Tag - Arb

Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Arbitron Inc. (Nasdaq:ARB) and Superior Well Services Inc. (Nasdaq:SWSI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Matrixx Initiatives (Nasdaq:MTXX), Black Box Corp. (Nasdaq:BBOX), Tecumseh Products Co. (Nasdaq:TECUA), Monarch Casino & Resort Inc. (Nasdaq:MCRI), Female Health Co. (Nasdaq:FHCO) and Landrys Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq:LNY).

NetScout Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:NTCT), Zion Oil and Gas Inc. (Nasdaq:ZN) and Indiana Community Bancorp (Nasdaq:INCB) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: ICT Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ICTG), QC Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:QCCO), Arbitron Inc. (Nasdaq:ARB), Oriental Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:OFG), VIST Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:VIST) and Triangle Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:TCAP).

Small-cap stocks remained sharply lower into mid-session, but were up from the extreme morning lows. Losses were stirred by worries over the economy, a revenue warning from key tech player Intel Corp and news of a big fraud from a major Indian outsourcing firm. At 12:33 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.90, or 2.31% at 502.81.

President-elect Obama addressed several issues at mid-morning, ranging from the Middle East situation to the economy. He said that his stimulus plan will likely be at the high end of expectations, which likely helped pull stocks off the morning lows. Equities markets in the United States and even around the world have embraced talk of a major infrastructure spending plan forwarded by Obama. Obama said that he will deliver a major speech on the economy and the stimulus package on Thursday. He is slated to take over as President on January 20.

Ahead of the opening today, the ADP National Employment Survey reported that 693,000 private sector jobs were lost in December, which was a record high for the ADP report (the data base started in 2001). That figure was way above the consensus ...

RC2 Corp. (Nasdaq:RCRC), Arbitron Inc. (Nasdaq:ARB) and Analogic Corp. (Nasdaq:ALOG) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: First United Corp Maryland (Nasdaq:FUNC), Approach Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:AREX), Teche Holdings Company (Nasdaq:TSH), Corus Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:CJR), American Pacific Corp. (Nasdaq:APFC) and Somerset Hills Bancorp (Nasdaq:SOMH).

Genesco Inc. (Nasdaq:GCO), DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) and Century Aluminum Co. (Nasdaq:CENX) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:OPY), Arbitron Inc. (Nasdaq:ARB), Rockwood Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:ROC), James Hardie Industries (Nasdaq:JHX), RC2 Corp. (Nasdaq:RCRC) and TAL International Group Inc. (Nasdaq:TAL).

Small-cap stocks opened lower, quickly recouped the losses but then resumed the downdraft in whipsaw trading, as the market tried to shrug off overseas declines. A fresh batch of economic data on housing starts, consumer inflation and mortgage applications was predictably awful, but not a surprise. Today’s small-cap gainers are TechTarget (Nasdaq:TTGT), Senomyx Inc. (Nasdaq:SNMX) and Retalix Limited. (Nasdaq:RTLX). 

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Auto executives will be in Washington again today to lobby for aid, in an issue that has been contentious from a political standpoint.  
• The U.S. dollar was down 1% against the euro, which provided some support to the commodities sector.  
• Commodity markets began to rise off the overnight lows ahead of the stock market open, which helped limit initial losses for equities.  
• Single-family housing starts tumbled to the lowest level in 27 years.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• TechTarget climbing 16% following a rise in the company's Q3 online revenue reported last week. See (Nasdaq:TTGT).
• Senomyx Inc. up over 18% on lower-than-average volume. See (Nasdaq:SNMX).
• Retalix Limited up 12% on light volume this morning, following earnings results earlier this week that showed a decline in Q3 profit, prompting small cap to cut guidance. See (Nasdaq:RTLX).  
• Shares of Pan American Silver Corp. are up 10% analysts cut the company's price target to $19 from $36 on Monday. See (Nasdaq:PAAS).  

Small Cap Losers:

• General Motors says European Opel Brand not for sale; shares are down 15.2%. See (NYSE:GM).
• Genesco Inc. tumbled 11% as the specialty retailer reported earnings and revised guidance. See (NYSE:GCO).  
• Arbitron Inc. is down 10% as the media and marketing research firm tumbled to fresh 52-week lows. See (NYSE:ARB).  
• JA Solar down 3% in pre-market on very light volume. The small cap is hovering near its 52-week low of $2.01; its 52-week high is $27. See (Nasdaq:JASO).

Small-cap stocks opened lower, quickly recouped the losses but then resumed the downdraft in whipsaw trading, as the market tried to shrug off overseas declines. A fresh batch of economic data on housing starts, consumer inflation and mortgage applications was predictably awful, but not a surprise. At 9:56 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 3.39, or 0.76%, at 444.12. It’s worth noting that opening losses in equities were not nearly as steep as feared as commodity markets started to firm up in the minutes leading up to the stock market open.

The housing starts report came in at 791,000 units, which was better than the forecast of 780,000. That said, the number was still terrible. Single-family housing starts tumbled to the lowest level in 27 years. Meanwhile, the CPI report came in at minus 1%, which was the biggest drop since the data series began 61 years ago. Even the “core” rate, which excludes energy and food prices, slipped 0.1%, which was the first decline in core rates in 26 years. The dramatic free-fall in prices was also seen at the producer level on Tuesday’s PPI report and could stir up worries of deflation. Earlier today, the MBA Mortgage Application Index dipped 6.2% and continues to hover near eight-year lows. None of these reports contained “good news” for the market, but they were well within the range of expectations and appeared to have little immediate price impact.

The market was already limping into the session following another pullback in stock markets overseas. European shares were off about 1.5% heading into the U.S. session. In Asian trading, Japan was down 0.6%, Hong Kong off 0.7%, Australia down 0.6%, Singapore down 1.5%, South Korea off 1.8% and India down 1.8%.

Energy shares were an important part of the large-cap rally Tuesday, and appeared set to be a bearish element for stocks today after crude oil prices slipped to 22-month lows overnight. However, commodity markets started to rise off the overnight lows about 20 minutes ahead of the stock market open, which helped limit initial losses for equities. The U.S. dollar was down 1% against the euro, which provided some support to the commodities sector. Shortly after the open today, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was up 0.5% as crude oil prices climbed back into positive . . .