Tag - UCBH

Small-cap stocks jumped higher this morning, buoyed by a rush back into bank and financial stocks amid hope that the government will set up a “bad bank” facility to mop up losing bank investments, which would help clear bank balance sheets. In addition, there is a sense that the Obama Administration is moving back toward the original purpose of the TARP of absorbing bad debt paper, a concept that has repeatedly sparked brief rallies in equities. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Regis Corp. (NYSE:RGS), World Acceptance Corp. (Nasdaq:WRLD) and UCBH Holdings (Nasdaq:UCBH).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The weekly MBA Mortgage Application Index tumbled 38.8% to 732.1% and is now at the lowest point since the week ended Nov. 21.  
• There is a chance that some of the enthusiasm on the financial and banking front has also been stoked by optimism ahead of this afternoon’s FOMC statement.   
• The KBW Banking Index was up nearly 10%.   Small-cap stocks jumped higher this morning, buoyed by a rush back into bank and financial stocks.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Regis Corp. charged 24% as the beauty salon and hair restoration company reported earnings. See (NYSE:RGS).
• Small-loan consumer finance company World Acceptance Corp. gapped higher and rallied 20% on solid earnings news. See (Nasdaq:WRLD).  
• UCBH Holdings is up 14% in pre-market on very light volume. See (Nasdaq:UCBH).
• Huntington Bancshares and Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing settle patent lawsuit and enter into license agreement; HBAN rises 12% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:HBAN).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Century Aluminum Co. tumbled 30% as the firm announced plans for a common stock offering. See (Nasdaq:CENX).  
• Plantronics Inc. was down 9% as the headset maker took an earnings-related hit. See (NYSE:PLT).  
• Amylin Pharmaceuticals reports 2008 financial results; shares fall 6% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:AMLN).

 

Small-cap stocks started out the first full week of 2009’s trading in choppy, bifurcated fashion, with support from energy and homebuilding stocks countered by selling in banking, financial, gold, telecom and drug shares. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER), Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:AHD) and VisionChina Media (Nasdaq:VISN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Homebuilder stocks were a strong performer today, climbing 6% amid news that the New York Federal Reserve started buying mortgage-backed securities today.  
• Energy stocks were a prominent supportive influence today, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund climbing 2.3%.  
• Vehicle sales were absolutely awful, but that was expected, and investors saw silver linings in the various reports.  
• Construction spending was off 0.6%, compared with the forecast for a slide of 1.3%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Amsterdam based AerCap Holdings N.V. is up 55.6% to 5.01. The integrated global aviation company today said it signed a $1.4 billion facility agreement for A330 financing. (See NYSE:AER)  
• Energy services provider Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P. is up 28.7% to $5.38. The Pennsylvania co. engages in the transmission, gathering, and processing of natural gas and natural gas liquids. (See NYSE:AHD)
• VisionChina Media, an out-of-home digital television advertising network, this morning announced the renewal of an exclusive contract with Beijing Subway. Shares are up 22.7% to $7.07. (See Nasdaq:VISN)  
• Natural gas company MarkWest Energy is up 20.5% to $11.46. The CNBC stock blog is reporting that traders have been buying calls in MarkWest for the past week. (See NYSE:MWE)  

Small Cap Losers:

• Needham today downgraded Faro Technologies to "Hold" from "Buy." Shares are down 8.5% to $16.09. Faro makes computerized measurement devices used by manufacturers. (See Nasdaq:FARO)  
• California Pizza Kitchen In.c is down 8.7% to $9.99 after a downgrade by B. Riley & Co. (See Nasdaq:CPKI)  
• Fingerprinting-device maker Cogent Systems Inc. is 8,8% lower after a downgrade by Stanford Research. (See Nasdaq:COGT)  
• Calif-based UCBH holdings, which operates as the bank holding company for United Commercial Bank, is down 11% to $5.92 after a downgrade by DA Davidson. (See Nasdaq:UCBH) 

CONMED Corp (Nasdaq:CNMD), RC2 Corp (Nasdaq:RCRC) and Digi International Inc (Nasdaq:DGII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Transcontinental Realty Investors Inc (Nasdaq:TCI), Nara Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:NARA), GSI Commerce Inc (Nasdaq:GSIC), PacWest Bancorp Ord Shs (Nasdaq:PACW), UCBH Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:UCBH) and Helen of Troy Ltd (Nasdaq:HELE).

Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSIQ), A Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq:APWR) and Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd. (Nasdaq:SOLF) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: UCBH Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), AgFeed Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:FEED), Cirrus Logic Inc. (Nasdaq:CRUS), Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq:SLXP), China Sunergy Co Ltd. (Nasdaq:CSUN) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq:CLNE).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Otter Tail Corp. (Nasdaq:OTTR), Evergreen Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:ESLR) and Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd. (Nasdaq:SOLF) are among the most actively traded companies in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (Nasdaq:IBKR), Corus Bankshares Inc. (Nasdaq:CORS), UCBH Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSIQ), AmCOMP Inc. (Nasdaq:AMCP) and Aixtron ADR (Nasdaq:AIXG).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Gehl Co. (Nasdaq:GEHL), Biodel Inc. (Nasdaq:BIOD) and Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd (Nasdaq:SOLF) are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: China Sunergy Co Ltd (Nasdaq:CSUN), AuthenTec Inc. (Nasdaq:AUTH), UCBH Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), Spectranetics Corp. (Nasdaq:SPNC), Alvarion Ltd (Nasdaq:ALVR) and Investors Real Estate Trust Units (Nasdaq:IRET).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

United Community Banks Inc (Nasdaq:UCBI), Medis Technologies Ltd (Nasdaq:MDTL) and Virtual Radiologic Corp (Nasdaq:VRAD) are among the new 52-week lows in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

UCBH Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:UCBH), Lifetime Brands Inc (Nasdaq:LCUT) and Susser Holdings Corp (Nasdaq:SUSS) are also among the new 52-week lows.

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

Small-cap stocks pushed higher in early trading, but slipped into the red after sobering consumer sentiment figures from the University of Michigan. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 2.96, or 0.41%, at 714.12.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey came in below expectations at 62.6% versus the median forecast of about 63.5%, and at 26-year lows, which appeared to spark a wave of selling across equities. The downside press after the Michigan numbers was a little surprising, because the survey seldom moves the market more than a few ticks. However, it may have simply been just an excuse for short-term longs to book profits ahead of the weekend instead of battling through key overhead chart resistance.

Once again, the market appeared to find initial buying interest on the back of earnings news, with American Express (NYSE:AXP) beating the forecast this morning, and climbing about 3% after the cash open. However, tech leader Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) stumbled about 4% after the opening on sluggish earnings, so the news was mixed on some of the big name issues early today. Overseas stock market index products generated a nice rally, which provided a boost to investor psychology to start the session. European shares rose to three-week highs, while Japan’s Nikkei was up 2.3%.

President Bush held a very brief announcement about 15 minutes ahead of the stock market opening to let Americans know that their economic stimulus rebate checks were literally in the mail. The immediate response in stock futures trading . . .

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in Friday’s pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $50 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:PGNX), up 23.7% after the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company’s constipation drug won FDA approval.

• Pure Bioscience (Nasdaq:PURE), up 18.6% on no significant news from the El Cajun, Calif.-based bio-science firm.

• YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:YRCW), up 12.7% after the transportation services company said early Friday that it expects second-quarter profit in-line with Wall Street expectations.

Biggest percentage losers:

• SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:SIRF), down 14.1% after posting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss.

• ScanSource, Inc. (Nasdaq:SCSC), down 12.5% after reporting that it expects fourth-quarter revenue in the range of $540 million to $560 million. Wall Street anticipates $562.7 million.

• UCBH Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), down 11.5% after reporting a 92% plunge in first-quarter income.