Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Friday, March 31, 2006
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PAUL KANGAS: There was some improvement in stocks early today on those modest income and spending gains. Lower oil prices also encouraged buyers, so the Dow rose 30 points at the outset of trading while the NASDAQ gained 6 points. But that tepid morning upturn failed to generate much bullish conviction, so the market went into a slow fade this afternoon, made worse by normal pre-weekend selling, all of which resulted in a lower close. Today the Dow Industrial Average lost 41.38 points to 11,109.32. This week the Dow advanced only one time and it fell 170.67 points overall. The NASDAQ Composite lost just over a point today to 2,339.79. It fell twice and rose three times this week, had an overall gain of 26.97 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 5.42, ending at 1,294.83 today. Over in the bond market, the 10-year note rose 3/32 to 97 9/32, putting the yield at 4.85 percent.
Big Board volume leader on 25.7 million shares, General Electric (GM) moving up $0.13.
But Lucent Technologies (LU) dropped $0.04.
Time Warner (TWX) losing $0.06.
Pfizer (PFE) a $0.28 loss.
Exxon Mobil (XOM), on those lower oil prices, fell $0.26, fifth in Big Board volume.
Verizon Communications (VZ) fell $0.43.
Bucking the trend was Kimco Realty (KIM), with a gain of $0.23. Next Monday Kimco's stock will be added to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.
Then came General Motors (GM) with a $0.21 gain, interestingly enough, despite all of its problems.
Then EMC Corp. (EMC), a $0.13 rise.
Dean Foods Company (DF) down 40.86, 10th in volume. Today that stock was added to the Standard & Poor's 500, replacing Maytag, which, of course, has merged with Whirlpool (WHR).
Merck & Company (MRK), a Dow stock, down $0.38. A number of analysts say the company faces some hefty class action lawsuits from insurers that paid for Vioxx taken by millions of patients.
Dow Chemical (DOW) lost a half a dollar a share. Prudential Equity downgraded the stock from overweight to just a neutral.
ITT Industries (ITT) fell $1.74. Citigroup has downgraded it from buy to just a hold.
Then a good gainer, GEO Group (GGI) jumping $4.11. The company runs correctional facilities, sometimes called prisons, among other things, security and things like that. The company did boost its first-quarter earnings guidance by $0.10 a share up to the range of $0.39 to $0.41. The company cited a boost in the occupancy of its facilities.
US Airways Group (LCC), in a fairly firm airline group, up $2.51. Of course, that is helped along by lower oil prices today, but Moody's upgraded the stock of US Airways and the outlook for the company to stable. Stable outlook from Moody's.
Mohawk Industries (MHK), which makes flooring products, cut its first-quarter earnings guidance, which was averaging $1.21, all the way down to about $1.04 a share. And Standard & Poor's downgraded it from hold to a sell.
Group 1 Automotive (GPI) down $2.11. Morgan Stanley downgraded it from equal weight to underweight.
On the upside, Lennox International gaining $1.39. Analysts are very upbeat on the company's prospects due to strong demand for home heating and cooling systems. In addition, Matrix Research out of New York upgraded it from a buy to a strong buy.
Google (GOOG) topped the active list, moving up $1.56. After the close today, Google's stock finally was added to the Standard & Poor's 500.
Apple Computer (AAPL) a $0.03 loss.
Intel (INTC), a $0.24 drop.
A $0.02 loss in Microsoft (MSFT).
Cisco Systems (CSCO) fell $0.30. And that was fifth in dollar volume.
Dell (DELL) a $0.40 loss.
Amgen (AMGN) bucking the trend, up $0.13.
Qualcomm (QCOM) down $0.24.
SanDisk (SNDK), a $1.52 loss.
Tenth in volume was Oracle (ORCL) with a $0.09 drop in its stock.
Blue Dolphin Energy (BDCO) up $1.13, a 51 percent increase. A real turnaround, fourth-quarter earnings of $0.09 versus a loss of $0.09 a share a year ago. And revenues jumped from $1.4 million to $4.5 million in that period.
Merix Corporation (MERX) up $1.34. The electronics solutions company's third-quarter earnings, $0.14, way up from last year's $0.04.
And Astea was down $4.77. The software firm reported a fourth-quarter loss of $0.25 a share, versus earnings of $0.06 a year ago.
Those are the "Stocks in the News" tonight.
