Tag - TSRA

Tessera Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:TSRA), Naugatuck Vally Financial (Nasdaq:NVSL), Christopher & Banks Corp (Nasdaq:CBK) and Zymogenetics Inc (Nasdaq:ZGEN) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

"If you use a mobile phone with a camera, thank Tessera (NASDAQ: TSRA)," says Mike Cintolo in The Cabot Top Ten Report. "Tessera is the go-to company in miniaturization."

"You’ll find its technology in MP3 players, video games, wireless phones, computers and numerous other products where companies are forever working to design products smaller and manufacture them more cheaply.

"But Tessera does very little manufacturing. Mostly, it develops technology and then licenses it to manufacturers. The result is profi t margins like 41.9%!  Today Tessera is strong because the technology industry is rebounding quickly.

"Second quarter earnings will be released August 4, and you can expect to hear good news. TSRA appeared here on June 15 and 29, both times trading at 25, waiting to break above early-June resistance at 27.

"Now it has, breaking through cleanly on big volume last week as soon as the pressure came off the market.  So what’s next?

"There’s no obvious resistance until the 45-46 area, where the stock topped out in 2005, 2007 and early 2008. So if you’ve got it, hold on tight.  If you don’t own yet, buy now—Tessera is a great growth company."

Small-cap stocks jumped higher on the opening, a welcome sign after the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) suffered the largest one-day loss of the year on Monday. Buying interest was stirred by optimism for a bail-out of beleaguered U.S. automakers, anticipation for another round of global rate cuts and just a plain old oversold bounce after Mondays’s rout. At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 was up 5.14, or 1.23%, at 422.21.

Investor eyes will be on our nation’s capital today as auto industry executives gather in Washington with hands held out begging for a rescue package to avert potential failure. In a turnabout from last month’s embarrassment when the executives showed up on their chartered jets asking for taxpayer money, this time around the top dog at General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) said he was willing to work for just $1. CEOs from the Big 3 also were either flying commercial or driving to Capital Hill. The general perception is that after some browbeating, lawmakers will come up with an aid package for automakers in the $25 billion range. Shortly after the open, GM stock was up 6%, while Ford was up 5%.

Today’s meetings in Washington will coincide with monthly figures for vehicle sales, which are expected to be among the worst in a quarter-century. Overnight, news on the auto front was bad around the world, with new vehicle registrations in Germany down 17% for the month of November and down 28% in South Africa. Toyota and Tata (India’s top carmaker) announced plans to slash annual production to avoid building up inventory of unsold vehicles.

Financial shares were in bounce mode this morning after getting absolutely hammered Monday. Investors were hopeful for another round of global rate cuts to stimulate the world out of recession. The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed 100 basis points off their benchmark rate last night, which was much more aggressive than expected. In addition, the Bank of Japan expanded lending, and rate cuts are expected out of the United Kingdom, eurozone and New Zealand soon, and out of Sweden . . .

Small caps closed up nearly 2%, embracing the Fed’s rate cut, a thaw in credit markets and a bounce in commodity-tied stocks. Today’s small-cap gainers are Savient Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:SVNT), Savvis (Nasdaq:SVVS) and Hercules Offshore (Nasdaq:HERO).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The rate cut by the Fed coincides with global easing; just last night, central bank officials in China cut rates by 0.27% and European leaders hinted that further rate cuts are possible. 
• It’s possible that the bulls were corralled a little bit today, leery to take a big bullish stand ahead of Thursday’s GDP report.
• Commodities were a key part of the story today, which may explain some of the relative strength in small caps, which have shown a tendency to more closely track commodity trends in recent weeks.
• Crude oil prices jumped some 9%, or more than $5 a barrel, bolstered by oversold conditions and a slide in the U.S. dollar, which tumbled some 1.4% against the euro.
• Copper has soared some 14%, which is particularly interesting because copper is often seen as a proxy for economic activity around the globe. Copper has collapsed in recent weeks, but a stabilization in that market would be a positive sign for the global economy.

Small Cap Gainers:

• BioMimetic Therapeutics reports promising clinical results using injectable bone graft. Shares close up 21%. See (Nasdaq:BMTI).  
• Tessera Technologies shares surged 30% after arbitration ruling. See (Nasdaq:TSRA).  
• Savient Pharmaceuticals announces data in treatment-failure gout . . .

The Russell 2000 was able to fight off the sloppy employment report and held just above the previous January lows on Friday, closing down 2.66, or 0.40% at 660.11. Still, it marked the lowest close on weekly charts since October 2005, and sets up that 650 area as vital support into this week’s action.

The Wholesale Trade data this morning at 10:00 a.m. ET is usually a yawner for traders, and shouldn’t be of much concern for stocks. In fact, the outside risk from economic reports won’t really kick into high gear until we get to Thursday’s Retail Sales release. Look for resistance on a bounce this morning at 666, 674 and 680. Meanwhile, support is at 654 and then at 650. A breach of the latter opens the door to a support vacuum as the market would be at long-term lows.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) fell hard today as the stain from the subprime mortgage meltdown spread. The small-cap index let go 20.96 points, or 3.07%, to 662.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) declined 214.60 points, or 1.75%, to 12,040.39.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 is down 13.48%, while the Dow has retreated 9.23% and the S&P 500 has shed 11.17%.

The bears completely dominated trading today on news before the start of trading that investment company Carlyle Capital Corp. Ltd. had failed to meet a margin call and received a notice of default from one of the banks that helps finance its portfolio of mortgage securities.

Similarly, Santa Fe, N.M.-based residential mortgage lender Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (NYSE: TMA) announced after the close on Wednesday that it had failed to meet a margin call of about $28 million.

A “margin call” is when banks call in their loans to investors, who are in turn forced to sell off assets to raise cash, leading to a reduction in the price of those assets and more margin calls and losses.

Today’s news raised fears that the credit squeeze and the consequences of the housing downturn will continue plaguing the financial system.

The Russell 2000 had a tame session Wednesday, gaining 2.76, or 0.41%, ending at 683.74. Price action the last several sessions has been sloppy after yet another double top on daily charts back on Feb. 27. Look for support today at 677 and 670. There is minor support below there at 666 and 660, but a decisive breach of 670 opens the door to test the recent low down at 650. On the upside, resistance comes in at 692, then at 701 and 712.

This morning's weekly claims report at 8:30 a.m. ET might attract a little more interest than this report usually would garner, just because we’re facing the big unemployment release Friday.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) snapped a five-session losing streak on generally bullish economic news and plans to help a bond insurer. The small-cap index added 2.76 points, or 0.41%, to 683.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) gained 41.19 points, or 0.34%, to 12,254.99.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 is down 10.74%, while the Dow is missing 7.61% and the S&P 500 has lost 9.17%.

A volatile day of trading began on a bullish note following news that business productivity growth for the fourth quarter of 2007 was revised up to an annualized rate of 1.9%, according to the U.S. Commerce Department before the opening.

Economists were expecting productivity to stay at its initially reported rate of 1.8%.

Contributing to the upbeat mood was a report after the start of trading from the Institute of Supply Management that non-manufacturing activity increased to a reading of 49.3% in February from 44.6% in January. That still indicates a contraction in the sector that provides about 80% of U.S. gross domestic product, but economists had projected worse.

Tessera Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSRA) shares are plummeting after the U.S. Patent Office rejected a patent by the developer of miniaturization technologies after a reexamination. Siliconware Precision Industries (Nasdaq: SPIL), a Taiwan-based packager of semiconductors, contested Tessera’s patent.

“An initial, non-final office action in an ex parte reexamination is not a final decision and should not be characterized as such,” Tessera CEO Bruce McWilliams said in a statement. “We are one year into the process and just received the first office action on the ‘627 patent. We believe in the strength and validity of our battle-tested patents and will continue to vigorously defend them.”

McWilliams said it is “not unusual” for the Patent Office to preliminarily reject a patent claim. Tessera noted that its quarterly guidance does not include “settlements from the company’s current enforcement actions.”

At closing, TSRA shares were down 38.99%, or $8.99, at $14.07. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $11.11 to $46.43.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) closed lower for the fifth consecutive session on news of more subprime fallout and tech sector woes. The small-cap index declined 3.24 points, or 0.47%, to 680.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) lost 45.10 points, or 0.37%, to 12,213.80.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 is missing 11.10%, while the Dow is down 7.92% and the S&P 500 has retreated 9.64%.

The bears dominated trading and small-cap stocks spent the entire session in negative territory. With no major economic releases scheduled, investors focused on corporate news.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) reported before the opening that it may have to cut as many as 30,000 jobs over the next year and a half due to writedowns related to the subprime mortgage mess. Additionally, Citigroup might need to raise more capital to get over the credit crunch.

Contributing to the bearish sentiment was Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), which announced after the close on Monday that it has lowered its first-quarter gross margin forecast to 54% from 56% earlier.

Small-cap stocks declined, with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (NYSE: JTX) being one of the biggest losers. Before the opening the Parsippany, N.J.-based company posted third-quarter net income of $18.2 million, or $0.61 per share, a 34% decline from a year earlier.