Tag - DFT

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 2.47, or 0.55%, at 450.42. Small caps are now down 9.8% for the year, while the Dow is off 9.6% and the S&P 500 is down 7.5%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were DuPont Fabros (NYSE:DFT), Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq:BWLD) and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (Nasdaq:PFCB).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Equity markets in Europe and Asia were lower overnight, with financial and consumer product stocks on the slide, which plays into the soft initial tone.
• The retail sales report headline figure came in at plus 1%, which was well ahead of the projection for a slide of 0.7%.
• The weekly unemployment claims report showed that 623,000 workers filed for benefits last week, which was above the projection of 610,000.
• The number of people forced to file for continuing claims marked a record high; the 4-week moving average for claims was at a 26-year peak.
• Retail shares also were struggling today, despite the bullish print on headline monthly retail sales data. The S&P Retail Index was down 1.8%.
• Small-cap stocks edged higher Thursday, a nice reversal from this morning when the market appeared to be in freefall mode.
• Energy markets had a little bit of a divergence today between equities and cash, with crude oil prices closing down 5.4%, losing $1.96 a barrel to $33.98.
• Copper prices tanked in the morning, but also found some buying interest as the stock market righted the ship.

Small Cap Gainers:

• DuPont Fabros popped 37% after reporting Q4 and full-year 2008 results, and enteting into a loan agreement. See (NYSE:DFT).
• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. gapped higher and shot up some 34% as the . . .

Stocks tumbled yet again today, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closing down 3.65%, losing nearly 10% in the first two days after the U.S. presidential election. Today’s small-cap gainers are inVentive Health (Nasdaq:VTIV), Global Crossing (Nasdaq:GLBC) and Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• For the year, the Russell is now off 35%, while the Dow is down 34% and the S&P 500 is down 38%.
• Goldman Sachs is predicting that a jolting 300,000 people lost their jobs last month (the consensus forecast is minus 180,000). Goldman also is looking for the unemployment rate to jump to 6.4%, up 0.3% from last month.
• Monthly confidence survey today among corporate CEOs read that 66% of CEOs expect employment to fall in coming months.
• Among S&P sector groups, only homebuilders managed a 1% rise, but there were 10 sectors generating declines greater than 10%.
• Commodities got hammered today, with copper slumping 5%.
• Crude oil fell to 19-month lows yet airline stocks stayed negative; when those two trade in tandem, recession is dominating psychology.
• Energy stocks were a major drag on the market, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund sinking nearly 7%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• inVentive Health Inc. jumped 38% as the provider of commercialization services to pharmaceutical and health care firms reported a jump in third-quarter revenues. See (Nasdaq:VTIV).
• Global Crossing Ltd. rallied 19% as the IP solutions provider also got an earnings-related lift. See (Nasdaq:GLBC).
• Lumber Liquidators' income rose 48% in Q3; shares closed up 18.8%. See (NYSE:LL). 
• Simcere Pharmaceutical Group reports rise in Q3 profit, reaffirms FY08 . . .

Small-cap stocks fell hard today as recession fears and sloppy retail sales kept the market on the defensive ahead of Friday’s big employment report. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) shed 18.79, or 3.65% to 495.84, losing nearly 10% in the first two days after the U.S. presidential election. For the year, the Russell is now off 35%, while the Dow is down 34% and the S&P 500 is down 38%.

The market was already reeling overnight when tech bellwether Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) beat the earnings forecast but warned that revenues could fall hard quickly. As the day progressed, Cisco remained under pressure, but tended to outperform the indices. The bulls got a brief reprieve this morning when European bankers slashed interest rates, but the lift from that news didn’t have much shelf-life for U.S. equities.

Of course, it didn’t help matters that yet another economic report reflected a gloomy situation on the employment front — especially a day ahead of the Labor Department monthly reading on payrolls. After awful data earlier this week on manufacturing and service sector activity, this week’s unemployment claims came in above expectations, but the most sobering statistic was that continuing claims rose 122,000 to 3.84 million, the highest level in more than 25 years. A rush of dreadful economic data in recent days sets the stage for the “Grandaddy of Data” (yeah, Friday’s jobs report) to extend the glum reading of the nation’s economic picture. Esteemed researchers at Goldman Sachs already lowered their previous forecast for Friday’s non-farm payrolls — they are now predicting that a jolting 300,000 people lost their jobs last month (the consensus forecast is minus 180,000). Goldman also is looking for the unemployment rate to jump to 6.4%, up 0.3% from last month.

And just to reinforce the recession worries, same-store retail sales numbers came flooding in today; although there were some companies that did well, the cumulative total slumped to the worst monthly reading in about a decade as we head toward the crucial holiday spending period. A monthly confidence survey among corporate CEOs slumped to a record low when it was published this afternoon. The . . .

Small-cap stocks extended the morning slide into midday trading, as pressure from a weak economy continues to take a toll on commodity, retail and financial stocks, overshadowing even aggressive rate cuts out of Europe overnight. At 12:04 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 10.28, or 2%, at 504.36.

There really was no safe place to park money today, with equities taking a big hit, Treasury products lower and even commodities in negative territory. The Brazilian president said that the worst of the global financial crisis has now passed, but the market didn’t seem to heed his remarks, with the Brazilian stock market sinking some 3.5% into their afternoon trading time frame. Brazil is a major commodities exporter, and has taken an extra hit as commodity prices collapsed along with stocks in recent weeks.

The economic malaise continued to bruise commodity markets, with crude oil prices tumbling toward $60 a barrel, or the lowest prices since March. The IMF said that developed economies were on track for a full-year contraction for the first time since World War II, and energy exporters that depend on demand from big consumers were taking a beating, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund down 5.5%.

Here in the United States a weak tone for the day was forged overnight when tech bellwether Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) beat the earnings forecast for the third quarter but warned that fourth quarter revenue could decline for the first time in years. CSCO was down about 2.2%, but now actually lagging overall declines in the Nasdaq 100 and in the Dow and S&P 500, so clearly there were other problems bigger than just CSCO.

Retailer shares were a mixed bag today as monthly same-store sales results were pouring in. However, the overall read was gloomy, with the S&P Retail Index down about 1.7%. While there were individual bright spots like small-cap firm Hot Topic Inc. (Nasdaq:HOTT), which was up 12% as sales climbed 8.3%, there were also plenty of disappointments such as Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE:ANN), which tumbled 25% as the women’s apparel specialist said it would slash jobs and cut costs . . .