Tag - Iesc

Synaptics Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNA), Alternative Asset Management Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:AMV) and Tortoise Capital Resources Corp. (Nasdaq:TTO) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: CEC Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:CEC), Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:ELRN), NetSuite Inc. (Nasdaq:N), DXP Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:DXPE), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC) and ChinaCast Education Corp. (Nasdaq:CAST).

Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Arbitron Inc. (Nasdaq:ARB) and Superior Well Services Inc. (Nasdaq:SWSI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Matrixx Initiatives (Nasdaq:MTXX), Black Box Corp. (Nasdaq:BBOX), Tecumseh Products Co. (Nasdaq:TECUA), Monarch Casino & Resort Inc. (Nasdaq:MCRI), Female Health Co. (Nasdaq:FHCO) and Landrys Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq:LNY).

Biocryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:BCRX), Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:DDE) and Hi Shear Technology Corp. (Nasdaq:HSR) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: US Global Investors Inc. (Nasdaq:GROW), Targacept  (Nasdaq:TRGT), Meta Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CASH), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Greenbrier Companies Inc. (Nasdaq:GBX) and Horsehead Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:ZINC).

Steak n Shake Company (Nasdaq:SNS), Colony Bankcorp Inc (Nasdaq:CBAN) and BPZ Resources Inc (Nasdaq:BPZ) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: MSC Software Corp (Nasdaq:MSCS), Old Second Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:OSBC), First Clover Leaf Financial Corp (Nasdaq:FCLF), Integrated Electrical Services Inc (Nasdaq:IESC), Key Technology Inc (Nasdaq:KTEC) and O'Charley's Inc (Nasdaq:CHUX).

First Advantage Corp. (Nasdaq:FADV), Fuqi International Inc. (Nasdaq:FUQI) and PMC Commercial Trust (Nasdaq:PCC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Investors Title Co. (Nasdaq:ITIC), Starlims Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:LIMS), Sharps Compliance Corp. (Nasdaq:SMED), Lannett Co Inc. (Nasdaq:LCI), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC) and Flexsteel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:FLXS).

Investors saw lots of red in today’s trading session as regional manufacturing data suggested that economy is not picking up as much as had been hoped. Most economists had expected gains in the New York Fed’s manufacturing index but were instead treated to numbers indicating that the factory sector shrank at a more severe rate than expected.

A stronger U.S. dollar pulled oil below $70 away from its eight month high.

As of press time, 3:30 P.M. Eastern, the Dow was down -194.75 to 8,604.50; the Nasdaq was down -46.29 to 1,812.51, and the S&P 500 was down -23.25 at 922.96.

The Russell 2000 Index, comprised of the top 2,000 small-cap stocks, was down 16.77 at 510.06.

Bucking the downward trend today was pharma and financials. Two of the top percentage gainers were JazzPharma (Nasdaq:JAZZ) up 69.7% on positive news about it fibromyalgia drug and MAP Pharma (Nasdaq:MAPP) up 11.89%. MAPP has been on a tear since late May when it shot up to $11.39 from $3.15.

Other small-caps showing leadership today include QEP (Nasdaq:QEPC) up 39.07%, Tongxin Intl (Nasdaq:TXICU) up 24.75%, and two financials, American Capital (Nasdaq:ACAS) up 14.67% and New Century Bancorp (Nasdaq:NCBC) up 14.83%.

Small-cap decliners were lead by Oil-Dri Corp. of America (NYSE:ODC) down 23.24% following Friday’s news that it will lose its largest customer in the cat litter retail segment. Other leading decliners include Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE:VM) down 16.98%, book retailer Borders Group (NYSE:BGP) down 13.16%, and Integrated Electrical Services (Nasdaq:IESC) down 17.64%.

*****Summer doesn’t officially start for a few more days. Tell that to the parents who are now getting their kids off to camp or getting ready for vacation. For the standard two-income household, living easy in summertime is just a memory.

Including today, we have just 12 more trading days until the end of June and the end of the second quarter. I suspect we will have seen the highs for stock prices by then. That is, if we haven’t seen them already.

Oil backed off recent highs on Friday. And that’s likely to continue. Oil was too cheap at $33 a barrel. But $73 is too high, at least for now while much of the developed world is still mired in an economic downturn. We know demand is still weak. And we know there are looming supply issues when demand picks back up. However, the issue right now is the economy.

*****Oil has been rallying as the news cycle has been relentlessly optimistic about an imminent economic recovery. In fact, many leading economists expect U.S. GDP to actually grow in the third quarter.

Oil stocks that we’ve been following have been on a tear the market bottom, including Graham Corp. (AMEX:GHM) up 81%; Brigham Exploration (Nasdaq:BEXP) up 239%; Gulfport Energy Corp. (Nasdaq:GPOR) up 326%. Even the majors like ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), BP (NYSE:BP), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are bringing investors some decent returns, though not as great as small-cap stocks in the same sector.

Investors have bought the rumor of economic recovery. We’ll see how they respond to the news. I’ll be watching oil as the leading indicator for economic expectations.

Right now, it seems like stock prices have priced in a modest recovery. And if investors perceive that there’s not much upside left for stock prices, it would makes sense to trim exposure, take profits, or however you want to put it.

*****We’ve seen anecdotal evidence that investors are moving funds out of the stocks that have led the market higher. Technology has been having trouble making headway. And we’ve seen strength in healthcare and consumer staple stocks. Plus, the Volatility Index (VIX), which measures the cost of put options (which rise in value as stocks or indices fall, thereby giving investors downside protection) has been on the rise.

This suggests that investors are preparing for a downside move for stock prices, or, at the very least, protecting gains they have made.

*****On Mondays, I’m going to start offering a look at the economic data coming out during the week ahead. This week is a bit unusual as all the economic data is out on Tuesday. Tomorrow we get Housing Starts, Building Permits and the Producer Price Index (PPI).

Of course, consumers will focus on the housing numbers. But I’d expect any numbers will be interpreted with optimism. Investors seem to understand that the bottoming process for the housing market will be volatile and that wild swings in the data should be expected.

In my opinion, the PPI is the one to watch. The U.S. dollar rallied a bit last week, but there’s no doubt that massive Treasury bond sales have investors worried about a weaker dollar the potential for inflation to pick up. Add to that improving retail sales numbers, helped by higher gasoline prices, and you have the potential for a higher-than-expected PPI reading. Needless to say, that would not be good for stocks.

I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Ian Wyatt

P.S. You’ll recall from Friday’s issue we start sharing charting analysis from TradeMaster’s technical analyst, Jason Cimpl. If you didn’t have a chance to catch, here’s the link. You’ll get his take on this week’s market direction. Since this is a new feature for Daily Profit I’d greatly appreciate receiving any feedback from you on it.

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

		Price at	Change	% Change	Volume	Year High	Year Low
CXW	CALIFORNIA FIRST NTNL BANCOR	11.00	-4.02	-26.8%	12,078.6k	29.40	11.86
IESC	FIRST CALIFORNIA FINANCIAL G	8.03	-2.37	-22.8%	25.7k	22.32	3.94
PL	WILLIAMS CTLS INC	7.20	-2.12	-22.7%	2,213.5k	44.38	5.63
ZOLT	FIRST FINL SVC CORP	6.81	-1.84	-21.3%	1,010.5k	33.63	4.29
GET	ISRAMCO INC	9.14	-2.37	-20.6%	1,672.1k	36.27	5.27
ZION	RADWARE LTD	11.95	-2.89	-19.5%	10,010.7k	54.90	11.81
SB	ENCORE WIRE CORP	5.80	-1.39	-19.3%	368.6k	19.75	2.98
LDSH	FIBERNET TELECOM GRP INC	10.30	-2.30	-18.3%	745.2k	39.38	10.85

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rose higher at closing, outpacing many large-cap indices that slumped on weak financial and energy stocks. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Integrated Electrical Services (Nasdaq:IESC), Blyth (NYSE:BTH) and Volt Information (NYSE:VOL).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The personal income data came in at minus 0.2%, which was slightly below the forecast for a decline of 0.3%.
• For the year, personal income was up 3.7%, which marked the smallest rise since 2003. 
• The ISM Manufacturing Survey came in at 35.6, which was a little better than the projection of 33, but still historically low.
• For the year, the Russell is down 9.9%, while the Dow is off 9.5% and the S&P 500 is down 8.6%.
• The tech-laden Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.3% on the day, with semiconductor stocks, systems software manufacturers and telecoms leading the way.
• It was interesting to see small caps diverge away from energy stocks today, as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund fell 1.6%.
• More often than not, small caps tend to track energy trends fairly closely, partly because of all the small-cap energy firms in play.
• The U.S. dollar started out the day higher against the euro, but gave back those gains by the close. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Integrated Electrical Services Inc. jumped 26% ahead of earnings news slated to come after Monday’s close. See (Nasdaq:IESC).
• Blyth Inc. staged an impressive bullish key reversal by making new lows for the move then storming higher on unusually brisk volume. The home fragrance . . .

Small-cap stocks closed higher, navigating through a cross-current of worry about profits and the recession versus bargains in the technology arena. Slumping energy stocks and weak financials kept the Dow and S&P 500 on the defensive today, but the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rose 6.09, or 1.37%, at 449.61. For the year, the Russell is down 9.9%, while the Dow is off 9.5% and the S&P 500 is down 8.6%.

The tech-laden Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.3% on the day, with semiconductor stocks, systems software manufacturers and telecoms leading the way. Whenever the tech stocks markedly pace a move in equities, it always stirs talk that those firms will be better positioned to shoot higher when the economy recovers. From a market observation perspective, it would be healthy here to see small caps start to lead the way up on rallies versus the Dow, because it would suggest that investors are willing to take on more risk and not simply parking money in the big-name big-cap defensive stocks. Small caps led the way up during the bull market from 2002 to 2007, and they have been battered relative to large caps so far in 2009, which doesn’t help the bottoming argument.

This morning’s ISM Manufacturing Survey showed a smaller-than-expected pullback in the manufacturing sector, but the number was still consistent with a deep recession. The stock market bounced off the morning lows on the number, but it was still difficult to embrace the ISM report as a harbinger of better times to come. Ahead of the ISM report earlier today, the personal income release reflected a severe pullback in spending, which isn’t a surprise, but which always is a concern to the U.S. economy, which is so dependent on consumer spending for growth. Looking ahead to Tuesday’s session, the market will get vehicle sales, but no other fresh economic data of note.

It was interesting to see small caps diverge away from energy stocks today, as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund fell 1.6%. More often than not, small caps tend to track energy trends fairly closely, partly because of all the small-cap energy firms in play, and also because energy prices often set the tone for commodities, which also are well represented in small-cap indices. From an energy perspective, . . .

Blyth Inc. (Nasdaq:BTH), Volt Information Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:VOL) and Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX), Omega Flex Inc. (Nasdaq:OFLX), First Advantage Corp. (Nasdaq:FADV) and Lincoln Educational Services Corp. (Nasdaq:LINC).

Today the market was oversold on short-term momentum studies entering the session after suffering the worst inauguration day collapse . . .

Small-cap stocks took flight today, notching the biggest one-day gain of 2009, just one day after sinking to the worst performance of the New Year. The topsy-turvy world of equity market investing set aside the gloom from Tuesday’s slide amid strong earnings from technology bellwether IBM, and money flow benefited stocks as Treasury markets tumbled. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) soared 23.12, or 5.33%, to 456.76; for the year, small caps are still down 8.5%, on target for the worst January showing in more than 15 years. Meanwhile, the Dow is down 6.2% for the year and the S&P 500 is off 7%.

The fact that small caps led the way on the rally today is a positive sign amid plenty of gloom for the marketplace. Investors will have to become more comfortable embracing risk for the market to truly rally off these bear market lows, and putting their faith in small caps would be an interesting development — but as you can see by the yearly return, that leap of faith hasn’t been made yet.

The market was oversold on short-term momentum studies entering the session after suffering the worst inauguration day collapse in history. An upbeat profit reading from International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) set the stage for a bounce back rally today, but the market still needs to extend the move to suggest that the inauguration day slide was the anomaly and not today’s recovery.

The market has been buffeted with poor profit reports for months and a . . .

Small-cap stocks remained solidly higher into mid-session activity, with industrial, commodity and energy stocks paving the way higher after President-elect Obama announced plans for a massive infrastructure project over the weekend. Some of today's small-cap gainers included Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), TBS International Ltd. (Nasdaq:TBSI) and James River Coal Co. (Nasdaq:JRCC).

Other Market Watch highlights included:

• Commodities in general were in favor today, with crude oil prices climbing 7%, while energy stocks were up more than 4%.  
• On the downside, personal products firms, hypermarkets, food distributors, retail drug companies and restaurants were the primary losing sectors.  
• The best performers so far today have been industrial REITs, metal and mining stocks, automobile manufacturers, aluminum firms and steel companies.
• Small-cap stocks remained solidly higher into mid-session activity, with industrial, commodity and energy stocks paving the way higher.  
• A big part of the early rise in stocks was tied to news this weekend that Obama was planning a massive infrastructure stimulus project.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• Integrated Electrical Services Inc. jumped 34% presumably riding the wave of industrial and energy-related services companies higher. See (Nasdaq:IESC).  
• TBS International Ltd. jumped 30% as the ocean transportation services company got an earnings-related lift. See (Nasdaq:TBSI).  
• James River Coal Co. rallied 26%, receiving a lift with other beaten-down commodity names. See (Nasdaq:JRCC).
• Cemex rallies as Deutsche Bank says it may gain from U.S. plan. See (NYSE:CX).

Small Cap Losers:

• The Talbots announces CFO retires, hires a new COO. Shares fall over 12%. See (NYSE:TLB).  
• Radian Group dips 10% on lower-than-average volume. See (NYSE:RDN).
• Blyth cuts earnings outlook, down 4% in light after-hours trade. See (NYSE:BTH).  
• Allos Therapeutics slumping 21% in pre-market, reports Propel trial results. See (Nasdaq:ALTH).