Tag - NASDAQGS:CEDC

DryShips Inc (Nasdaq:DRYS), Zhongpin Inc (Nasdaq:HOGS) and AngioDynamics Inc (Nasdaq:ANGO) are among the most actively traded companies in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: ICU Medical Inc. (Nasdaq:ICUI), Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLE), Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC), Geron Corp. (Nasdaq:GERN), The9 Ltd. (Nasdaq:NCTY) and Apollo Investment Corp. (Nasdaq:AINV).

Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER), Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq:CLNE) and Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) are among the most actively traded companies in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX), UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA), ASM International NV (Nasdaq:ASMI), Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC), Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:SWHC) and Silver Standard Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:SSRI).

Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM), Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS) and PDL BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq:PDLI) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Almost Family Inc. (Nasdaq:AFAM), Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC), Arris Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ARRS), Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER), NVE Corp. (Nasdaq:NVEC) and Bucyrus International Inc. (Nasdaq:BUCY).

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) eked out a green close today, but still lagged the Dow and S&P 500. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were InterMune (Nasdaq:ITMN), John B. Sanfilippo & Son (Nasdaq:JBSS) and Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The pending home sales report rose 6.3%, better than expected (the forecast was flat) and helped spark a recovery bounce in equities.
• Homebuilder stocks seemed to get a lift from the pending home sales number, with the ISE Homebuilder Index rising 5.2%.
• Motorcycle manufacturers were a top performer today, but the large automakers were in retreat mode as they release sales numbers today.
• Personal products companies, steel stocks, coal firms and general merchandise stores were all doing well today.
• Poor performers were regional banks, diverse financial services firms, consumer finance companies, diversified banks, casinos and REITs.
• For the year, the Russell is down 9.3%, while the Dow is off 7.9% and the S&P 500 is down 7.1%.
• Energy shares outpaced the overall market rise today, helped along by a modest 1.7% advance in crude oil futures, which gained $0.70 a barrel to $40.78.
• Crude prices were underpinned by talk of additional production cuts out of OPEC and some worries about possible refinery worker strikes. 
• On Wed. the market will get an early glimpse at private jobs numbers, . . .

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Tuesday, shaking off losses in the banking and financial sector amid gains for homebuilders, drug and energy shares. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 3.28, or 0.73%, at 452.90, but lagged gains in the Dow and S&P 500, which takes some of the edge off the advance. For the year, the Russell is down 9.3%, while the Dow is off 7.9% and the S&P 500 is down 7.1%.

The market started off on a defensive note and continued to chop around on both sides of positive ground until the bulls gained traction in the afternoon. About 30 minutes into the session an upbeat reading on pending home sales and an announcement by the Federal Reserve that they would extend various credit windows helped underpin the market.

For the record, pending home sales came in plus 6.3%, well above the forecast for a flat reading. The upside release helped spark a rise in homebuilder stocks with the ISE Homebuilders Index climbing 8.3%. Several key companies in the homebuilder universe fall within small-cap guidelines, including Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH), which jumped 17% on the day. Small-cap builders KB Home (NYSE:KBH) rose 10%, while Centex Corp. (NYSE:CTX) was up 10%.

The other piece of economic data in play today came from various sales reports out of automobile companies. As expected, vehicle sales fell off a cliff again in January, with General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) collapsing 49%, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) down some 40%, while Toyota Motor Corp. (now the world’s largest automaker) saw a sales drop of 34% and Nissan tumbled 30%. Despite the sober news on sales, Ford shares actually finished higher on the day (up about 4%), while General Motors was down 3%.

Energy shares outpaced the overall market rise today, helped along by a modest 1.7% advance in crude oil futures, which gained $0.70 a barrel to $40.78. Crude prices were underpinned by talk of additional production cuts out of OPEC and some . . .

Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC), Signet Jewelers (Nasdaq:SIG) and Astoria Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:AF) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Alliance Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:ALNC), WSFS Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:WSFS), Methanex Corp. (Nasdaq:MEOH), Penn Virginia Corp. (Nasdaq:PVA), United Natural Foods Inc. (Nasdaq:UNFI) and First Busey Corp. (Nasdaq:BUSE).

First Busey Corp. (Nasdaq:BUSE), Porter Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:PBIB) and Astoria Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:AF) are among the new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: McMoRan Exploration Co. (Nasdaq:MMR), First M&F Corp. (Nasdaq:FMFC), Boston Beer Company Inc. (Nasdaq:SAM), Peoples Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:PEBO), MetroCorp Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:MCBI) and Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC).

Small-cap stocks extended the opening slide after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson suggested that the government’s initial plan to rescue our fragile financial system by scooping up bad debt off the books of financial firms wasn’t that great of an idea after all. A lack of confidence in the rescue plan simply added to existing jitters about the economy and the corporate profit outlook. Today’s small-cap gainers are Rex Energy (Nasdaq:REXX), CTC Media (Nasdaq:CTCM) and Ticketmaster (Nasdaq:TKTM).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Anything currently linked to Russia is trouble; the Russian Stock Exchange closed for 2 days to stem massive selling in Russian equities.  
• The U.S. dollar was down mildly against the euro, but absolutely tanking against the Japanese yen, losing some 2.1%.  
• Treasury markets rallied as equity markets tumbled, reflecting flight toward “safe haven” outlets and away from stocks.  
• Small caps are down neaerly 4% after Paulson said the govt. would scrap the original “rescue” plan, in lieu of a better alternative.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• Rex Energy trading up over 10% after clocking a profit in Q3 on Nov. 7. See (Nasdaq:REXX).
• CTC Media reports inducement grant under NASDAQ marketplace rule 4350. Shares up 8.4%. See (Nasdaq:CTCM).  
• Ticketmaster Entertainment posts Q3 revenue increase, removes convenience fees for certain concerts. Shares trading up 6% this morning. See (Nasdaq:TKTM).  
• FalconStor Software, Inc. up 5% on higher-than-average volume. See (Nasdaq:FALC).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC tumbled 24% on news that ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the firm’s debt. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• Though crude prices are down, select airlines are struggling. UAL Corp. is down 23%, US Airways is off 20% and Alaska Air is down 7.5%. See (Nasdaq:UAUA), (NYSE:LCC) and (NYSE:ALK).  
• Central European Distribution Corp., the largest vodka producer in Poland, tumbled 21%. See (Nasdaq:CEDC).  
• Hadera Paper Ltd., an Israeli company that specializes in manufacturing and recycling of paper products, was off 20% after reporting earnings. See (NYSE:AIP).  

Small-cap stocks extended the opening slide after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson suggested that the government’s initial plan to rescue our fragile financial system by scooping up bad debt off the books of financial firms wasn’t that great of an idea after all. A lack of confidence in the rescue plan simply added to existing jitters about the economy and the corporate profit outlook. At 12:16 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 18.46, or 3.83%, at 463.83.

Paulson said that the government was moving toward another round of capital injections into financial institutions, scrapping the original “rescue” of buying up toxic debt as a way to utilize the $700 billion in funds targeted to rescue the market from the credit crisis. Fair or not, the immediate reaction from stock market investors to the news was that they seemed to see the announcement as another sign of a wishy-washy, “putting out fires” approach to the crisis instead of a well-thought, well-executed approach to the problems at hand.

Treasury markets rallied as equity markets tumbled, reflecting flight toward “safe haven” outlets and away from stocks. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes fell 2%. Yields move inverse to price, so the slide on yields reflected demand for the 10-year note product. The U.S. dollar was down mildly against the euro, but absolutely tanking against the Japanese yen, losing some 2.1%.

Individual small caps on the slide today included Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC (NYSE:WBD), as Russia’s largest dairy company tumbled 24% on news that ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the firm’s debt. Pretty much anything linked to Russia right now is trouble as the Russian Micex Stock Exchange closed for . . .

www.vankampen.com
(MUTF:VASCX)
Inception date: Nov. 27, 2000
Fund managers: Matthew Hart, Justin Speer
YTD performance: -11.56%
Morningstar category: Small Growth
Morningstar rating: Five Stars

Money managers have long known that certain types of stocks perform better than others even though academic research shows that shouldn’t be the case. Hence, it was remarkable when Ken French and Eugene Fama published their three-factor model back in 1995, which showed that stocks with low price-to-book values and those with smaller market capitalization values outperformed the market in general. What made their research especially noteworthy is that Fama developed the “efficient markets” hypothesis, which said that small-cap stocks should not have an advantage in the market. He came around when the data showed his original theory to be incomplete.

Thirteen years later, the Van Kampen Small Cap Growth Fund is trying to capitalize on the relative advantage that smaller companies have in the market. Of course, the market these days has not been cooperative for stocks of any capitalization. For those who like the buying opportunity being presented, this fund has a strong record that should carry it through whenever the market improves.

The prospectus states that the fund invests in small companies, but it does not define what that means. The fund management seems to use Morningstar’s small-cap style box as its definition, which I’d do, too, if I were picking up five stars there.

The $599 million portfolio has 125 different stocks. The largest position is Central European Distribution Corp. (Nasdaq:CEDC) at 1.61% of assets. It’s a U.S. company that distributes many different U.S. and European liquor brands in Poland and other Eastern European countries. The second-largest holding, at 1.26% of assets, is FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN), which specializes in consulting on forensics and litigation. In third place is Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Nasdaq:UEPS) at 1.11% of . . .

There have been graduations and degradations, but the results are in. Russell Investments has reconstituted its small-cap Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) index.

In an effort to maintain true representation of global equity markets and ensure changes in the market are accurately reflected, Russell Investments annually rebalances all of its indices, including the Russell 2000.

Through all the shuffling, health care saw the most action on the upside. Fifty-three health-care companies were invited to join the small-cap index, while 30 companies were ousted according to the Associated Press.

Biomarin Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:BMRN), Hologic Inc. (Nasdaq:HOLX), Illumina Inc. (Nasdaq:ILMN), Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. (AMEX:IMA) and Perrigo Co. (Nasdaq:PRGO) graduated to the Russell 1000, Russell’s large-cap index, from the Russell 2000. PDL BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq:PDLI), on the other hand, slid to the Russell 2000 from the Russell 1000.

Following the health care sector, the technology and consumer discretionary sectors saw the most additions to the Russell, while consumer discretionary also saw the most deletions, unsurprising with the strapped consumer.

Thirty-seven technology companies were added, while 24 were jettisoned. Ansys Inc. (Nasdaq:ANSS), Equinix Inc. (Nasdaq:EQIX), Flir Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:FLIR), Nuance Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:NUAN), On Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq:ONNN) and SAIC Inc. (NYSE:SAI) climbed to the Russell 1000 from the Russell 2000. Acxiom Corp. (Nasdaq:ACXM), Riverbed Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), Sanmina-SCI Corp. (Nasdaq:SANM) and Verifone . . .