Tag - Apog

Apogee Enterprises Inc (Nasdaq:APOG), Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:ANTH), Penford Corp (Nasdaq:PENX) and Silicon Motion Technology Corp (Nasdaq:SIMO) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: National Security Group (Nasdaq:NSEC), Medicinova Inc (Nasdaq:MNOV), LGL Group Inc (Nasdaq:LGL), Allied Defense Group Inc (Nasdaq:ADG) and PeaBack-Gladstone Financial Corp (Nasdaq:PGC).

Dendreon Corp. (Nasdaq:DNDN), DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) and China Medical Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:CMED) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA), Apogee Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG), Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER), China Sky One Medical Inc. (Nasdaq:CSKI), Alkermes Inc. (Nasdaq:ALKS) and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:SWHC).

Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM), Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS) and AeroVironment Inc. (Nasdaq:AVAV) are among the most actively traded companies in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (Nasdaq:EGLE), Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION), Take Two Interactive Software Inc.(Nasdaq:TTWO), DrdGold ADR (Nasdaq:DROOY), Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:FSYS) and Apogee Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG).

Small-cap stocks were slightly lower early this morning, pulled down by a rash of weak profit reports and gloomy outlooks amid ongoing concerns about the economic environment. Energy stocks were a soft spot for the market as crude oil tumbled to fresh four-year lows. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq:BSTC), Apogee Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG) and TTM Tech Inc. (Nasdaq:TTMI).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The dollar rallied into positive territory against the euro after taking a hit overnight, which could weigh on various commodity markets.  
• Crude oil prices tumbled to four-year lows Wednesday and extended that slide today, off some $1.50 a barrel this morning.  
• The energy market was on the mend overnight, but started sinking fast into the stock market open.  
• This morning, analysts at UBS lowered their forecast for 2009 profit estimates for the S&P 500

Small Cap Gainers:

• BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. jumped 41% as the biopharma firm announced a licensing agreement with Pfizer Inc. See (Nasdaq:BSTC).  
• Apogee Enterprises Inc. rose 12% as the glass maker received an earnings-related lift. See (Nasdaq:APOG).  
• TTM Tech Inc. rose 8% as the circuit board manufacturer continues to climb off the November lows. See (Nasdaq:TTMI).  
• FedEx Corp. met the current forecast, but warned that 2009 looked quite weak and said they would cut costs to prepare. See (NYSE:FDX). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Tennant Co. slumped 19% as the safety solutions firm announced restructuring plans amid slower sales. See (NYSE:TNC).  
• Atheros Communications falls 9.3% in pre-market after being cut to "hold" by Deutsche Bank. See (Nasdaq:ATHR).  
• Actuant earnings slashed in first quarter, shares tumble 7%. See (NYSE:ATU). 
• JP Morgan cuts Bucyrus to "neutral;" shares down 4% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:BUCY).  

Small-cap stocks were slightly lower early this morning, pulled down by a rash of weak profit reports and gloomy outlooks amid ongoing concerns about the economic environment. Energy stocks were a soft spot for the market as crude oil tumbled to fresh four-year lows. At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 1.24, or 0.20%, at 485.35.

The Philly Fed report came in at 39.3, which was up from last month’s reading, but still slightly below the consensus forecast. The leading indicators report was down 0.4%, which was in line with projections.

Earlier this morning ahead of the opening, the weekly claims report came in at 554,000, which was in line with market projections, but still awful historically. The four-week moving average on claims rose to 543,750, which is the highest level since December 1982. Continuing claims edged down 4.384 million, down from 4.431, which is a mildly positive development – but again, these numbers are still among the highest in a generation and the overall employment picture in the United States is expected to get worse over the next couple of months.

Bullish traders will say that all the dreadful economic news is a known factor and is already priced into the market. What’s more, most of the profit news has been awful as well, but is also subject to the “been there, done that” market response. This morning, analysts at UBS lowered their forecast for 2009 profit estimates for the . . .

Small-cap stocks generated a solid rally through several minor economic reports this morning and then sustained the upside push through a volatile, but ultimately upbeat reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee announcement, which either stalled or ended a rate cut cycle that began back in September 2007. For the day, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rallied 8.38, or 1.18%, to 716.30.

The rally in small caps basically recovered about two-thirds of the big slide from Tuesday, but failed to suggest that the market’s breakdown into a new lower range was premature. It will take a decisive push back above 720.50 to validate any kind of bottoming action from today’s rally, or else it will simply look like a dead-cat bounce amid oversold conditions.

The much-awaited FOMC news fulfilled market expectations, and the rally in stocks in the face of no rate cut to serve up cheap money in difficult times was a decent showing.

As for the announcement itself, “The bottom line is that the Committee is now in a wait-and-see mode to see how the economy and inflation unfold during the second half of the year,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email.

Wood noted that an improvement in economic conditions should spur tighter monetary policy but that a weaker economy might not prompt further rate cuts unless inflation abates. “We believe that the tax rebate effect on consumer spending will quickly fade as the summer progresses and energy prices stabilize or retreat slightly. This . . .

Small-cap stocks are rallying in Wednesday midday trading, as oil futures declined sharply after the Energy Department said oil and fuel supplies are larger than expected. Investors are waiting for news from the Federal Reserve’s rate committee, which wraps up a two-day meeting this afternoon. The Fed is widely expected to end the rate cut cycle and talk tough on inflation. At 2:01 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 7.88, or 1.11%, at 715.80.

Crude oil prices are sharply lower in afternoon trading. The Energy Department said in its weekly inventory report that crude oil supplies rose, while Wall Street expected a 1.7 million barrel decline. The supply increase gave investors reason to believe that skyrocketing gas prices have lowered demand. Crude is down 3% to $132.73 a barrel in recent trading.

The new home sales report clocked in at minus 2.5% and the inventory of new homes was at 10.9 months, which was a mild rise over the previous report. Although the home sales data was weak, it didn’t deter the stock market, which is already focused on the Fed later today.

“Set the snooze button for 2:15 ET PM today for the FOMC decision and we'll all be tearing apart the text for nuances on what to expect going forward. Market has 50 basis points of tightening priced in for Fed Funds by the end of December,” Andy Busch, global foreign exchange strategist for BMO Capital Markets, said in an email. “The U.S. Treasury's auction of two-year notes Tuesday showed a big surge in demand with the bid to cover ratio at 2.64, up from 2.28 last and an indirect foreign bids of 27.7% that show Treasury market participants believe the Fed tightening . . .

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG) shares dropped more than 18% Wednesday after the Minneapolis-based company’s Tuesday announcement of lower-than-expected first-quarter earnings. Shares were trading at $18.15 after the glass-making company reported first-quarter net income of $0.36 per share compared with $0.34 per share a year ago. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $0.43 a share for the quarter ending May 30.

Small-cap stocks opened higher Wednesday, providing a welcome respite to the bulls who endured a slide to two-month lows in the Russell 2000 the previous session. The market was underpinned by short-covering amid oversold conditions ahead of this afternoon’s FOMC meeting announcement and by a bounce in financial stocks. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 4.67, or 0.66%, at 712.59.

The new home sales report came in at minus 2.5% and the inventory of new homes was at 10.9 months, which was a mild rise over the previous report. Although the home sales data was weak, it didn’t deter the stock market, which is already focused on the FOMC later today.

Earlier this morning, orders for May durable goods came in unchanged, which was slightly softer than the forecast for a rise of 0.1%. Although durables missed the median forecast, it was close enough to have very little impact on stock market trading.

Also on the data front, the MBA mortgage application survey came in at minus 9.3%, which was the lowest level since July 2001. In addition, the report showed that the purchasing index fell 7.4% to the lowest point since February 2003. Also, the refinance index tumbled 12.1% to the lowest level since July 2001. With the housing market still soft and rates firming, mortgage activity has slowed to a crawl.

Crude oil prices were lower this morning, which allowed some breathing room for this morning’s bounce in U.S. equities. However, stocks remain extremely sensitive to intraday gyrations in energy prices, and any rise in black gold during the session could endanger the early bounce in stocks. The weekly inventory report is slated . . .

Third Wave Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:TWTI), Luminex Corp (Nasdaq:LMNX) and Royale Energy Inc (Nasdaq:ROYL) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: HireRight Inc (Nasdaq:HIRE), Apogee Enterprises Inc (Nasdaq:APOG), Sonic Corp (Nasdaq:SONC), UAL Corp (Nasdaq:UAUA), China Precision Steel Inc (Nasdaq:CPSL) and comScore Inc (Nasdaq:SCOR).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) jumped as investors reacted to news of a tech sector upgrade and a bullish earnings forecast from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). The small-cap index rose 9.04 points, or 1.29%, to 707.42, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54.72 points, or 0.44%, to 12,581.98.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has let go 7.65%, while the Dow has declined 5.15% and the S&P 500 is missing 7.34%.

Small-cap stocks began the session with a brief dip into the red but quickly recovered as investors digested news before the opening that Wal-Mart raised its earnings estimate for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, partially due to strong sales of electronics.

The index moved into positive territory shortly before 10 a.m. ET and maintained those gains until the closing, reaching a session high of 710 just before 2 p.m. ET.

Also helping the bulls establish their dominance was news before the start of trading that the semiconductor sector has been upgraded by Banc of America Securities. The sector includes small-caps EMCORE Corp. (Nasdaq:EMKR) and San Jose, Calif.-based . . .

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG) CEO Russell Huffer said he feels “very good” about the glass products maker’s growth prospects for fiscal 2009. Huffer made the comments during a midday conference call.

“We had a strong finish to the fiscal year,” Huffer said. “We are expecting another outstanding year in fiscal 2009. We are entering the year stronger than ever in our architectural segment, which will drive our performance.”

Architectural margins rose to 6.7% during fiscal 2008 from 5.8% during the year-ago period, he said. Huffer said demand for Apogee’s architectural products and services remains healthy.

“We started the new year with our largest architectural backlog ever — $510.9 million,” he said. “Our architectural segment had strong operations serving markets that are using more and more value-added design and energy-efficient products.”

After Wednesday’s closing, Apogee posted fourth-quarter earnings of $14.4 million, or $0.50 per share, up 48% from $9.7 million, or $0.34 per share, a year earlier. Wall Street analysts . . .

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG), Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (Nasdaq:JOSB) and Reis, Inc. (Nasdaq:REIS) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE:CBK), Community Central Bank Corp. (Nasdaq:CCBD) and Carolina Trust Bank (Nasdaq:CART) are also among the top small-cap percentage gainers.

Here are Thursday's biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

NGP Capital Resources Co. (Nasdaq:NGPC), EMCORE Corp. (Nasdaq:EMKR) and Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq:NKTR) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday's pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG), Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq:CALM) and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:SIRF) are also among the most actively traded small-cap companies in pre-market trading.

Here are the most actively traded small-cap companies in Thursday's pre-market trading:

Shares of Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOG) are getting a pop this morning after the developer of glass products, services, and systems reported fourth-quarter results substantially above the consensus on Wall Street, helped by project mix in architectural glass and engineered windows, pricing, high capacity utilization and productivity improvements.

Shares gained 12.8%, or $2.16, to $19 in pre-market trading. For detailed price information and recent news stories about Apogee Enterprises, click APOG.

April 12 (SmallCapInvestor.com) – Stocks overcame early losses to end the day with a win as investors shrugged off a rise in the price of oil and a disappointing retail sales outlook.  In small cap action, Apogee Enterprise, Inc. (Nasdaq: APOG) raised its fiscal year earnings projection, while shares of Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) rose after a positive analyst rating.

The Russell 2000 added 6.81 points, or 0.84 percent, to 815.05.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.34 points, or 0.55 percent, to 12,552.96.  The Dow has ended the nine of the last ten sessions with a win.