Tag - Bare

News that Chrysler will be filing bankruptcy is causing stocks to seesaw through Thursday afternoon.

At 2:35 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 0.28%, while the Dow is up 0.25% and the S&P 500 is up 0.32%.

Small caps flying high today include Bare Escentuals (Nasdq:BARE), up 42% after its Q1 results topped the Street’s view. Also higher are Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq:OREX), up 44% on heavy volume, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq:GMCR), up 37% after the small cap boosted its FY sales and EPS view.

On the downside, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE:BBW) is 20% lower today after posting a Q1 loss, and small-cap Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) has falledn 19% after projecting a loss for 2009 and suspending its dividend.

******Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) shareholders voted to remove Ken Lewis as chairman of the board. But he remains CEO, at least for a little while. As much as I railed against Lewis, I must acknowledge that he is a something of a victim.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have no sympathy for the CEOs who over-leveraged and mismanaged their companies during Wall Street’s greed bonanza. And Lewis was right there with the rest of them.

But when it comes to the Merrill Lynch acquisition and the surrounding events, it’s pretty clear that Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Paulson hung him out to dry. In other words, I believe Lewis’ assertion that Bernanke and Paulson strong-armed him into the Merrill acquisition and encouraged him to keep his mouth shut about Merrill’s $15 billion fourth-quarter loss.

The one question – and this gets right to the heart of the matter – is why did Lewis play ball? He had to know that his shareholders would be irate. And that’s the point – CEOs ultimately work for their shareholders. And bank CEOs for the most. . .

Bare Escentuals Inc. (Nasdaq:BARE), Diedrich Coffee Inc. (Nasdaq:DDRX) and Skechers USA Inc. (Nasdaq:SKX) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Clearwater Paper Corp. (Nasdaq:CLW), OfficeMax Inc. (Nasdaq:OMX), Interface Inc. (Nasdaq:IFSIA), HUGHES Telematics Inc. (Nasdaq:HTC), American Commercial Lines Inc. (Nasdaq:ACLI) and Shutterfly Inc. (Nasdaq:SFLY).

Small-cap stocks finished off one of the worst months in history with a four-day rally fueled by improving credit conditions, month-end bargain hunting and a willingness by investors to look beyond current weak economic fundamentals. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 4.53%. Today’s small-cap gainers are SM&A (Nasdaq:WINS), MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG) and Gramercy Capital (NYSE:GKK).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The Russell is now down 30% for the year. The Dow is down 30% for 2008, while the S&P 500 is off 34%. 
• Financial stocks played a key role in the rally today, after lagging on some bounce attempts earlier in the week. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund rose 3.3%.
• Small- and mid-cap banks and financial institutions were noted all along the top percentage movers today on various exchanges. 
• Crude oil prices rallied in the final 30 minutes of trading today, but gains in the commodity arena were hampered by a firm tone in the U.S. dollar, which gained about 1.3% against the euro.

Small Cap Gainers:

• SM&A jumped 126% on news that the firm will be purchased by Odyssey Investment Partners for $6.25 a share. See (Nasdaq:WINS).
• Wisconsin Energy to replace MGIC Investment in S&P 500. MGIC shares closed up over 60%. See (NYSE:MTG).
• Gramercy Capital reported 34% Q3 rise in funds from operations, halts dividends. Shares closed up 79%. See (NYSE:GKK).  
• Sonic Automotive reported losses in Q3 but shares closed up a whopping 41%. See (NYSE:SAH).
• China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. gapped higher and soared 27%. See (NYSE:CEA).

Small Cap Losers:

• Penson Worldwide Inc. closed down 40% on news that a subsidiary has incurred a $15.5M unsecured receivable from a firm that has ceased operations. See (Nasdaq:PNSN).
• Bare Escentuals Inc. gapped lower and shed some 40% on soft earnings news. See (Nasdaq:BARE).  
• Sunrise Senior Living announces transaction has been terminated. Shares . . .

Small-cap stocks opened lower Friday, pulled down by lingering worries about the economy, a dip in stock markets around the world overnight and a renewed safe-haven mentality ahead of the weekend. Today’s small-cap gainers are Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq:RTLX), Powerwave Technologies (Nasdaq:PWAV) and DivX (Nasdaq:DIVX).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Crude oil prices were slumping today, down about $2 a barrel amid a resurgent U.S. dollar overnight.  
• Today’s trading will not only close the books on a dreadful month for the stock
market, but also represents the final week of trading before voters decide on a new president next week.
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was down 2.7%, which reflects strong demand for Treasury notes as the yield moves inverse to price.  
• As the stock market lurched toward the end of a historic month investors seemed reluctant to extend a 3-day buying spree in small caps and money was moving back into Treasury markets.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Retalix Ltd. jumped 31% as the software provider for food distributors and retailers gapped higher on the open. See (Nasdaq:RTLX).
• Powerwave Technologies Up 11% in after-hours; Q3 results beat estimates by $0.03. See (Nasdaq:PWAV).  
• DivX Q3 results top expectations, guides in line to above Street. DivX shares were up 8% overnight. See (Nasdaq:DIVX).  
• Air T boosted 5% in pre-market trading; Q2 results up sharply pver year-ago levels See (Nasdaq:AIRT).


Small Cap Losers:

• Bare Excentuals Inc. gapped lower and shed some 38% on soft earnings news. See (Nasdaq:BARE).  
• Penson Worldwide Inc. is down 32% on news that a subsidiary has incurred a $15.5M unsecured receivable from a firm that has ceased operations.
See (Nasdaq:PNSN).  
• Conexant Systems seats With Q4, guides below Street. Shares down 16% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CNXT).  
• Morningstar shares nearly 5% lower in after hours after Q3 results miss estimates. See (Nasdaq:MORN).

Small-cap stocks opened lower Friday, pulled down by lingering worries about the economy, a dip in stock markets around the world overnight and a renewed safe-haven mentality ahead of the weekend. At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 5.99, or 1.17% at 508.19.

A fresh batch of second-tier economic data debuted this morning, with the Michigan sentiment survey coming at 57.6, which represented a record monthly drop off the 70.3 reading in September. However, the figure was basically in line with expectations. The Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Survey came in at 37.8, which was well below the forecast of 48.3. Stock index futures slipped a tad after the Chicago report.

Earlier this morning, the personal income report came in at 0.2%, which was slightly better than the forecast for a meager gain of 0.1%. Meanwhile, the employment cost index was up 0.7%, which was in line with the forecast. Even though the market generated a nice rally Thursday in the face of a negative reading on quarterly GDP, there seemed to be a more subdued mood this morning, almost a sense that the economy isn’t going to improve anytime soon, so a recovery in the stock market could take time. Bulls will say that all the upcoming bad news on the economy is already priced into the market and that stocks will rally away from the lows long before the worst data comes out.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index slumped 5% overnight, even though the Bank of Japan delivered its first rate cut in seven years. However, the rate cut was already widely expected, setting up a “sell-the-fact” response from traders.

As the stock market lurched toward the end of a historic month investors seemed reluctant to extend a three-day buying spree in small caps and money was moving back into Treasury markets at the start of today’s activity. The yield on . . .

Solarfun Power Holdings Co Ltd. (Nasdaq:SOLF), Bare Escentuals Inc. (Nasdaq:BARE) and DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) are among the most actively traded companies in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSIQ), InterDigital Inc. (Nasdaq:IDCC), VisionChina Media Inc. (Nasdaq:VISN), Pan American Silver Corp. (Nasdaq:PAAS), Crosstex Energy L.P (Nasdaq:XTEX) and thinkorswim Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SWIM).

Here are the most actively traded companies among small caps:

Small-cap stocks tried in vain to dodge some serious data land-mines Thursday as investors anxiously await the big data bomb released with Friday morning’s employment report. Amid choppy seas, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) eventually finished down 4.34, or 0.60%, at 714.52, unable to shrug off dreadful unemployment claims, soft GDP numbers and a cautious tone from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Day traders looking for a definitive direction in small caps today may have gotten a little seasick as the market see-sawed up and down, carried on the whims of economic data crunchers. The opening salvo (and the most dynamic move of the day) was a bearish tilt as weekly unemployment claims went through the roof. Although the survey period for Friday’s monthly jobs report was over before this week’s claims survey, it’s not exactly reassuring to see unemployment numbers spike way beyond expectations.

Just how bad was the claims report? The number came in at 448,000, swamping the forecast for a dip to 395,000 following last week’s already uncomfortably big 404,000 figure. To give it a little better perspective: it was the largest one-week claims figure for any week, of any month, in more than five years. If nothing else, the weekly claims report certainly shot more holes in Wednesday’s ADP employment report, which forecast job growth, nevermind recent reports of layoffs in financial and . . .

Harris Stratex Networks Inc (Nasdaq:HSTX), Innospec Inc (Nasdaq:IOSP) and Bare Escentuals Inc (Nasdaq:BARE) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Stoneridge Inc (Nasdaq:SRI), CDI Corp (Nasdaq:CDI), Deluxe Corp (Nasdaq:DLX), Newport Corp (Nasdaq:NEWP), Arch Chemicals Inc (Nasdaq:ARJ) and RehabCare Group, Inc (Nasdaq:RquotesHB).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Small-cap stocks mounted a valiant comeback push after sinking 1% shortly after the opening, as tech stocks pushed higher, Chicago PMI beat the forecast and merger deals helped offset gloom tied to terrible weekly unemployment claims. At 10:00 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 3.25, or 0.45%, at 715.62. The tech-laden Nasdaq 100 was up 0.3%.

The weekly claims number came in at 448,000, far beyond the median forecast of 395,000, and a big jump from last week’s 404,000 number. How bad was this number? It was the single largest weekly claims figure in more than five years. Even though this survey was taken after the numbers were collected for Friday’s monthly employment release, it certainly won’t raise investor confidence about the labor market ahead of that release. It also will call into question some of the rise powered by Wednesday’s ADP employment report. The claims numbers were boosted by an emergency unemployment program, but even allowing for some data quirks, it’s a sobering report that does not paint a rosy picture of the labor market right now.

Most people came in to today’s session expecting the GDP report to claim top billing on the data slate, but economic growth was clearly upstaged by the weekly unemployment report. As for GDP, it was also a disappointment, as the headline figure came in at 1.9%, below the forecast of 2.0%. In addition, fourth quarter GDP was revised downward to minus 0.2%, the first decline in quarterly GDP since 2001.

Before the numbers came out, the stock market was higher in overnight trading, but the claims report sparked an abrupt 11-handle slide in S&P 500 futures, and triggered a big slide in the U.S. dollar and in Treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note was down more than 2% into the stock market open, which suggested money flow away from equities toward safe-haven products. The dollar was down more than 100 basis points against the euro, slipping 0.7% after the . . .