Tag - NASDAQGM:NANX

Triad Guaranty Inc. (Nasdaq: TGIC), Nanophase Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: NANX) and Isramco, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRL) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers:

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is posting steep losses as investors react to news of poor earnings and more credit fears. At 1:37 p.m. ET, the small-cap index was down 13.78 points, or 1.67%, to 811.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had retreated 2098.26 points, or 1.5%, to 13,680.70.

The bears have been running the show ever since Wachovia Corp. (Nasdaq: WB) reported before the opening that its third-quarter profit fell 10% due to difficult credit market conditions.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia, the fourth largest U.S. bank, also said that it recorded a provision for credit losses of $408 million, about four times the level during the same three months of 2006.

Contributing to more poor earnings news was heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), which announced that quarterly profit missed analysts’ forecasts. The company forecasts that the ongoing slump in the U.S. housing sector will result in a 12% drop in sales of machinery and engines in 2007. Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar expects international sales to pick up the slack.

In commodities news, the price of oil has eased $1.43 to $88.04 a barrel. The recent spike in oil prices was partially attributed to tensions along the border between Iraq and Turkey and the weakness of the U.S. dollar.

Shares of Nanophase Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: NANX) are looking smaller following news after the close on Thursday that the maker of nanomaterial technologies reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter net loss.

Net loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $0.96 million, or $0.05 per share, while three analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were projecting a loss of $0.01 per share. The Romeoville, Ill.-based company reported a net loss of $0.92 million, or $0.05 per share, during the same three months of 2006.

However, revenue posted a modest rise of 5%, coming to $2.6 million from $2.4 million during the third quarter of 2006.

“Third quarter 2007 revenue was disappointing compared with our outlook entering the quarter due to an unexpected revenue reduction in architectural coatings,” said president and CEO Joseph Cross in a statement.

Nanophase Technologies’ product mix includes nanomaterials used in surface coatings to provide abrasion resistance.

“We believe that the architectural coatings order rate was markedly impacted by a reduction in new housing starts and reduced consumer spending in the do-it-yourself market,” said Cross. Nevertheless, the company chief said he remains optimistic that the company will continue growing.

At 12:22 p.m. ET, shares of Nanophase Technologies Corp. (NANX) had lost $1.06, or 15.96%, to $5.58. That’s close to the 52-week low of $5.25, which was set on March 14. The 52-week high of $7.46 was touched on April 16.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is down steeply as the major U.S. indices are swimming in a sea of red following news of weak earnings.

At 10:34 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had lost 10.38 points, or 1.26%, to 814.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was off 162.09 points, or 1.17%, to 13,726.87.

With little on the economic front, news of poor earnings from major corporate players is grabbing the headlines and spooking investors.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp. (Nasdaq: WB), the fourth largest U.S. bank, reported before the opening that its third-quarter profit fell 10% due to difficult credit market conditions.

Net income stumbled to $1.69 billion, or $0.89 per share, compared with $1.88 billion, or $1.17 per share, a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.03 per share. Wachovia said that it recorded a provision for credit losses of $408 million, about four times the level during the same three months of 2006.

In other disappointing news, heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced a quarterly profit that missed analysts’ forecasts.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are flat but the small-cap index will probably be weighed down by news of poor earnings.

The bears will most likely overpower the bulls after the opening, following news that Wachovia Corp. (Nasdaq: WB), the fourth largest U.S. bank, reported a decline in its third-quarter profit. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank attributed the shortfall to difficult credit market conditions.

In other disappointing news, heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced a quarterly profit that missed analysts’ forecasts. Net income came to $1.40 per share, below the projected $1.42 per share.

That’s a sign of the slowdown in housing, as fewer builders are breaking ground on fewer new houses and have less need for Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar’s signature products.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Overstock.com Inc. (OSTK), up 15% on news of a narrower third-quarter loss.
• Steve Madden Ltd. (SHOO), up 14% on news of a possible sale.
• CyberSource Corp. (CYBS), up 14% on news of better-than-expected third-quarter results.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Nanophase Technologies (NANX), down 13% on news of a wider third-quarter loss.
• Center Bancorp Inc. (CNBC), down 2%.
• China Techfaith Wireless Communication Technology Ltd. (CNTF) down 2%.

This week, we feature three advisers who see large potential gains from the “smallest” of ideas—nanotechnology. This broad field involves the study and manipulation of matter at an atomic level. Given that this is a new and developing field, investors in nanotech should have a long-term view.

For those willing to incur the higher risks of selecting an individual stock in the nanotech space, we turn to two emerging growth experts. First, Gregg Early, editor of The Real Nanotech Investor, considers Maxwell Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MXWL), a stock with a market cap of $246 million, among his favorite speculative buys.

“The company specializes in a very arcane field, even by nanotech standards. Maxwell is one of the few companies involved in developing capacitors and increasingly, ultracapacitors,” he said. “This new generation of capacitor has the potential to revolutionize motive and stationary power storage and distribution as we know it.”

According to Early, the company was recently awarded a contract by Mercedes Car Group to design and produce ultracapacitors for an advanced engineering hybrid-electric drive train program that increases fuel efficiency and reduces emissions.

“This is also a very good sign for Maxwell because its new CEO, David Schramm, hails from the auto industry,” he said. “Landing a deal with a major innovator like Mercedes is an optimistic sign of things to come.”

Nanotechnology, a broad field that essentially means the ability to create specifically designed compounds a few nanometers in size, has for many years been hailed as the next great breakthrough for solving a plethora of the world’s problems. At this size, the electrical, chemical and optical properties of the compounds are radically transformed, promising such things as more efficient electronic circuits, longer-lived batteries, improved drug-delivery systems, engineered biofuels, better lasers and more advanced imaging equipment.

But so far, successful commercial products based on the technology have been harder to find than a nanocrystal under a microscope. Nanophase Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: NANX,) founded in the late 1990s, has for the last several years been focused on getting real products to market rather than on simply creating new nanoparticles. It has partnerships with BASF, Rohm & Haas Company (NYSE: ROH), health care companies and others, through which it has developed more than 200 commercial products. Those products are now being used to create semiconductors with fewer flaws, better fuel cells, scratch-resistant and microbe-resistant coatings, and even better sunscreens and deodorants.

In April, it announced a new deal with Behr, a premium paint company that is using its nanoparticles to make a paint that resists mildew, has better adhesion and requires no primer. The paint will go on sale at The Home Depot, Inc.’s (NYSE: HD) stores soon. Last December Nanophase also signed a deal with a German company to produce a transparent coating that protects automobile paint from scratching.

Several analysts are hoping that signals a turning point for the company’s profitability and long-stagnant stock. Nikolay Tishchenko at Crown Global Capital, sees the potential for 30% to 50% annual revenue growth for Nanophase for the next several years. “Nanotechnology is breaking out of its limited applications and is at the early stage of exponential growth,” he says. “I like the company’s management and business model.”