Tag - Aloy

Small-cap stocks turned lower at midday as slumping technology shares weighed on investor psychology and offset optimism over yet another new government credit facility aimed to encourage consumer loan activity. In addition, fresh economic data had a predominantly gloomy tone and the market may have been ripe for a breather following two days of dramatic advances. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN), DR Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI) and American Woodmark (Nasdaq:AMWD).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Retailers were in rally mode Monday, but were struggling to stay positive today, just a few days in front of Black Friday  
• The worst performers so far are home: ent. software, specialty stores, asset management firms, distillers and vineyards, and dept. stores.  
• Consumer confidence levels actually improved more than expected, rising to 49.9, up from the forecast of 38.5 (but still low historically).  
• Homebuilders are the best performers, followed by construction materials, managed health care, building products and Internet software.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Lennar Corp. soared some 52% as the second-largest U.S. homebuilder benefited from an analyst upgrade. See (NYSE:LEN).  
• DR Horton Inc. jumped 25%, riding the overall housing updraft today despite reporting larger-than-expected quarterly losses. See (NYSE:DHI).
• American Woodmark up 18% after posting narrower-than-expected Q2 loss. See (Nasdaq:AMWD).
• Media and marketing company Alloy, Inc. up over 15% today on light volume, paring much of the losses it suffered on Monday See (Nasdaq:ALOY).  

Small Cap Losers:

• K-V Pharmaceuticals drops 24% after a bevy of law firms launch investigations into the small cap concerning losses suffered by investors who purchased stock between Feb. 15 and Nov. 12. See (NYSE:KV.A).  
• FirstFed Financial Corp. down 21% today on no fresh news. Over the weekend the savings and loan holding company declared a dividend. See (NYSE:FED).
• BankAtlantic Corp. down another 20% today following news on Friday that the SEC launched a probe into the company's handling of troubled loans and some of its officers' stock transactions. See (NYSE:BBX).  
• Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. tumbled 19% as investors backed away from the beauty retailer ahead of an earnings conference call this afternoon. See (Nasdaq:ULTA).  

Small-cap stocks tumbled once again Thursday, unable to shrug off fears of an economic recession amid a global credit contagion. For the second consecutive session, the market also was unable to gain bullish traction on a promising morning rally. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) shed 47.36, or 8.67%, to 499.20, which marked the lowest daily close since Sept. 30, 2003. For the year, the Russell is now down 34.8%, while the Dow is off 35.3% and the S&P 500 is down 37.4%. The Russell has now closed lower seven consecutive sessions, and 9 of 10. In those 10 days, small caps have collapsed 29.2% in one of the most relentless and powerful bearish displays in market history.

Small-cap stocks continue to under perform the large-cap products through the teeth of this collapse. Just three weeks ago, the Russell 2000 was only down 1.6% for the year, while the Dow was down 14.1%, so the percentage loss spread between the two favored the Russell by 12.5%. Now, the difference is less than 1%. Clearly, the market has made a powerful statement that small caps are seen as more risky during a runaway bear market collapse. Small caps led the way up on the bull market move and they have been leading the way down the last 14 days of trading.

Normally, you can track money flow along asset lines. For example, the recent stock market crash has often sent money zinging into Treasury products, or gold funds for safe-haven status. Just how deep did the selling mentality run today? Stocks were down, Treasuries were down, crude oil was down, the CRB was down, even gold was down. There were no safe asset classes upon which to turn. It certainly was one of the few times one would ever see a huge decline in stocks along with a decline in Treasuries and commodities.

Once again, the market was unable to sustain buying interest despite more “good” news on the interest rate front. Overnight, several Asian central banks joined in on the rate cut frenzy, with Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong joining a move that saw coordinated central bank moves from the U.S., England, Eurozone, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland and even China the previous day. It didn’t save the market . . .

ICO Inc. (Nasdaq:ICOC), Alloy Inc. (Nasdaq:ALOY) and Animal Health International Inc. (Nasdaq:AHII) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Deltek Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), Trico Marine Services Inc. (Nasdaq:TRMA), Bronco Drilling Co Inc. (Nasdaq:BRNC), First Financial Northwest Inc. (Nasdaq:FFNW), Smart Balance Inc. (Nasdaq:SMBL) and Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSIQ).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Magna Entertainment (Nasdaq:MECA), Taser International Inc. (Nasdaq:TASR) and LSB Corp. (Nasdaq:LSBX) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.  

Also included among the results: Alloy Inc. (Nasdaq:ALOY), Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX), PokerTek Inc. (Nasdaq:PTEK), Savannah Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:SAVB), Ultra Clean Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:UCTT) and BCB Bancorp Inc.(Nasdaq:BCBP).           

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps: