Tag - TELOZ

TEL Offshore Trust (Nasdaq:TELOZ) lost nearly two-thirds of its value this morning after announcing that production from two of its most significant oil and gas properties were destroyed by Hurricane Ike.

The Austin-based firm said just after the bell on Tuesday that production at the two properties had ceased as a result of damage from Hurricane Ike.

The company is still trying to determine if it can resume production at the two properties or not.

TEL Offshore Trust also said it expects its scheduled distribution for the fourth quarter of 2008 to be severely negatively impacted due to the Hurricane, and there may not be sufficient net proceeds from the royalty properties to make any distributions for some time.

TEL Offshore Trust's stock plummeted on the news, and by mid-morning is at $5, down $8, from Tuesday's close. The stock is trading well below its 52-week low of $11.50 and high of $42.87 with more than 208,000 shares changing hands compared with an average three-month volume of 65,000.

For detailed price information and news stories on TEL Offshore Trust, click TELOZ.

Barring a last minute stunner Monday, small-cap stocks appear set to finish the first half of 2008 with a whimper as the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed out this week’s trading at the lowest level since early April while notching the largest one-week point decline since February. For the day, the Russell dipped 0.28, or 0.04%, to 698.14, walking a tightrope between rising crude oil and safe-haven money flows away from stocks versus oversold conditions and a rise in personal income data.

And it even took a pair of rose-colored glasses to see the good news on today’s personal income report, which clearly was tainted by stimulus checks reaching consumer wallets. The headline figure on personal income was up 1.9%, but after adjustments for the stimulus payout, the real figure was much less enticing.

“Perusing some of the detail, households seemed to want to escape from reality in May by stepping up their purchases of alcoholic beverages to consume in the privacy of their own (or bank-owned) homes (+1.29%), by going to the movies (+24.9%), by investing their tax rebates at blackjack tables (+2.3%) or simply boarding an airplane to get out of town (+2.7%),” Paul Kasriel, chief economist with Northern Trust, said in an email. “Come the third quarter, when the fiscal stimulus has dissipated, so will personal income and consumer spending increases,” he said.

Consumer sentiment as told through the Michigan survey slipped to a fresh 28-year low. With national pump prices north of $4 dollars a gallon, food prices steadily rising, home values still sinking and unemployment surging, it’s no surprise that consumers are in a dour . . .

Small-cap stocks edged lower Monday, unable to sustain an intraday run to fresh five-month highs as longs took profits, record crude oil prices deterred new buyers and tech stocks reversed course. In the end, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) dipped 2.72, or 0.37%, to 738.45.

Small-caps trailed buying enthusiasm in large caps much of the day, which was a caution sign that the intraday push was on tenuous footing. When tech stocks started to reverse course, recoiling from new highs, it put a chill on buyers in most of the major index products. Within large-cap tech stocks, the spotlight was on SanDisk Corp. (Nasdaq:SNDK), which tumbled about 7.6% amid concerns about the consumer spending outlook.

Crude oil prices continue to be a focal point for stock market traders as the economy teeters on a tightrope of recovery, balancing higher energy and food costs versus the spending habits of strapped consumers. Crude oil prices jumped to a fresh record high this morning and closed at a new all-time peak above $127 dollars a barrel. Gasoline pump prices around the nation have been spiking higher in recent days, and prices in the Chicago metropolitan area moved past $4 dollars a gallon this weekend, an ominous sign heading toward the peak summer driving and vacation season.

This morning’s leading indicators report may have brought a few stray buyers out of the woods, but that release seldom has a dynamic impact on immediate trading decisions as most of the data is considered dated. For instance, today’s leading indicators report was for the April time frame, and although the headline figure . . .