Tag - NYSE:TWX

Small-cap stocks hovered near steady levels in early trading, with pressure from weak corporate profit news countered by bargain hunting, overseas gains and a private employment report that wasn’t as bad as feared. At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 0.26, or 0.06% at 452.64.

The ADP Employment Survey reflected a loss of 522,000 jobs from non-farm payrolls and projected the Labor Department report Friday would show a decline in jobs of 525,000, which was slightly above the median forecast of 500,000. That said, the market took the ADP figures in stride, with a “it could have been much worse” mentality in play. It’s worth noting that the ADP report was veering way offline for many months before they shifted methodology last month and got back on a tighter track with the Labor Department survey.

In overseas trading, European shares pushed higher despite disappointing December retail sales. The gains were a little dynamic in Asia, where Chinese shares climbed 2.7% as the government started to release funds for stimulus programs and Indonesia cut interest rates. Tech stocks, electronics makers and auto stocks were among the better performers in Asian trading overnight.

Here in the United States, much of the individual corporate profit news was gloomy this morning, including disappointments from The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq:COST) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX). Shortly . . .

U.S. stocks are expected to open flat to slightly lower, pressured by sloppy corporate profit reports, which should offset modest gains in Europe and Asia in overnight trading, with the latter region boosted by Chinese stimulus spending and rate cuts in Indonesia.
However, gains in Europe were sliced after Russia’s debt ratings were cut. The ADP Employment Report came out in line with expectations and appeared to have only minor impact on pre-market trading. The Dow was called 25 points lower while the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was seen flat to slightly lower at 452.50.

The ADP report reflected a loss of 522,000 on non-farm payrolls and the survey projected the U.S. report Friday to show a loss of 525,000. Friday’s Labor Department report is expected to show a loss of 500,000 non-farm jobs and a jobless rate of 7.5%.

On the earnings front today, The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS), Costco Wholesale Corp. (Nasdaq:COST) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) all were seeing sizable losses in pre-market trading after releasing weak profit reports. Small-cap chip designer Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS) fell some 20% in extended trading Tuesday on news that a judge postponed a patent trial dispute.

The chart picture for small caps shows that the Russell has nestled into another trading range, punctuated by moderate to light volume. The push back above 450 on Tuesday was a supportive signal, and the overall trading range pattern has a mild . . .

Small-cap stocks pushed lower on the open as sloppy profit numbers and weak economic data returned to center stage now that the U.S. presidential election has been decided following last night’s historic runaway victory by Barack Obama. At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 7.05, or 1.29%, at 538.90.

The ISM Non-Manufacturing Survey came in at 44.4, which was well below the forecast of 48.0 and was at the lowest point in the 10-year history of the survey. Interestingly, stocks actually trimmed losses after the glum report, but remained in negative territory.

Earlier this morning, the ADP Employment Survey was reported at minus 157,000, well below the forecast for a 100,000 loss. Even though the ADP report has not been tracking very well with the Labor Department survey, today’s ADP data cast a pall on the market heading toward Friday’s big monthly employment report. In addition, the MBA Mortgage Applications Index tumbled 20.3% last week to the lowest point since December 2000 in response to a jump in fixed mortgage rates, and purchase activity slipped by 13.9% and is also at the lowest level since December 2000.

There was another big pullback in Libor rates overnight, which should help encourage inter-bank lending and help thaw out the credit market freeze. Supply remains an issue in credit markets and today the Treasury said it will resurrect the 3-year note and conduct more frequent auctions of 10-year notes and 30-year bonds to fund the government’s staggering borrowing needs.

The market was now buzzing over what impact President-elect Obama will have on difficult pressing issues about the economy, jobs erosion, the housing meltdown, the financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. While it appears a daunting task, Obama will enter the job with a mandate for change from the people and a big majority in the House and Senate to further his plans. From a historical perspective, it’s interesting to note that the stock market has lost about 1% in the first month after electing a new Democrat changeover to the White House, but then the market has rallied 10% over a 12-month period after the election. From a strict company perspective, there is a broad sense that an Obama presidency would be positive for solar and wind companies and potentially negative for defense contractors and big oil companies.

Strategists with BMO Financial Group said in a press release that Obama’s . . .

Small-cap stocks are expected to open lower, pulled down by sloppy earnings news in the United States and Europe and a weak reading on the ADP jobs report, which could refocus market attention on the economy following a historic runaway victory by Barack Obama in the presidential vote. Stock index futures were down about 1.5% in after-hours trading, which suggests the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) will open near 537.50.

The ADP Employment Survey came in at minus 157,000, which was worse than the forecast for a decline of 100,000. Although the ADP report has not been tracking well with the big Labor Department report that will come out Friday morning, it still throws up a caution flag.

Some of the pullback might also have been tied to concerns that Democrats picked up several new seats in the Senate and Congress during the U.S. elections, giving one party a commanding majority, whereas the market seems to favor more balance of power. In addition, there was some sense that the market has been grinding higher on nothing but air amid awful economic data in recent days, which is a tenuous position heading toward Friday’s big monthly employment report.

On the earnings front, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) slipped about 2% during European trading despite beating the profit forecast as the world’s largest entertainment firm lowered the outlook. Also, Ambac Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:ABK) tumbled some 23% in pre-market trading as quarterly losses were much bigger than expected.

The chart picture shows some stalling signals on short-term studies as the market has filled upside targets on a symmetrical bounce and ran into logical resistance . . .

Small-cap stocks are expected to open higher, buoyed by a pullback in crude oil prices overnight and by short-covering amid oversold conditions following last week’s sizable decline. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up about 0.5% in after-hours trading, which suggests an open near 668.

Crude oil futures pulled back about $2.50 dollars a barrel overnight toward the $142 level, which is a welcome sign for equity market investors following a push to record high oil prices last Thursday ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States. Still, geopolitical tension between Iran and Israel percolates in the background and is likely to remain a supportive element.

Large-cap stocks in the news this morning that could ripple into other stocks include automakers, which are expected to rise this morning after being beaten down for months on end. Both General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F) shares were up about 3% in after-hours trading.

Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) was up about 0.6% overnight, and could benefit from a bullish article in Barron’s magazine. Also, look for airlines to benefit from the dip in energy prices. Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA) was up about 4% overnight, and small-cap carrier US Airways (NYSE:LCC) was up about 2%.

Looking at the chart picture, the market is oversold on daily and intraday momentum readings, which heightens the potential for a correction or sideways consolidation early this week. The 14-period Relative Strength Index (RSI) on daily charts . . .

Small caps traded marginally in the green midday, while the other major indices skidded, as oil continued its record-setting skyward hike for the second straight session, stoking inflation concerns.

At 12:48 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) edged up 5.1, or 0.69%, to 740.74, while the Dow slumped 39.73, or 0.31%, to 12,788.95.

Crude oil bolted north of $132 a barrel this morning, setting another record after the Energy Department reported a surprising decline in crude inventories last week after reporting gains in inventories for the preceding four straight weeks. After jumping as high as $132.08 a barrel, a barrel of crude retreated slightly to $131.75 midday.

While crude gained, the dollar sold off against the euro and the yen and gold gained $7.80 to $928 per troy ounce.

Midday, oil prices and inflation concerns are the major drivers behind the market; however sentiment and the market’s direction could change when the Federal Reserve releases its FOMC minutes at 2:00 p.m. ET.

In major large-cap headlines, media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) said this morning that it will separate both structurally and legally from its cable television division Time Warner Cable Inc. Technological juggernaut Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) reported after Tuesday’s close that second-quarter earnings increased 16%, noting that growth in the overseas arena offset domestic weakness. However, investors are still pouring over the printer and computer maker’s recent . . .

Small-cap stocks are expected to open lower, pulled down by fresh record highs in crude oil prices overnight, and by slumping values for the U.S. dollar. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was off about 0.2% in after-hours trading, which would translate to a cash opening near 733.50.

Crude oil prices topped $130 dollars a barrel in overseas trading, which pulled down European shares from positive territory into negative ground. Heading toward the U.S. open, European stocks were down about 0.5%, while other worldwide indices were mixed. Japan was down 1.6%, Hong Kong up 1.1%, China up 1.9% and Australia down 1.4%.

The U.S. dollar took yet another hit versus the euro, losing about 0.7%, while hitting a fresh three-week low. In addition, the dollar was down about 0.3% against the yen, which helps fuel the bullish oil trade and lift other commodities as well.

Many of the individual large caps in the news overnight were actually on the upside, with Time Warner (NYSE:TWX) up about 3% after announcing they would spin off the cable division. Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) was up over 3% on solid earnings. Meanwhile, Micron (NYSE:MU) was up 2% on an analyst upgrade. Despite . . .

EarthLink, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELNK) CEO Rolla Huff said the Internet service provider is confident the dial-up Internet service market will exist for many years. Huff made the comments during a morning conference call.

“We believe that, not unlike the paging industry, there will be a meaningful segment of U.S. households that will have a dial-up Internet service connection for many years to come,” Huff said.

The chief executive noted industry estimates that place dial-up penetration rates at between 6% and 10% of American households in 2014.

“We aren’t ready to make that prediction, but we’re ready to predict that this form of Internet connection isn’t going away overnight,” he said. “While we’re not an organic growth story today, we’re demonstrating that this business can generate substantial free cash flow. Given the markets we’re all looking at today and probably for the foreseeable future, being in the position to generate substantial cash flow with an unleveraged balance sheet doesn’t seem like a bad place to be.”

An analyst asked Huff if EarthLink plans to acquire dial-up customers from AOL. On Wednesday, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes announced on a conference call that the media company plans to split AOL into two segments — advertising and dial-up Internet access.

Shares of SeaChange International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) are rising on news after the close on Thursday that the provider of digital video systems and software swung to a profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Net income for the three months ended Oct. 31 was $3.3 million, or $0.11 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.04 per share, a year earlier. Analyst estimates were not available.

The Acton, Mass.-based company reported that revenues increased 16% to a record $49 million, from $42.3 million during the third quarter of fiscal 2007.

“We’re extremely delighted with our financial performance this quarter which includes record revenues, a bottom-line profit and cash generation,” said president and CEO Bill Styslinger in a statement.

Styslinger elaborated that he is happy that SeaChange’s third-quarter revenue was driven by continued demand for its video on demand (VOD) systems, particularly from North American cable customers.

The company, which had about 700 employees at the end of the previous fiscal year, sells its technology to Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Cablevision Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: CVC), as well as to clients in Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea and India.

Bill Gates and several other smart money investors have quietly acquired a major stake in a beaten-down microcap media company that is in the early stages of a turnaround.

San Francisco, Calif.-based PlanetOut Inc. (Nasdaq: LGBT) announced on July 10 the closing of a $26 million equity investment. Investors in the struggling media and entertainment company’s private placement financing included Cascade Investment, the investment vehicle of the Bill Gates family, Special Situations Funds, SF Capital Partners, PAR Investment Partners and well-regarded media investment banker Allen & Co.

This equity financing represented a “partial re-capitalization” for the increasingly cash-thin PlanetOut. The vertical media company, which focuses on the gay and lesbian community, has used this capital to pay off its indebtedness from previous acquisitions. This financing also gives PlanetOut sufficient capital for executing its turnaround plan.

Founded in 2000, PlanetOut has its roots in a collection of gay and lesbian websites, such as Gay.com, PlanetOut.com and Advocate.com, which collectively reach 5.5 million monthly visitors. Through several acquisitions over the past two years, the company has transformed into a big player in the gay and lesbian magazine and travel and events businesses as well. Print properties include The Advocate and Out magazines.   

Even before PlanetOut’s acquisition binge, the company had a rocky ride in the public markets. PlanetOut went public at $9 a share in the fall of 2004, and after hitting $10 a share on its first day of trading, action in the stock has been largely downhill since. After opening 2007 at the $5 level, things began to turn dire for PlanetOut in April after it announced another earnings warning in a string of misses. This was followed by a weak first quarter report in May and the disclosure by management that the turnaround of PlanetOut would take more than a year and that it was in need of additional capital.

Toronto-based Kaboose, Inc. (TSX: KAB) is North America's largest independent online media company in the kids-and-family market — a sector dominated by giants such as Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), Time Warner Inc.'s (NYSE: TWX) AOL unit and Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA) Nickelodeon. Solid planning, creative financing, strategic marketing, and sound partnerships have this small-cap standing strong in the face of stiff competition from larger competitors with well-oiled marketing machines.

Founded in 1999, right before the dot-com bust, Kaboose plowed full steam ahead, aggressively snapping up kid-oriented websites. After a round of acquisitions, the small media company conceded it would never win the battle for children's attention on the Internet, so it shifted gears and targeted their moms. Today, the company runs a string of content-related sites that focus on mothers and young families. Visitors to Kaboose's sites can do everything from staying informed of the latest trends and reading product and service reviews to planning birthday parties and family vacations to creating online photo scrapbooks.

With a Web portfolio including popular sites like BabyZone, ParentZone, Birthday in a Box, Two Peas in a Bucket and the recently acquired image-sharing service Bubbleshare, Kaboose's 120,000 pages of content attract 12 million unique visitors a month and its family of sites have more than 2 million registered users (return visitors who can be tracked and cross-promoted)—a fact that has brought advertisers knocking.

"Kaboose is one of only a handful of Canadian companies that is benefiting from the significant shift in advertising spending from traditional media to online media," Ron Shuttleworth of Jennings Capital Inc., said in a recent report.

"As the company scales and solidifies its position as a pre-eminent destination for families, we expect that Kaboose should capture more share of advertising budgets and higher rates," he wrote.

Last year, the advertising dollars poured in: Kaboose revenues swelled 200% to $11.7 million and in the third quarter of last year, the company recorded its first ever profit, $500,000 (a $1-million turnaround from the same period in 2005). All in all, sales have grown more than 1,000% since 2003. And the company has built an impressive list of business partners, including the likes of McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) Mercedes-Benz subsidiary, Mattel, Inc. (NYSE: MAT) and M.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ).

The Russell 2000 index is posting strong gains in midday trading while reports of strong earnings from major players are lifting all indices.  In specific small cap action, news of record revenues lifted shares of Interactive Intelligence, Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ), and TTM Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTMI) is up after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

At 2:16 p.m. ET the Russell 2000 had added 12.89 points, or 1.58 percent, to 829.14.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 104.26 points, or 0.79 percent, to 13,240.40, on track for a second consecutive record close.