Tag - Fhn

Small-cap stocks collapsed Tuesday as investors worried that a new plan to rescue a teetering banking system might be “too little, too late” to stave off a deepening recession or unclog credit lines. Even a one-two punch of a new bank plan coupled with Senate approval for a massive $838 billion stimulus bill wasn’t enough to bring cheer to worried investors. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 22.17, or 4.74%, at 445.77, giving back most of last week’s hard-fought gain in breakneck fashion, while generating the second-largest one-day decline of 2009. For the year, the Russell is now off 10.7%, while the Dow is down 10.1% and the S&P 500 8.4%.

Going into today’s trading the market was clearly focused on a bevy of events coming out of Washington, including the Treasury Department’s official unveiling of the bank rescue project; the Senate vote on the stimulus package and testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the House Financial Services Committee. Apparently, it was three strikes and the market was out for today’s big events, but clearly the dominant force was the initial selling wave triggered after the bank plan was formally announced by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Was it simply a case of “buy-the-rumor, sell-the-fact” selling from investors who had previously bid up bank stocks ahead of the news, or was there a deep-seated disappointment about the plan? “I think there was a little of both, but the biggest thing is that investors are worried that the current problems are just too big to fix quickly by having taxpayers absorb the risk from banks on their toxic holdings,” one veteran trader told smallcapinvestor.com.

As for the Senate’s long-awaited okay on the stimulus program there will still be a process in which the Senate’s bill and a House version signed two weeks ago will be meshed out together before a final bill is presented to President Obama to be signed into law. For the most part, investors have viewed the stimulus package as more of a long-term recovery tool than an immediate panacea for the economy . . .

Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, as hopes for a recovery in bank stocks appeared to be fleeting, which added to investor unease about the timing of a recovery out of the recession and about the prolonged credit crunch. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Terra Industries (NYSE:TRA), First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and JBT Corporation (NYSE:JBT).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Sectors doing well today including power companies, oil refiners, gas utilities, vintners, utility companies, health care equipment providers and food retail stocks.  
• On the slide are diversified banks, diverse financial services firms, regional banks, investment banks and consumer finance companies.  
• Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, as hopes for a recovery in bank stocks appeared to be fleeting.  
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was up 8% early on, climbing back to 2.37% after slipping below 2.2% Thursday.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Terra Industries up 19% on takeover bid. See (NYSE:TRA).  
• First Horizon shares jump 18% on narrower 4Q loss. See (NYSE:FHN).  
• JBT Corporation wins $6.9 million gate equipment order for major U.S. airport; shares rise 12%. See (NYSE:JBT).  
• Exterran Partners LP rose 12%, leaving a little double bottom on daily charts with Thursday’s low. See (Nasdaq:EXLP). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Life sciences company Cambrex Corporation down 18% on lower-than-average volume. See (NYSE:CBM).
• Spartech Corporation down over 17% after being downgraded to "underweight" earlier this week. See (NYSE:SEH).  
• Inter Parfums Inc. was off 14% as the cosmetics maker was caught in a broad-based sell-off of beauty and cosmetics providers. See (Nasdaq:IPAR).
• Exide Technologies tumbled 21% as the battery maker gave back a huge chunk of a nice rally that coincided closely with the overall market bottom back on Nov. 20. See (Nasdaq:XIDE).

Small-cap stocks remain in the green during afternoon trading, snapping back today after the largest sell-off the market had seen in years on Monday.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 2.13%, while the Dow has increased 3.68%% and the S&P 500 is up nearly 5%.

Legislators hope to pass a revised version later this week of the $700 billion bailout plan that was rejected by Congress on Monday. After the bill was voted down, small-cap stocks posted their largest one-day decline of 2008 and closed down near 7%, as fears of a global financial pandemic triggered waves of selling on the news.

Within the small-cap realm, First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN) gained nearly one quarter of its value this morning after two analysts upgraded its stock and the company confirmed prior expectations for third-quarter results. FHN is currently up 32.7%.

Communications networking equipment manufacturer Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq:CIEN) is up 4.36% in afternoon trading on the news that optical fiber network provider American Fiber Systems has signed on for Ciena’s services.

First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE:FHN) gained nearly one quarter of its value this morning after two analysts upgraded its stock and the company confirmed prior expectations for third-quarter results.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based financial services provider said in a statement issued after the bell this morning that while the banking landscape has changed dramatically in recent weeks, its capital position remains strong, its liquidity profile is improving and its core businesses  remain solid.

Meanwhile, Stern Agee upgraded the stock to “buy” from “hold” and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral.”

By mid-morning, First Horizon is at $9, up $1.75 from Monday’s close. The stock has traded as low as $4.39 and as high as $27.72 in the past year.

For detailed price information and news stories on First Horizon National Corp., click FHN.

Maguire Properties Inc (Nasdaq:MPG), First Horizon National Corp (Nasdaq:FHN) and United Security Bancshares (AL) (Nasdaq:USBI) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Superior Bancorp (Nasdaq:SUPR), Anaren Inc (Nasdaq:ANEN), AMERICAN RIVER Bankshares (Nasdaq:AMRB), ATMI Inc (Nasdaq:ATMI), Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc (Nasdaq:SHO) and CoBiz Financial Inc (Nasdaq:COBZ).

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

First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE:FHN) is down more than 24% today to hit a new low for the year. The Memphis-based bank holding company is among many financial stocks down on jitters in the mortgage and financing industry, largely due to concerns on mortgage insuring giants Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). First Horizon is down more than 71% since January and fell to a low for the year at $4.52 shortly after today’s open. The stock has rebounded some to reach $5.09 at 12:50 p.m. ET, down $1.61 from Friday’s close. Volume is double the average at more than 12 million shares.

First Horizon National Corp (Nasdaq:FHN), ATMI Inc (Nasdaq:ATMI) and Endwave Corp (Nasdaq:ENWV) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: American Independence Corp (Nasdaq:AMIC), Maguire Properties Inc (Nasdaq:MPG), FCStone Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCSX), Anaren Inc (Nasdaq:ANEN), Pyramid Oil Co (Nasdaq:PDO) and DineEquity Inc (Nasdaq:DIN).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps: