Tag - Hpy

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rallied nearly 5% today after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession may end in 2009. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Hifn, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIFN), Rambus (Nasdaq:RMBS) and United Natural Foods (Nasdaq:UNFI).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The Consumer Confidence Index plunged more than 12 points in February to 25, from 37.4 last month, and far below the predicted 35.5 level.
• The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released horrid data today showing a plung of more than 18% during the quarter from the prior-year period. This is the largest drop in its 21-year history.
• The Federal Housing Finance Agency also said today that home prices dropped more than 8 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, its largest annual decline on record since 1991.
• Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke to Congress, pledged to use all available tools to lift the country out of the recession.
• Bernanke said the U.S. economy will probably keep shrinking in the first six months of the 2009, but is hopeful that the recession will end this year. 
• The Russell 2000 closed up 17.90, or 4.54%, to 412.48.
• The Dow rose more than 230 points, or 3.3%, to 7,350.94; S&P 500 closed about 4% to 773.14.
• For the year, the Russell is now down 17.41%, while the Dow has is down 16.24% and the S&P 500 is down 14.4%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Exar Corporation signs definitive agreement to acquire Hifn, Inc. Shares of HIFN rocket 62% at closing. See (Nasdaq:HIFN).
• High Court denies FTC antitrust review of Rambus, sending shares 40% higher. See (Nasdaq:RMBS).
• United Natural Foods climbed 20% after posting higher Q2 earnings, updating FY09 forecast. See (Nasdaq:UNFI).

Small Cap Losers:

• Heartland Payment Systems guided below estimates, shares tumbled 30%. See (NYSE:HPY).
• RadioShack fell 24% today after seeing a 39% Q4 net drop on falling margins, sales. See (NYSE:RSH).
• Apparel small-cap Hanesbrands was down 7% after announcing it will review its long-term growth strategies, capital structure and the 2009 business environment. See (NYSE:HBI).

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) continued to alternate between up and down days, with today being a designated “down” day to the tune of -3.05%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Interwoven, Inc. (Nasdaq:IWOV), Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) and Columbus McKinnon (Nasdaq:CMCO).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Housing starts came in at the worst reading in history, sinking 15.5% in December to a unit rate of 550,000.
• The weekly claims report came in at 589,000 which was above the forecast of 553,000.
• The 4-week moving average for claims was at 519,250, up from 518,000 the previous week; the number of people filing for continuing claims was at 4.6M, up from 4.51M the previous week.
• The MBA Mortgage Application Index fell 9.8% this week, but it is still up 21.8% over year-ago levels. 
• Crude oil prices tumbled into the stock market opening, clearly rattled by the weak economic data and sloppy profit report from Microsoft.
• Losses in small caps were much deeper than for the big names, which reflects a “big is safer” mentality in play right now for investors. 
• Financial and energy shares were the primary sources of weakness today for stocks, while defensive plays like drug stocks lagged the overall market decline.
• Energy shares fell about 2.7% on the day, while the roller coaster world of bank stocks was down 5.9%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Autonomy Corporation announced an agreement to acquire Interwoven, Inc.; IWOV shares closed 33% higher. See (Nasdaq:IWOV).
• Brinker International Inc. soared 32% after topping the profit forecast . . .

Small-cap stocks continued to alternate up and down days, with today being a designated “down” day for the market. Selling interest was stoked by terrible results for technology maven Microsoft and by a batch of fresh economic data that suggested the recession is still clouding the outlook. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 13.92, or 3.05%, at 442.85, and is now down 11.3% for the year. Meanwhile, the Dow is off 7.4% for the year while the S&P 500 is down 8.3%. Losses in small caps were much deeper than for the big-name companies, which reflects a “big is safer” mentality in play right now for investors.

The market appeared in decent shape ahead of the opening today, with surprisingly stout profit numbers from Apple ramping up enthusiasm on the technology side of things. What’s more, the market was coming off the best one-day performance of the New Year, showing a nice ability to shrug off the worst daily performance on Tuesday. However, the market has been unable to sink its teeth into a dominant trend, and once again alternated a winning day with a losing battle.

In a way, the lack of trend conviction for the overall market mirrors an elongated trading range pattern that has been in place ever since the market bottomed back in November. Recent downside probing and the relative ease with which support has been dispatched is alarming, and opens the door to retest the lows, but it also cements the sideways consolidation consistent with an extended recessionary period.

And it doesn’t exactly help inspire bullish confidence when the profit reports are sketchy and the economic data is bleak. There is a train of thought that says the market can now look past weak data because it’s already priced into things; while the historic evidence might support that theory, it’s easier said than done . . .