Tag - Gnet

Small-cap stocks edged slightly lower early today, pulled down by sloppy corporate profit results and mild concern that the roll out of the bank bail out plan was pushed back this week. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq:HBAN), Albany Molecular Research (Nasdaq:AMRI) and Volcano Corp.  (Nasdaq:VOLC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The U.S. dollar was off about 0.9% against the euro this morning, providing a lift to commodities that are priced in dollar terms.   
• Crude oil futures climbed about $1 a barrel into the stock market open, providing a lift to energy and commodity stocks early.  
• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to have a press conference on the bank plan Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. ET.
• The official excuse for the bank rescue delay was that the Administration wanted to focus attention on the stimulus plan vote.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Huntington Bancshares rises 22% as many regional banks saw a rise today. See (Nasdaq:HBAN).  
• Albany Molecular Research turns around to profit in Q4; shares rise over 13%. See (Nasdaq:AMRI).  
• Volcano Corp. rose 7% as the market of heart products gapped higher without any apparent fresh news behind the move. See (Nasdaq:VOLC).

Small Cap Losers:

• Insight Enterprises Inc. tumbled nearly 16% as the IT firm announced preliminary quarterly results. See (Nasdaq:NSIT).  
• Global Traffic Network Inc. was off 10% as the traffic report specialist took a hit after releasing profit numbers for the quarter. See (Nasdaq:GNET). 
• AMERISAFE Inc. gapped lower and lost 10% as the workers’ comp firm said they would conduct a governance review. See (Nasdaq:AMSF).

Small-cap stocks edged slightly lower early today, pulled down by sloppy corporate profit results and mild concern that the roll out of the bank bail out plan was pushed back this week. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.18, or 0.89%, at 466.52.

There was some thought that the market needed a little “breather” session after Friday’s solid gains that flew in the face of a bad employment report. With no fresh news yet on the bank or stimulus plans, it was tempting for short-term players to pocket profits off last week’s rise, which also marked the first weekly gain of 2009 for small caps.

Interestingly, bank stocks were holding in okay to start the session — especially regional banks — so any angst tied to the delay in the bank rescue seemed to be manifested in other arenas. Although bank stocks were on decent footing to start the day, financial stocks in general were still simply treading water, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund up just 0.3% on the open.

The official excuse for the bank rescue delay was that the Administration wanted to focus attention on the stimulus plan vote, which could take place today after more debate in the Senate. Among market watchers, it appears that the bank rescue plan is actually more keenly awaited, tied to a sense that it could have a more immediate impact on companies versus the time it will take a stimulus plan to ripple through the economy. For now, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to have a press conference on the bank plan Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Crude oil futures climbed about $1 a barrel into the stock market open, providing a lift to energy and commodity stocks early. Shortly after the open, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was up 0.6%. Crude oil prices were lifted by talk of further production cuts out of OPEC.

The U.S. dollar was off about 0.9% against the euro this morning, providing a lift to commodities that are priced in dollar terms (such as crude oil). Looking at early sector trends, commodity themes were finding support, with coal, oil refiners . . .

CV Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:CVTX), Parexel International Corporation (Nasdaq:PRXL) and Sun Healthcare Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNH) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: TranS1 Inc. (Nasdaq:TSON), Carpenter Technology Corp. (Nasdaq:CRS), Global Traffic Network Inc. (Nasdaq:GNET), Federal Mogul Corp. (Nasdaq:FDML), Pulaski Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:PULB) and MDS Inc. (Nasdaq:MDZ).

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:AXL), Independent Bank Corp (Michigan) (Nasdaq:IBCP) and Bancorp Bank (Nasdaq:TBBK) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Sciele Pharma Inc (Nasdaq:SCRX), Advanta Corp(Nasdaq:ADVNB), SI Financial Group Inc (Nasdaq:SIFI), Consolidated Graphics Inc (Nasdaq:CGX), Chimera Investment Corp (Nasdaq:CIM) and Global Traffic Network Inc (Nasdaq:GNET).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:IDRA), Global Traffic Network, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNET) and Versant Corp. (Nasdaq:VSNT) were among the new 52-week highs established during Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations or values under $750 million.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX:HA) and Shore Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:SHBK) were also among the 52-week small-cap highs.

Here are Tuesday's 52-week small-cap highs:

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (AMEX:HA), Quaker Chemical Corp. (NYSE:KWR) and Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:CWEI) were among the new 52-week highs established during Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations or values under $750 million. 

Global Traffic Network, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNET), Bentley Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:BNT) and Aehr Test Systems (Nasdaq:AEHR) were also among the 52-week small-cap highs.

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

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCRX), Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq: IMMR) and DayStar Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: DSTI) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:

Atlantic City, N.J.-based Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRMP) said negotiations with potential buyers have terminated with no acquirer in sight.

Marketing software maker Unica Corp. (Nasdaq: UNCA) dismissed its auditor Ernst and Young LLP and was subsequently downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” by Ferris Baker Watts. The Waltham, Mass.-based company provided no reason for dismissing its auditor.

These are the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:

These are the biggest percentage gainers among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million: