Tag - Cas

Castle AM & Co (Nasdaq:CAS), Capital Bank Corp (Nasdaq:CBKN), Hasting Entertainment Inc (Nasdaq:HAST) and Sonic Automatic Inc (Nasdaq:SAH) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Nara Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:NARA), Vasci Data Security International Inc (Nasdaq:VDSI), PMI Group Inc (Nasdaq:PMI), IPC The Hospitalist Co Inc (Nasdaq:IPCM) and Provident Financial Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:PROV).

THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI), BTU International Inc. (Nasdaq:BTUI) and Washington Banking Co. (Nasdaq:WBCO) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Georgia Gulf Corp. (Nasdaq:GGC), Perry Ellis International Inc. (Nasdaq:PERY), A M Castle & Co. (Nasdaq:CAS), Timberland Co. (Nasdaq:TBL), Spartan Stores Inc. (Nasdaq:SPTN) and Epicor Software Corp. (Nasdaq:EPIC).

Seaspan Corp. (Nasdaq:SSW), A M Castle & Co. (Nasdaq:CAS) and Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (Nasdaq:HSII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Starlims Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:LIMS), Delphi Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:DFG), Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (Nasdaq:FDP), RTI International Metals Inc. (Holding Co) (Nasdaq:RTI), American Greetings Corp. (Nasdaq:AM) and Wright Medical Group Inc. (Nasdaq:WMGI).

Stocks are flying high at midday today on news that Citigroup (NYSE:C) reported it was profitable for the first two months of 2009.

At 1:27 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 19.94, or 5.81%, to 363.20. The Dow is up 4.27% to 6,826.77, and the S&P 500 is up 5.06% to 710.76.

Also helping stocks make large moves today was news that Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the House financial services committee, said he expects the restoration of a rule that makes it harder to bet that a share's price will fall. Investors were encouraged by Frank's comments.

Financial stocks are in rally mode today following statements made by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday that the United States has taken more economic action in recent weeks than most countries have in years to ease strife.

Small caps seeing double-digit gains today include Gaylord Entertainment Company (NYSE:GET), up 33% after a proxy deal, and AM Castle (NYSE:CAS), which topped Q4 views and declared a $0.06 per share dividend, sending shares 42% higher.

Stocks up strong

Once again, early strength for stocks yesterday quickly turned to weakness. There is a battle going on between the bears and the bulls. Despite all time lows for consumer sentiment, there is a growing number of analysts and market strategists who believe a rally is at hand.

We’ve been seeing signs of a rally for a couple weeks now. That’s why . . .

A M Castle & Co. (Nasdaq:CAS), Gaylord Entertainment Co. (Nasdaq:GET) and First United Corp Maryland (Nasdaq:FUNC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: SL Green Rlty REIT (Nasdaq:SLG), Helen of Troy Ltd. (Nasdaq:HELE), Imperial Sugar Co. (Nasdaq:IPSU), Dollar Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:DLLR), M I Homes Inc. (Nasdaq:MHO) and West Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:WTBA).

Allegiant Travel Co. (Nasdaq:ALGT), TranS1 Inc. (Nasdaq:TSON) and Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (Nasdaq:SBCF) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

A.M. Castle & Co. (NYSE:CAS), AuthenTec, Inc. (Nasdaq:AUTH) and Mac-Gray Corp. (NYSE:TUC) are also among the top small-cap percentage gainers.

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

Small-cap stocks opened lower, slightly trimmed losses after the Consumer Confidence report came out at 10:00 a.m. ET, but then retreated right back to pre-release levels. The report showed an upward revision to the March report, which provided a brief bid to the market, but it was not enough to catch hold (at least immediately). At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 1.84, or 0.25%, at 723.53.

The Consumer Confidence report was pegged at 62.3 in April, which was in line with the forecast of 62, but the March number was revised upward to 65.9 versus 64.5. Still, the April figure was the lowest in five years.

Next on line … President Bush is slated to hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. ET, where he is expected to talk about the economy.

The opening action was soft in line with overnight declines on a dip in European shares as Deutsche Bank posted its first quarterly loss in five years, and French tire company Michelin tumbled 9% on sloppy earnings.

Large-cap companies influencing trade this morning included drug company Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK), which was down 7% on news that the FDA rejected a new cholesterol drug. From an overall stock market picture, the news had a somewhat muted impact, because it lifted Merck competitor Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) by 4%. In addition, Visa (NYSE:V) posted decent earnings ahead of the opening, but the financial firm was down 3% in early action.

The S&P 500 stalled approaching the 1,400 level on the latest push upward, and that key figure resistance will be closely watched through the rest of the week’s major economic events. In the Russell 2000, the market yesterday climbed . . .

Shares of A. M. Castle & Co. (NYSE: CAS) are higher on news before the start of trading that the distributor of specialty metals and plastics beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter profit expectations. The Franklin Park, Ill.-based company reported that net income for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007, was $6.7 million, or $0.29 per share, above the projected $0.27 per share.

At 10:57 a.m. ET, the stock was up $2.10, or 11%, to $21.43.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are falling as investors listen to Ben Bernanke.

At 10:36 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had lost 10.31 points, or 1.47%, to 689.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had declined 93.48 points, or 0.75%, to 12,372.68.

Stocks opened in the green but lost ground as investors digested the latest economic news and tuned in to hear U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testify before the House Budget Committee.

Calls for a policy response to prevent the U.S. economy from slipping into recession have been mounting and all eyes are on the Fed chief as he discusses the overall state of the economy. Many observers expect that the Fed will lower the federal funds rate, which currently stands at 4.25%, when it next meets on Jan. 29 and 30.

In economic news, the U.S. Census Bureau reported before the start of trading that housing starts fell 14% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.006 million units, below November’s downwardly revised total of 1.173 million.

An estimated 1,376,100 housing units were authorized 2007, a stunning 25.3% below the 2006 figure of 1,838,900. That’s the worst one-year decline in nearly 30 years.

The situation will not improve soon and the housing sector appears to be headed for a third year of stagnation.

That’s because building permits, a sign of future construction, fell 8.1% to an annual rate of 1.068 million units.

Economists were expecting December housing starts and building permits to post smaller declines.

In more economic news, the U.S Labor Department announced that initial jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 12 decreased 21,000 to 301,000, from the preceding week’s unrevised figure of 322,000.

The 4-week moving average, a more stable measure, fell 11,750 to 328,500, from the preceding week’s downwardly revised average of 340,250.

A.M. Castle & Co. (NYSE: CAS) shares are dipping after the metals and plastics distributor reported its third-quarter sales jumped 16.5% to $350.3 million, below analyst estimates of $364 million and from $300.8 million a year earlier. The firm’s profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to $12.9 million, or $0.57 per share, below Wall Street projections of $0.70 per share and compared with $15.5 million, or $0.82 per share, during the same period of 2006.

“We continue to experience softer demand across our business in general. This trend began during the second half of 2006 and it has continued through 2007 to date," CEO Mike Goldberg said in a statement. “Demand from our aerospace customers has also slowed, which we attribute to a build-up of inventory throughout the whole aerospace supply chain. Even in light of the current slowdown, we believe that our strategy to become the foremost provider of specialty metals and value-added services to targeted industries, including aerospace and energy, has us well-positioned for growth in the longer-term through the economic cycles.”

Goldberg warned that the firm’s fourth quarter is typically the company’s slowest, due to fewer effective shipping days.

“In addition, softer market conditions will likely continue through at least the end of the year,” the chief executive said. “Our focus will continue to be on managing inventory and margins for the balance of 2007 and remaining steadfast on the execution of our long-term strategy.”

The Franklin Park, Ill.-based company’s sales, general and administrative expense during the quarter rose to $34.9 million, from $26.8 million during the prior-year period.

In morning trading, CAS shares are down 10.44%, or $3.27, at $28.06. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $22.72 to $38.10.