Tag - Bw

Small-cap stocks stormed out of the gate with a flourish this morning, as buyers were enamored with yet another rally in overseas markets and happy that a sobering GDP report in the United States wasn’t even worse. Today’s small-cap gainers are LHC Group (Nasdaq:LHCG), Freightcar (Nasdaq:RAIL) and BioMimetic Therapeutics (Nasdaq:BMTI).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Norway also joined in on the rate cut fervor as countries around the world toss cheap money at businesses in a drive to thaw frozen credit lines.  
• Hong Kong shot up some 10% and Taiwan was up 6%, as those countries announced rate cuts following the Fed’s rate cut Thursday.  
• Stock markets around the world were in rally mode overnight, with the world stock index up 2.5%, powered by steep gains in some Asian markets.
• Crude oil futures trimmed overnight gains and were hovering near steady levels on the stock market opening.  
• The energy sector should be a focal point today following Exxon Mobil Corp.’s quarterly earnings figure, which topped the forecast.

Small Cap Gainers:

• LHC Group shares jumped 29% as the home nursing services provider reported a quarterly increase in revenue. See (Nasdaq:LHCG).  
• Freightcar reported robust third-quarter results that crushed analysts’ estimates. Results were owed to cost controls. Shares up 27%. See (Nasdaq:RAIL).  
• BioMimetic Therapeutics reports promising clinical results using injectable bone graft. Shares up over 27%. See (Nasdaq:BMTI).
• Brush Engineered Materials Inc. got an earnings lift this morning, climbing 13%. See (NYSE:BW).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Polypore International beats on Q3 results, guides full year revenues below the Street, EPS straddle consensus. See (NYSE:PPO).  
• Iris International Q3 results miss Street, guides full year below consensus. See (Nasdaq:IRIS).  
• JDS Uniphase Q1 EPS beat Street: $0.11 vs. $0.09. On GAAP basis, narrows loss. (Nasdaq:JDSU).  
• Brocade and Foundry Networks to amend merger terms: Foundry's shareholders to receive $16.50 in cash for each share. See (Nasdaq:FDRY).  

Small-cap stocks stormed out of the gate with a flourish this morning, as buyers were enamored with yet another rally in overseas markets and happy that a sobering GDP report in the United States wasn’t even worse. At 9:51 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 16.79, or 3.42% at 507.67.

The GDP report this morning came in at minus 0.3%, which marked the steepest contraction in seven years and is consistent with recession-style growth readings. Despite that gloomy picture of the economy, it wasn’t as bad as feared, with the forecast pointing for a dip of 0.5% in economic activity. While GDP was on center stage this morning, the weekly claims figures also came out and were slightly above the forecast, coming in at 479,000 versus expectations for 475,000.

“Economic activity contracted mildly in Q3 with large gains in net exports, inventory investment, and government spending being more than offset by significant weakness in consumer spending, residential investment, and business investment,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email. “Economic activity was also dampened in September by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and by the strike at Boeing. However, the full effect of the credit crunch has yet to be felt. While the economy slipped in Q3 it will fall much more sharply in Q4. Our early estimate for Q4 is a decline of 3.5%,” Wood said.

Consumer spending tumbled 3.1% in the third quarter, marking the first decline in 17 years, and the economy has been struggling even more since then, which is a scary proposition heading into the holiday buying season when the U.S. economy is driven heavily by consumer spending.

One has to wonder if some of the strength today also was tied to correcting back some of the late slide from Wednesday’s close, when a story about General Electric’s CEO talking about maintaining profits even if revenues fall 10% to 15% in 2009 appeared to be taken out of context and sparked a panic program trading sell-off in the Dow that also sliced away gains in small caps. There was talk of . . .

Tree.com Inc. (Nasdaq:TREE), Ricks Cabaret International Inc. (Nasdaq:RICK) and LNB Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:LNBB) are among the new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:BW), Transition Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:TTHI), United Refining Energy Units (Nasdaq:URX.U), Miller Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:MLR), MDC Partners Inc. (Nasdaq:MDCA) and Johnson Outdoors Inc. (Nasdaq:JOUT).

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

With a high strength-to-weight ratio, titanium may be the element investors need to up the robustness of their holdings.

Rising demand has caused titanium prices to more than double over the past three years and shares of titanium producers have flourished, especially in the case of Dynamic Materials Corporation (Nasdaq:BOOM) and Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (NYSE:BW). These companies meld titanium with less expensive metals to create so-called clad metals offering titanium’s strength and corrosion-resistance at a more affordable price. 

Once thought exotic, titanium is now frequently sought by engineers in the energy, chemical, industrial and electronics industries because stricter emissions standards have forced industry players to raise processing temperatures and use corrosion-resistant metals in equipment designs. In addition to being corrosion-resistant, titanium is as strong as steel, about 45% lighter and offers superior thermal and conductive qualities. Clad metals also allow manufacturers to maintain delivery schedules when titanium is in short supply since less prime metal is used.

Dynamic Materials is the world’s leading provider of explosion-clad metal plating. This process uses an explosive charge to bond metals that can not be joined by welding. Clad metal plates consist of a thin layer of corrosion-resistant metal (such as titanium) bonded with a thicker, less expensive base metal such as carbon steel. Rising capital investment and equipment demand in the energy, refining, mineral processing . . .

The Russell 2000 (IWM) fell as investors turned their attention to the economy. The small-cap index let go 3.85 points, or 0.55%, to 698.93, its fourth decline in the past five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) lost 64.87 points, or 0.53%, to 12,182.13.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has shed 8.76%, while the Dow has let go 8.16% and the S&P 500 has slashed 9.33%.

There was no major economic news scheduled for today and little on the corporate front and stocks small and large spent the first half of the session trading sideways.

The mood in pre-market trading was slightly bearish following news that an official from the U.S. Federal Reserve said that the economy is headed for a slowdown.

“I consider it most probable that the U.S. economy will experience slow growth, and not outright recession, in coming quarters,” said Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in a speech in Honolulu.

Concerns about the future of the economy are what led the U.S. Congress to approve a $168 billion economic stimulus package that consists of tax rebates and business incentives. President Bush said he would sign the bill next week. Rebate checks will be mailed to households and individuals as early as late May.

Trading was volatile as the Russell 2000 seesawed up and down before falling into the red at about 12 p.m. ET, and slumping to its session low shortly before 2 p.m. ET.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) has dropped into negative territory as stocks large and small continue to move erratically. At 1:10 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had retreated 4.61 points, or 0.66%, to 698.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was down 69.66 points, or 0.57%, to 12,177.34.

Small-cap stocks are seesawing wildly today as there is no major economic or corporate news to give the stock market direction.

But concerns about the state of the U.S. economy are coming to the forefront following news of comments from an official at the U.S. Federal Reserve that the economy is headed for a slowdown.

“I consider it most probable that the U.S. economy will experience slow growth, and not outright recession, in coming quarters,” said Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in a speech in Honolulu.

However, Richard Curtin, director of the Reuters/University of Michigan surveys of consumers, appears to be more pessimistic.

Curtin is quoted as saying today that the economy has entered a recession that will be more prolonged than the typical economic downturn.

The Russell 2000 has been playing with both the bears and the bulls, but at about 12 p.m. ET, it dropped to lows not seen earlier in the session.

Among the biggest losers is Brush Engineered Materials Inc. (Nasdaq: BW), which makes engineered materials for a variety of industries. The Cleveland, Ohio-based company more than halved its fourth-quarter net income due to lower production.

Also dropping are shares of comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), on news that the provider of technology for measuring online activities issued a first-quarter earnings guidance below analysts’ expectations.

Bucking the trend is OYO Geospace Corp. (Nasdaq: OYOG), despite news that the Houston-based maker of scientific instrumentation and equipment used by the global petroleum industry to acquire seismic data reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $3.3 million, or $0.54 per share, down from $7.8 million, or $1.30 per share, reported a year earlier and short of the $0.67 per share expected by Wall Street.