Tag - Dla

After spiking into the green out of the gate, small caps have since plunged and are flickering in and out of the green and red midday after waning global economic growth weighed on oil, pushing the dollar and larger-cap equities higher.

At 12:30 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) slipped 3.46, or 0.46%, to 750.91, while the Dow had gained 18.73, or 0.16, to 11634.66.

Crude has touched a low on today’s session, selling off $3 a barrel to roughly $111 midday and posting a three month low, after OPEC forecasted that global demand for energy continue to falter.

Higher oil prices have pushed input costs for all companies higher and have weighed on operations. A decline in global growth would mean a reduced thirst for oil, which would push down the escalating raw material costs for most firms. However, that slower growth means less demand for final products. So it’s a double edged sword keeping equities in check.

“The global economic race to the bottom appears to be over as the U.S. has hit bottom and the rest of the world is still falling,” Andy Busch wrote in an email today.

The potential slowing global growth’s effect on oil sent the dollar surging to $1.4686 against the euro and 110.47 against the yen midday. The surge in the dollar as of late all started with the European Central Bank’s dovish comments last Thursday followed by reported negative GDP growth in the euro zone.

Delta Apparel Inc. (Nasdaq:DLA), Champion Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:CHB) and Staar Surgical Co. (Nasdaq:STAA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.    

Also included among the results: Lithia Motors Inc. (Nasdaq:LAD), QCR Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:QCRH), Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), Deltek Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), Oplink Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:OPLK) and Ricks Cabaret International Inc. (Nasdaq:RICK).        

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:     

Delta Apparel, Inc. (AMEX:DLA), FirstFed Financial Corp. (NYSE:FED) and Riviera Holdings Corp. (AMEX:RIV) were among the new 52-week lows established during Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations or values under $750 million.

PFF Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:PFB), TierOne Corp. (Nasdaq:TONE) and PennantPark Investment Corp. (Nasdaq:PNNT) were also among the 52-week small-cap lows.

Here are today's 52-week small-cap lows:

Delta Apparel, Inc. (AMEX:DLA), Broadway Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:BYFC) and Power Medical Interventions, Inc. (Nasdaq:PMII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Intervoice, Inc. (Nasdaq:INTV), Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA) and Riviera Holdings Corp. (AMEX:RIV) are also among the top small-cap percentage losers.

Here are Friday's biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Shares of Delta Apparel, Inc. (AMEX:DLA) are plummeting this morning after the marketer of activewear apparel after Thursday’s close lowered its fiscal third-quarter guidance below the consensus on Wall Street and said that it expects to clock a loss in the quarter due to restructuring charges associated with the company’s textile reconstruction plan as well as its inability to achieve previously forecasted sales targets due to languishing consumer demand for apparel. High energy, transportation and raw material costs also contributed.

Shares swooned 18%, or $1.26, to $5.75 at 10:31 a.m. ET. For detailed price information and recent news stories about Delta Apparel, click DLA. 

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) bounced around but eventually posted a modest gain following news of strong U.S. job growth in October. The small-cap index added 2.60 points, or 0.33%, to 797.78. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) gained 27.23 points, or 0.20%, to 13,595.10.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has increased 1.32%, while the Dow has added 8.98% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.57%.

Labor markets are tight and job growth is stronger than expected, the U.S. Labor Department reported this morning. Non-farm payrolls increased 166,000 in October, more than double the projected rise of 80,000. That’s a sign that the U.S. economy will most likely avoid recession. Payrolls increased a downwardly adjusted increase of 96,000 in September.

The unemployment rate stayed at 4.7%.

“The October employment report showed unexpected strength in the labor market, but largely on account of services,” said Arun Raha, vice president of Economic Research and Consulting for the North American operations of reinsurance company Swiss Re, in an email. “However, the overall economy remains tentative given the weakness in the housing market and high energy prices.”

The jobs report also showed that average hourly earnings increased $0.03, or 0.2%, to $17.58 during October. That’s 3.8% above the level a year ago, suggesting that the tight labor market is not pushing up inflation.

Stocks opened with solid gains, but the bullish mood was short-lived as investors turned their attention to an article in The Wall Street Journal that claimed that Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MER) has made deals with hedge funds to postpone when it records losses due to bets made on securities backed by subprime mortgages. The New York-based financial services giant may have to write down $10 billion in losses, according to the article.

Delta Apparel, Inc. (AMEX: DLA) shares are dipping after the clothing maker reported it swung to a first-quarter loss, due to acquisition costs, lower sales and price increases in raw materials and energy.

“While we remain encouraged with the future opportunities for each of our operating units, we recognize that the weak overall demand for apparel, significant raw material and energy price increases, and production constraints and start-up costs associated with our textile restructuring create risk to our overall profitability in the near future,” CEO Robert Humphreys said in a statement. “Therefore, we are adjusting our fiscal year financial estimates downward accordingly.”

For the second quarter, Delta Apparel anticipates sales in the range of $64 million to $68 million, compared with analyst estimates of $71.5 million. Delta expects a loss of between $0.33 and $0.37 per share, compared with Wall Street projections of earning $0.05 per share and $0.07 per share a year earlier.

For fiscal year, the firm expects net sales in the range of $325 million to $340 million, compared with analyst estimates of $341.5 million. The company anticipates full-year earnings to be in the range of $0.62 to $0.76 per share, compared with Wall Street estimates of $1.48 per share.

“While we are cautious about consumer demand for apparel in the short run, we believe all of our business units are moving forward in a positive direction,” Humphreys said. “These trends should help us position ourselves to take advantage of better market conditions as they unfold. We remain focused on completing our textile restructuring. We expect the excess expense associated with these initiatives will be substantially behind us by the end of our third fiscal quarter.”

Delta also said it will stop paying its quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share in order to improve its financial condition.

In midday trading, DLA shares are down 15.84%, or $2.59, at $13.76. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $13.75 to $19.99.