as their bankruptcy watch goes into high gear.
General Electric (GE) losing $0.40.
Wells Fargo (WFC) dropping $1.57.
And then Regions Financial (RF) moved up $0.13. Deutsche Bank issued a "buy" on the shares.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) dropped $1.88. CEO Jamie Dimon telling analysts he wants to repay TARP ASAP and will consider boosting the dividend, but he said shareholders would be lucky if that could be done by the end of the year.
Ford Motor (F) slipping a fraction.
And then Pfizer (PFE) slipping $0.36.
Vale (VALE) falling $0.50.
Then we have Exxon Mobil (XOM) which fell $1.51. CEO Rex Tillerson says shareholders rejected a proposal to split the chairman and CEO positions and he says oil fundamentals have not changed much in the last five months. There's still a large inventory of oil out there despite the recent $10 jump in oil prices.
Monsanto (MON) dropped more than $5. They're seeing more competition against their weed killer product Roundup and they may weed out or that may weed out some profits. Monsanto sees earnings at the low end of previous estimates.
Cascade Corp (CAE) off nearly $3. Rodman & Renshaw does not see a fast recovery in farm equipment spending. Management will give its own status report on the quarter next week.
Autozone (AZO), the parts retailer, falling almost $8. Third quarter profits rose a decent 9 1/2 percent, but some analysts expected better, given that people are putting the brakes on new car purchases.
And another retailer to tell you about, Big Lots (BIG) sliding $1.63. JPMorgan downgraded the stock. Analysts expect slower sales in the summer months and expect a cautious outlook when Big Lots reports earnings tomorrow.
On the NASDAQ, Apple (AAPL) gained $2.27. Some follow through on yesterday's sharp rebound in consumer confidence.
And bucking the broader market today, Research in Motion (RIMM) advanced $0.54. The "Barron's" blog says an analyst upgrade for the shares and a new product called Niagara to debut in July.
Google (GOOG) climbing $1.20. Google has a developers' conference going on right now with more Internet and browser-based applications expected to chip away Microsoft dominance on the desktop.
Intel (INTC) slipped a fraction.
Qualcomm (QCOM) dropped $0.69.
Microsoft (MSFT) shedding $0.21.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) falling a similar amount.
First Solar (FSLR) climbing $1.18.
Oracle (ORCL) losing a fraction.
And Cephalon (CEPH) dropping $1.54.
Sandisk (SNDK) rose nearly $2. Goldman Sachs thinks the royalties from Sandisk technologies are extremely profitable and make the company worth more than $20 a share and they expect the stock to rise as more people value that information.
Oculus Innovative Sciences (OCLS) more than tripled to $4.10. That's a nice move. The FDA giving approval to market its Microcyn gel to heal damaged skin and flesh wounds.
And finally, Cree (CREE) gained $2.58. The chip maker raised its fiscal fourth quarter outlook and sees stronger order bookings and margins.
