Tag - Ahs

Media General Inc. (Nasdaq:MEG), Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq:CROX) and FBL Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:FFG) are among the  lead small-cap percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Brooks Automation Inc. (Nasdaq:BRKS), 51Job Inc. (Nasdaq:JOBS), Knot Inc. (Nasdaq:KNOT), Saga Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:SGA), Obagi Medical Products Inc (Nasdaq:OMPI) and AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (Nasdaq:AHS).

PrivateBancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:PVTB), Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX) and Capital City Bank Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CCBG) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Cedar Fair, L.P. (Nasdaq:FUN), AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (Nasdaq:AHS), Capital Bank Corp. (Nasdaq:CBKN), CONMED Corp. (Nasdaq:CNMD), Boston Beer Company Inc. (Nasdaq:SAM) and Princeton National Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:PNBC).

Small-cap stocks remained higher into mid-session, bolstered by a big acquisition on the pharma front, which sparks hope that small caps are undervalued overall. If there are deals being done for large caps, then there should be attractive acquisitions for a bevy of smaller companies. In addition, a surprisingly strong showing on existing home sales also provided a lift to the market. Some of today's small-cap gainers were RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq:RXII), WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE:WCG) and StealthGas (Nasdaq:GASS).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Looking at sector activity today, metals and mining stocks were the strongest performing group in the S&P.  
• Energy prices and stock market direction have been trading hand-in-hand of late, so the rise in equities clearly supported crude oil.
• Energy stocks were on a roll today, up 2.9%, mirroring a 3% climb in cash crude oil prices.  
• Small caps remained higher, bolstered by a big acquisition on the pharma front, which sparks hope that small caps are undervalued overall.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. jumped 31% on news that the firm will enter a research collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. See (Nasdaq:RXII).  
• WellCare Health Plans Inc. rallied about 19% as the firm updated its 2008 forecast and said it would pay in fall outstanding term loan balances. See (NYSE:WCG).
• StealthGas climbs 15% in pre-market after announcing a rise in Q3 profit; declaring dividend. See (Nasdaq:GASS).
• Homebuilder stocks were going well today, with the ISE Homebuilders Index up 4.6%, with small-cap builder Lennar Corp. rising 11%. See (NYSE:LEN). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Wyeth withdraws from Crucell takeover talks; Crucell tumbles 15% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CRXL).
• AMN Healthcare Services Inc. was down 13% sinking to 52-week lows. See (NYSE:AHS).  

Small-cap stocks pushed higher after a flat open, underpinned by bullish enthusiasm stoked by news that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) would pay $68 billion for Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) in one of the biggest pharma M&A deals in years. In addition, economic data on home sales and leading indicators topped expectations, fueling the rise in equities. Some of today's small-cap gainers were RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq:RXII), WellCare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE:WCG) and StealthGas (Nasdaq:GASS).
  
Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Crude prices pushed about $1 a barrel higher, which should underpin energy shares if the firm tone persists.  
• Even though much of the early news today seemed soft (outside of the econ data), the market was holding together reasonably well.  
• Leading indicators came in at +0.3%, better than the projection for -0.3%. This marked the first rise in leading indicators since June 2008.
• Existing home sales came in at an annual rate of 4.74M units, above the forecast of 4.4M. Sales were up 6.5%, compared with a slide of 9.4% in Nov.

Small Cap Gainers:

• RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. jumped 31% on news that the firm will enter a research collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. See (Nasdaq:RXII).  
• WellCare Health Plans Inc. rallied about 19% as the firm updated its 2008 forecast and said it would pay in fall outstanding term loan balances. See (NYSE:WCG).
• StealthGas climbs 15% in pre-market after announcing a rise in Q3 profit; declaring dividend. See (Nasdaq:GASS).
• AngioDynamics Inc. was up 12%, gapping higher and pushing toward multi-month highs. See (Nasdaq:ANGO).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Wyeth withdraws from Crucell takeover talks; Crucell tumbles 15% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CRXL).
• AMN Healthcare Services Inc. was down 13% sinking to 52-week lows. See (NYSE:AHS).  

Small-cap stocks pushed higher after a flat open, underpinned by bullish enthusiasm stoked by news that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) would pay $68 billion for Wyeth (NYSE:PFE) in one of the biggest pharma M&A deals in years. In addition, economic data on home sales and leading indicators topped expectations, fueling the rise in equities. At 10:06 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 11.42, or 2.57%, at 455.78.

Existing home sales came in at an annual rate of 4.74 million units, well above the forecast of 4.40 million. Sales were up 6.5%, compared with a slide of 9.4% in November. Lower mortgage rates spurred refinance and purchase activity, and it will be interesting to see if housing data continues to surprise, or if today’s news was a “flier.” Meanwhile, leading indicators came in at plus 0.3%, also much better than the projection for a slide of 0.3%. This marked the first rise in leading indicators since June 2008.

The news was Dow-30-heavy this morning, with five of 30 Dow stocks making big news. In addition to the Pfizer takeover, arguably the biggest wave came from Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) as the maker of heavy equipment said that 2009 profits would shrink relative to 2008 and that the firm would slash some 20,000 jobs. Meanwhile, McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) topped the profit forecast. Interestingly, even though the market was eager to embrace the Pfizer news, the potential breakup of the Dow Chemical/Rohm & Haas merger didn’t seem to phase investors.

Even though much of the early news today seemed soft (outside of the econ data), the market was holding together reasonably well. There was some thought that stocks were a little oversold following last week’s slide to the lowest weekly close since the November bear market lows were forged.

Looking at the chart picture, the market remains in a sideways consolidation range and bounce several times last week off dips toward 431 to 435. For today, important support will be at 435, then at 431; a breach of the latter could open . . .

Hallwood Group Inc. (Nasdaq:HWG), AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (Nasdaq:AHS) and Summit Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SMMF) are among the new 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

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

Penson Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:PNSN), Buckle Inc. (Nasdaq:BKE) and Protective Life Corp. (Nasdaq:PL) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Crosstex Energy Inc. (Nasdaq:XTXI), VisionChina Media Inc. (Nasdaq:VISN), Crosstex Energy L.P (Nasdaq:XTEX), Chart Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:GTLS), AMN Healthcare Services Inc. (Nasdaq:AHS) and Oplink Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:OPLK).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

An aging U.S. population is driving demand for healthcare services. People age 65 or older accounted for 13% of the U.S. population and 37% of hospital spending in 1999. By 2020, the percentage of the population over age 65 is expected to increase to 17%, according to Health Affairs magazine.

Americans are living longer as well; U.S. life expectancy recently hit an all-time high of 77.6 years. The aging population increases demand for hospital services since hospital utilization rates are significantly higher among older Americans - approximately three times higher than the overall population.

The number of Americans aged 55 to 64 is forecast to increase from 29 million in 2004 to 40 million in 2014. One-half of this group has high blood pressure and two in five are obese. As a group they are generally in worse medical condition than Americans born a decade earlier when they were that same age. Because of demographic and other trends, healthcare spending continues to climb, rising 7% in 2005 to nearly $2 trillion following 8% growth in the previous year.

Along with an aging population, the population of working registered nurses (RNs) is aging and the nurse education system is constrained by an aging faculty and a lack of teaching facilities.

There are currently around 2.9 million licensed RNs in the United States, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. A shortage of RNs began in the United States in 1998 and resulted in 126,000 unfilled hospital positions by 2001. In 2007, the nursing shortage is entering its tenth year. This shortage is forecast to worsen in the coming decade due to demographic trends and an aging RN workforce reaching retirement age. By 2020, experts estimate RN demand will exceed supply by 340,000.

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are utilizing outsourced nurse staffing to supplement their own recruitment and retention efforts. Rates vary throughout the country, but in general a staffing company may charge a hospital $70 or more an hour for the services of an RN, who will pocket roughly half that amount.

Spending on healthcare staffing services is forecast to rise from $10.5 billion in 2006 to $11.2 billion in 2007 and continue to climb as hospital administrators address rising demand for RNs and limited capacity.

Publicly traded healthcare staffing services companies benefiting from these industry trends include Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. (Nasdaq: CCRN) and AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: AHS).