Tag -  IPAR 

Global Crossing Ltd. (Nasdaq:GLBC), Inter Parfums Inc. (Nasdaq:IPAR) and American Woodmark Corp. (Nasdaq:AMWD) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: WNS Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq:WNS), Barnes Group Inc. (Nasdaq:B), USANA Health Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:USNA), AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (Nasdaq:ANN), Tollgrade Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:TLGD) and NACCO Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:NC).

Small-cap stocks turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Blyth Inc. (NYSE:BTH), Volt Information Science Inc. (NYSE:VOL) and Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Energy stocks were among the worst performers so far today, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund off 2%.  
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes, which moves inverse to price, was down 2.6% as demand was solid for credit instruments.  
• Treasury markets continued to rise through mid-session trading, which may have siphoned some money away from equities.   
• Small caps turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Blyth Inc. jumped 29% on unusually heavy volume, recovering nicely from news lows set late last week after the home fragrance and home décor firm announced a reverse stock split. See (NYSE:BTH).  
• Volt Information Science Inc. rose 21% recovering from a wild up and down session Friday in conjunction with earnings news. See (NYSE:VOL). 
• Preformed Line Products Co. was up 18% without any apparent fresh news, as the network line maintenance company mounted a big bounce off move lows forged last week. See (Nasdaq:PLPC).  
• Inter Parfums Inc. was up 7.4% after a rocky few days of trading surrounding earnings results from late January. See (Nasdaq:IPAR). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Las Vegas Sands Corp. tumbles 12% after naming Bradley Stone as president of global operations and construction See (NYSE:LVS).  
• Signet Jewelers Ltd. tumbled 14% as the specialty jewelry retailer fell to new 52-week lows. See (NYSE:SIG). 

Small-cap stocks turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks. At 12:39 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 2.96, or 0.67%, at 446.48.

Treasury markets continued to rise through mid-session trading, which may have siphoned some money away from equities. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes, which moves inverse to price, was down 2.6% as demand was solid for credit instruments.

Energy stocks were among the worst performers so far today, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund off 2% as crude oil prices edged lower amid concern about demand from not just the United States, but also major energy customers around the world.

Looking at S&P groups so far today, the best performers were health care, food distributors, systems software firms, department stores, Internet retail, Internet software services, semiconductor companies and homebuilders. After a rough go in recent days, the ISE Homebuilder Index was up about 1.4% at midday with small-cap homebuilder Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) up 5.8%.

Small-cap retailers making positive noise today included Inter Parfums Inc. (Nasdaq:IPAR), as the cosmetics firm was up 7.4% after a rocky few days of trading surrounding earnings results from late January.

Some negative sentiment continues to be attached to concerns that progress on the “bad bank” concept appears to have stalled and also by worries that passage of a big stimulus package could take longer than originally expected.

Individual small caps making a move today include Blyth Inc. (NYSE:BTH), which jumped 29% on unusually heavy volume, recovering nicely from news lows set late last week after the home fragrance and home décor firm announced a reverse stock split. Volt Information Science Inc. (NYSE:VOL) rose 21% recovering from a wild up and down session Friday in conjunction with earnings news. Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC) was up 18% without any apparent fresh news, as the network line maintenance company mounted a big bounce off move lows forged last . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) tumbled 4.18%, and is now down 9.2% for the year. The Dow is now down 7.1% for 2009, while the S&P 500 is off 6.4%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Innovative Solutions & Support (Nasdaq:ISSC), Pozen Inc. (Nasdaq:POZN) and OSI Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:OSIS).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The weekly claims report came in at 588,000, which was slightly above the projection of 580,000.
• The number of Americans filing for continued benefits rose to 4.77 million, the highest on record.
• Durable goods orders fell for the fifth consecutive month, with the headline figure off about 2.5%, slightly below the projection for a slide of 2%.
• In Europe, confidence tumbled to the lowest level in 24 years and the German unemployment rate rose more than expected.
• Just one day after generating the second-biggest rally of the year, the Russell slumped to the third worst daily decline.
• The gloomy economic reports overshadowed corporate profit reports, but those were primarily downbeat today anyhow.
• Today was simply a seller’s market. Stocks were down, Treasury markets were down, crude oil was down, commodities were down.
• Crude oil prices closed down 1.7%, losing $0.72 a barrel, to $41.44 and energy stocks lost about 3%.
• Looking ahead to Friday’s session, the market will have another buffet of economic reports to digest, the biggest of which should be the GDP report ahead of the opening.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Innovative Solutions & Support issues Q2 2009 guidance above analysts' estimates; shares closed up 19%. See (Nasdaq:ISSC).
• Pozen Inc. informed by FDA that endoscopic gastric ulcer incidence . . .

Small-cap stocks extended the morning slide into midday trading, as a fresh run of economic data this morning suggested that the economic recession is darkening. Selling interest was heightened by a bevy of awful corporate profit reports, shuffling the previous four days of rallies into the background. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were POZEN (Nasdaq:POZN), OSI Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:OSIS) and Sepracor (Nasdaq:SEPR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The chart picture took a sudden turn for the worse today, unable to sustain Wednesday’s breakout through the recent trading range highs.  
• Energy shares fell 2.4% as the crude oil market saw the weak economic data and fretted anew about demand destruction in a global recession.  
• Gold shares were mildly higher, but just barely, with the Gold and Silver Index rising about 2%.  
• As you might expect given dreadful home sales numbers & historically high unemployment rolls, homebuilder stocks were getting bruised today.   J
• This morning’s weekly claims report showed that more Americans are now drawing unemployment insurance than at any point in history.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• POZEN informed by FDA that endoscopic gastric ulcer incidence continues to be an acceptable primary endpoint; shares climb 17% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:POZN). 
• OSI Systems Inc. rose 16% as the electronics system designer received an earnings lift. See (Nasdaq:OSIS).  
• Sepracor rises 10% in pre-market to cut workforce despite rise in profit. See (Nasdaq:SEPR)

Small Cap Losers:

• Online futures and options broker optionsXpress Holdings Inc. fell 14% after reporting earnings. See (Nasdaq:OXPS).
• SurModics Inc. gapped lower and shed nearly 20% as the medical products company took an earnings related hit. See (Nasdaq:SRDX).  
• Inter Parfums Inc. tumbled 23%, wiping out solid recent gains in the process. See (Nasdaq:IPAR).  
• The ISE Homebuilders Index is down 5.7%; small-cap builders Centex Corp. off 5% and Meritage Homes Corp. down 12%. See (NYSE:CTX) and (NYSE:MTH). 

 

Small-cap stocks extended the morning slide into midday trading, as a fresh run of economic data this morning suggested that the economic recession is darkening. Selling interest was heightened by a bevy of awful corporate profit reports, shuffling the previous four days of rallies into the background. At 12:22 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.89, or 2.51%, at 461.13.

This morning’s weekly claims report showed that more Americans are now drawing unemployment insurance than at any point in history. Everyone is expecting the jobs picture to get worse, but with companies announcing layoffs on a daily basis and with other economic data looking equally gloomy, investors are struggling to cast aside the weak reports right now.

In other economic releases today, orders for durable goods fell more than expected and have now been down for five consecutive months. New home sales tumbled to the lowest rate since the data series began 41 years, sinking 14.7% to an annual rate of 331,000, which was shockingly below the forecast of 400,000.

As you might expect given dreadful home sales numbers and historically high unemployment rolls, homebuilder stocks were getting bruised today, with the ISE Homebuilders Index down 5.7% and small-cap builders Centex Corp. (NYSE:CTX) off 5% and Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) down 12%.

Looking at sector activity today, the market was swamped with selling breadth. Gold shares were mildly higher, but just barely, with the Gold and Silver Index rising about 2%. Energy shares fell 2.4% as the crude oil market saw the weak . . .

Oshkosh Corp. (Nasdaq:OSK), DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) and Selective Insurance Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Friday, fighting back from a midday slide into the red as commodity stocks, homebuilders and airline stocks offset another rough day for banks. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 3.82, or 0.83%, at 466.45, but still lost 3.1% for the week. For the year, small caps are off 6.6%, while the Dow is down 5.6% and the S&P 500 is down 5.9%.

Banks have been the dominant focal point for investors this week, and it has been a brutal period for some of the world’s most prominent financial firms. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) tumbled 48% for the week and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) shed 45% while posting its first quarterly loss in 17 years and the lowest daily close in more than a decade. Even news overnight that the government was extending another $20 billion of direct injection into BAC and guaranteeing $118 billion of assets couldn’t stem the selling tide today; BAC lost another 13.7%.

We’re only a little more than halfway through the month of January, but according to the S&P sector groups the biggest three losers are diversified financial services firms (down 38%); diversified banks (down 35%) and regional banks (down 27%). There is a segment of the investment community that doesn’t believe the market will go higher without leadership from the financial sector – if they are right, then the New Year is off to a troubling start indeed.

Even though it has been a dour start for banks this year, it’s interesting to note that call activity for Citigroup is starting to pick up steam, suggesting that investors are trying to take a shot at bargain hunting for the embattled firm. This afternoon, Bill Gross, leader of the world’s largest bond fund at PIMCO, said that the . . .

Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, as hopes for a recovery in bank stocks appeared to be fleeting, which added to investor unease about the timing of a recovery out of the recession and about the prolonged credit crunch. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Terra Industries (NYSE:TRA), First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and JBT Corporation (NYSE:JBT).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Sectors doing well today including power companies, oil refiners, gas utilities, vintners, utility companies, health care equipment providers and food retail stocks.  
• On the slide are diversified banks, diverse financial services firms, regional banks, investment banks and consumer finance companies.  
• Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, as hopes for a recovery in bank stocks appeared to be fleeting.  
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was up 8% early on, climbing back to 2.37% after slipping below 2.2% Thursday.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Terra Industries up 19% on takeover bid. See (NYSE:TRA).  
• First Horizon shares jump 18% on narrower 4Q loss. See (NYSE:FHN).  
• JBT Corporation wins $6.9 million gate equipment order for major U.S. airport; shares rise 12%. See (NYSE:JBT).  
• Exterran Partners LP rose 12%, leaving a little double bottom on daily charts with Thursday’s low. See (Nasdaq:EXLP). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Life sciences company Cambrex Corporation down 18% on lower-than-average volume. See (NYSE:CBM).
• Spartech Corporation down over 17% after being downgraded to "underweight" earlier this week. See (NYSE:SEH).  
• Inter Parfums Inc. was off 14% as the cosmetics maker was caught in a broad-based sell-off of beauty and cosmetics providers. See (Nasdaq:IPAR).
• Exide Technologies tumbled 21% as the battery maker gave back a huge chunk of a nice rally that coincided closely with the overall market bottom back on Nov. 20. See (Nasdaq:XIDE).

Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, as hopes for a recovery in bank stocks appeared to be fleeting, which added to investor unease about the timing of a recovery out of the recession and about the prolonged credit crunch. At 12:16 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 6.14, or 1.33%, at 456.49.

The spotlight this week has been shining brightly on bank stocks, but they have retreated badly from that glare as some of the big-name banks have reported massive quarterly losses. Even an infusion of another $20 billion into No. 1 bank, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), wasn’t enough to rescue the day, as BAC shares not only gave up sizable morning gains, but were off some 10% at mid-session. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) reported jolting quarterly losses of some $8.2 billion and also gave back morning gains to be near steady at midday.

Looking at S&P sector activity, the worst performers were clearly coming out of the financial arena and included diversified banks, diverse financial services firms, regional banks, investment banks and consumer finance companies. Other groups struggling included auto parts firms, motorcycle manufacturers and automobile manufacturers, which is a switch from overnight trends as those groups did well in Asia and Europe.

Although the weaker stocks were losing more on a percentage basis than the gainers, sectors doing well today including power companies, oil refiners, gas utilities, vintners, utility companies, health care equipment providers and food retail stocks.

Energy shares were modestly higher so far today, crude oil price activity has been choppy so far today, but a blast of arctic air seems to be providing support, even though the rug was pulled out from under equities.

Small cap firms on the rise today included Exterran Partners LP, as the natural gas firm rose 12%, leaving a little double bottom on daily charts with Thursday’s low. On the downside, Exide Technologies (Nasdaq:XIDE) tumbled 21% as the battery maker gave back a huge chunk of a nice rally that coincided closely with . . .

You may have lost your job but that doesn’t mean you can’t smell nice.

Judging by the recent success of Inter Parfums, Inc. (Nasdaq:IPAR), that’s exactly what a lot of people are thinking. The New York-based company, which sells high-end and affordable fragrances, and personal care products under a long list of labels from Lanvin to The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS), recently announced a 32% jump in fourth-quarter sales and an even more impressive 57.1% surge in net income over the same period.

It might seem that consumers would limit their spending to the barest of essentials in this tough economy, but clearly, plenty of people continue to buy perfume, one of the most frivolous consumer items out there.

That, in turn, has sent investors flocking to shares of Inter Parfums. The company’s shares have risen almost 30% since the start of the year, and closed Tuesday at $23.32 per share, up from $18.47 on Jan. 2 and a 52-week low of $13.55.

Inter Parfums’ success, however, is not so much an isolated phenomenon but part of a well-documented trend in which demand for unnecessary, feel-good items spikes during grim times. Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) chairman Leonard Lauder coined the term “the lipstick indicator” in 2001 to explain a sharp rise in U.S. lipstick sales in the United States in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attacks.

The explanation for this pattern seems part psychological and part economic. There’s a basic human desire to make yourself look better on the outside when you’re not doing too well inside. There’s also the logic, which would apply to . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have moved up and the small-cap index will open in positive territory.

Wall Street appears set for a bullish opening following a day of steep losses. There is little on the economic docket today, except for news about the U.S. trade deficit in January.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that the trade deficit increased 0.6% to $58.20 billion in January from December’s downwardly revised $57.86 billion. Economists were expecting the deficit to widen to $59 billion.

Exports increased 1.6%, while imports added 1.3%.

Small-cap stocks extended the freefall Monday, sinking to the lowest daily close since Oct. 27, 2005. By the time the bell put a merciful end to things, the Russell 2000 fell 16.14 points, or 2.45%, to 643.97. Interestingly, the late action in small caps was far more severe on the downside than what took place in large-cap issues. In addition, the index snapped critical chart support from January at 650. Persistent price action below that point would open the door for another leg down in the bear market.

The international trade data this morning could spark some pre-opening volatility in stocks, but that report tends to be more of a market mover in the foreign exchange domain. Look for resistance Tuesday for the Russell at 650, then at 654.50 and 660.

Meanwhile, support is at tentatively at 639 and 634, but since we are now at long-term lows, the next big chart points aren’t until 625 and 614.

Fragrance manufacturer and marketer Inter Parfums, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPAR) reported after Monday’s close that fourth quarter net income surged 57% and raised 2008 guidance on account of better than expected performance in 2007 and a strong start to 2008. Shares advanced 10.9%, or $1.77, to $18.05 in pre-market trading.

For detailed price information and recent news stories about Inter Parfums, click IPAR.

GPC Biotech AG (Nasdaq: GPCB), Wavecom S.A. (Nasdaq: WVCM) and Versar Inc. (AMEX: VSR) are the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers:

The Russell 2000 has lost more than one percent this morning as news of slow retail sales in April brought out the bears on Wall Street.  Among specific small cap companies, Cirrus Logic, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRUS) outpaced analysts’ expectations but lowered its profit on a year-on-year basis, while news of a net loss hurt shares of VirtualScopics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VSCP).

At 11:26 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 had shed 11.10 points, or 1.33 percent, to 823.67.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 89.47 points, or 0.67 percent, to 13,273.40.