Tag - LORL

Great Southern Bancorp Inc.(Nasdaq:GSBC), STEC Inc.(Nasdaq:STEC) and Loral Space & Communications Inc.(Nasdaq:LORL) are among the new 52-week highs in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Hawkins Inc.(Nasdaq:HWKN), Medifast Inc.(Nasdaq:MED), Pervasive Software Inc.(Nasdaq:PVSW), Diedrich Coffee Inc.(Nasdaq:DDRX), Ardea Biosciences Inc.(Nasdaq:RDEA) and ESB Financial Corp.(Nasdaq:ESBF).

ARCA biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq:ABIO), Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL) and Golden Pond Healthcare Inc. (Nasdaq:GPH) are among the new 52-week highs in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:VNDA), Lannett Co Inc. (Nasdaq:LCI) and Walter Investment Management Corp. (Nasdaq:WAC) are among the new 52-week highs in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Catapult Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:CATT), Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL) and Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:VNDA) are among the new 52-week lows in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, maintaining an early gain on a jump in consumer confidence that helped counter absolutely dreadful reports on the housing market. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Highland Steel & Vanadium Corp. Ltd. (Nasdaq:HSVLY), TechTarget Inc.(Nasdaq:TTGT) and Synchronoss Technologies (Nasdaq:SNCR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• In overnight trading, European shares were slightly firm, but Asia stocks took a hit, with car makers still in the spotlight.  
• Despite the gloomy home news, consumer confidence as seen in the Michigan sentiment survey rose to 60.1, better than the forecast of 58.6.  
• The truly scary news came from the existing home sales data, which showed sales at an annual rate of 4.49M units, off the 4.93M forecast.  
• The new home sales report came in at an annualized rate of 407,000 units, which was below the forecast for 415,000. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Highland Steel & Vanadium Corp. Ltd. jumped 12% and shows promising bottoming action on daily charts as the South African steel maker struggles to recover off the November lows. See (Nasdaq:HSVLY).  
• TechTarget Inc. was up nearly 10% as the IT media firm tries to sustain a nice rally off the November lows. See (Nasdaq:TTGT).  
• Synchronoss Technologies up 5% following a raised price target last week. See (Nasdaq:SNCR).
• Loral Space and Communications Inc. was up 2.8% trying to recoup some of the big slide Monday. See (Nasdaq:LORL).  

Small Cap Losers:

• American Greetings Corp. slumped 21% as the greeting card company took an earnings-related hit. See (NYSE:AM).  
• AgFeed Industries dips over 3% on very light volume. See (Nasdaq:FEED).  
• The Men's Wearhouse declines 3%, extending Monday's dramatic fall. See (NYSE:MW).
• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts dips on light volume, hovering near a 52-week low of $1.76. See (NYSE:KKD).  

 

 

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, maintaining an early gain on a jump in consumer confidence that helped counter absolutely dreadful reports on the housing market. At 10:04 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 4.04, or 0.85%, at 479.12.

The new home sales report came in at an annualized rate of 407,000 units, which was below the forecast for 415,000. But the truly scary news came from the existing home sales data, which showed sales at an annual rate of 4.49 million units, way off the 4.93 million forecast. The pace of home sales plunged a record 8.6% in November and the median home price dropped to $181,300, which was a 13.2% annual decline, the largest since records have been kept over the past 40 years.

Despite the gloomy home news, consumer confidence as seen in the Michigan sentiment survey rose to 60.1, which was better than the forecast of 58.6, and which helped counter the horrendous home sales report. Earlier this morning, the GDP report came in at minus 0.5%, which was in line with expectations. The GDP data marked the final revision for the third quarter and reflected the sharpest decline in GDP from the previous quarter since Q3 2001 right after the 9/11 attacks.

In overnight trading, European shares were slightly firm, but Asia stocks took a hit, with car makers still in the spotlight. As for U.S. automakers, credit ratings for both General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) were slashed. Shortly after the open, GM was down 11%, while Ford was down 12%. Both automaker stocks . . .

Small-cap stocks reversed course, putting a brief but sharp morning slide on awful economic data in the rear-view mirror as investors gobbled up homebuilding, retail and financial shares and set aside any economic worries stirred by sobering private employment and services sector activity reports. At 12:26 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 4.75, or 1.07% at 446.57.

Small caps were leading the way on the midday surge, which suggests that investors were willing to take on a more aggressive posture and not just sit on defensive, low-risk plays. Along that theme, yields on Treasury products were higher as demand clearly was more focused on riskier fare today.

The ability to rally in the face of a bad reading on the ADP Employment Survey ahead of Friday’s big monthly employment report was a positive sign for the market. In addition, the ISM non-manufacturing survey came in well below the forecast, showing the services sector of the economy is mired deep in recession.

Homebuilder stocks were in rally mode Tuesday and remained a hot item today. The ISE Homebuilders Index jumped 10% and small-cap homebuilders were among the best performers in the group. Centex Corp. (NYSE:CTX) was a star Tuesday and jumped another 12% today. Meanwhile, Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) was up 8% and KB Home (NYSE:KBH) soared 16%. Homebuilder shares appear to be attracting bargain hunters amid sentiment that the government’s new focus on lowering long-term and mortgage rates will spur renewed activity in the housing sector and generate fresh refinancing at lower interest rates. President-elect Obama said today that homeowners inability to pay mortgages is a key part of the recession.

Obama also said that automakers appear to be formulating “more serious” business models to help justify a government bailout of the ailing sector. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) was up 5%, but General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) was down . . .

SM&A (Nasdaq:WINS), First Regional Bancorp (Nasdaq:FRGB) and Ardea Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq:RDEA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:IDIX), Bankrate Inc. (Nasdaq:RATE), Cbeyond Inc. (Nasdaq:CBEY), Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL), DivX Inc. (Nasdaq:DIVX) and Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc. (Nasdaq:GAP).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Pozen Inc. (Nasdaq:POZN), Xyratex Ltd (Nasdaq:XRTX) and LeCroy Corp. (Nasdaq:LCRY) are among the  among 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:BSET), Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL), 4 Kids Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:KDE), First Citizens Bancorp Cleveland (Nasdaq:FCZA), American Bancorp of New Jersey Inc. (Nasdaq:ABNJ) and Heritage Crystal Clean Inc. (Nasdaq:HCCI).

Here are the  among 52-week lows among small caps:

Small caps declined after the ring of Tuesday’s opening bell, attempted to mount a comeback at noon after breaking through initial resistance, but declined during afternoon trading. Soaring crude oil prices, worrisome economic reports, the sinking greenback and a decline in international markets are burdening investors. Weak retail reports and Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn’s comments that policymakers are likely to hold interest rates steady provided additional concern for Wall Street.

At 2:09 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 4.70, or 0.64%, at 733.75.

Crude oil jumped to a new record high, climbing above $129 dollars a barrel amid tight stocks for diesel fuel and solid demand out of China and South America that is countering soft demand from the United States. With gasoline prices in some metropolitan areas moving above $4 dollars a gallon, another record high in crude oil will not likely be embraced by stock market traders, even if a handful of energy stocks stand to benefit.

The Labor Department’s producer price index report showed higher energy and food costs might be inflicting damage on other parts of the economy. The producer price index rose 0.2%, better than the expected 0.4% rise. However, skyrocketing gas prices mean the data is quickly outdated. Investors were more interested in the “core” producer price index, which edged up 0.4%, doubling expectations. This jump in the core tightens margins for businesses and forces them to consider raising prices, which can be suicidal in a sluggish economy where consumer discretionary spending . . .

Small-cap shares opened lower, pulled down by soaring crude oil prices, troubling economic data, a decline in overseas equities and a sinking greenback. At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was off 3.25, or 0.44%, at 735.20.

Crude oil jumped to a new record high, climbing above $129 dollars a barrel amid tight stocks for diesel fuel and solid demand out of China and South America that is countering soft demand from the United States. With gasoline prices in some metropolitan areas moving above $4 dollars a gallon, another record high in crude oil will not likely be embraced by stock market traders, even if a handful of energy stocks stand to benefit.

This morning’s PPI report was a mixed bag at first glance, with the headline figure coming in at 0.2%, which was better than the forecast for a rise of 0.4%. However, with gasoline prices still soaring, that figure already seems out of date, and investors were much more concerned about a jump in the “core” PPI, which climbed to 0.4% — above the forecast for a rise to 0.2%. The core rate excludes food and energy prices, which means there are other price pressures in the pipeline to be concerned about as well. This jump in the core tightens margins for businesses and forces them to consider raising prices, which can be suicidal in a sluggish economy where consumer discretionary spending is already pinched by lofty food and energy costs.

Other economic data this morning also had a soft tone, as weekly chain store sales were off 0.4% last week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. In addition, the Chicago Federal Reserve National Activity Index slipped to minus . . .

Loral Space & Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:LORL) said after Monday’s close that it recorded a net loss in the first quarter compared with net income from the year-ago quarter, as the company continued to integrate its October acquisition of Telesat. Revenues also slipped from a year ago excluding Telesat.

Shares slid 5%, or $1.13, $20.64 out of the gate. For detailed price information and recent news stories about Loral Space & Communications, click LORL.