Tag - Jwn

Small-cap stocks extended the morning rout into midday trading, pulled down by renewed worries about the economy following the worst decline in October retail sales on record, which only heightens fears about consumer spending moving into the key holiday season. At 2:16 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.29%, on target for the third-lowest daily close in more than five years and the lowest weekly close since August 2003 despite the dramatic recovery explosion from Thursday.

Energy and technology stocks were among the dominant drags on the market, with the Energy SPDR off nearly 5% and the tech-laden Nasdaq 100 down about 4.5%. Within the tech arena, anything tied to the cell phone business was getting hammered following Nokia’s warning that sales would fall far below expectations in coming months. Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was down 12%, Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) was off 8% and QUALCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq:QCOM), the largest mobile phone chip maker, was down 6%.

Back on the commodities theme, crude oil prices were down about $1.60 a barrel, as worries about global demand persist. Despite the pullback on energy prices, commodities overall were hanging in there today, with the Commodity Research Bureau Index basically flat at mid-session. In general, commodities are way oversold and the U.S. dollar tone is mixed today (up versus euro, down versus yen).

As for retailers, today just isn’t pretty. The S&P Retail Index is down 6% and a host of name-brand companies released earnings today that were either disappointing, or even when solid for the third quarter reflected downward guidance for the coming quarter. Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN) was down 8%, JC Penney Company Inc. (NYSE:JCP) was down 9% and although the pain was intense for apparel oriented retailers, there was plenty of agony to go around; for instance, home improvement retailer . . .

Small-cap stocks opened lower, pressured by bleak retail sales data, soft earnings news, a pullback in energy prices, money flow into credit markets and a “breather” mentality after Thursday afternoon’s humongous recovery rally. At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 5.85, or 1.19%, at 485.39.

Today’s “big event” -- the retail sales report, came in below expectations with a record October drop of 2.8%, far off the projection for a 1.5% decline, but closer to the whisper numbers making the round late this week. Stock index futures were down about 1.5% before the awful retail sales release and they remained down about 1.5% in the 60 minutes following the report, which suggests that other factors were at play. This morning’s Michigan sentiment survey came in at 57.9, which was slightly better than the forecast of 56.5, and which appeared to have little impact on trading.

The pullback this morning could simply be the market taking a break after a stunning bullish reversal off bear market lows Thursday. There is also a chance that traders don’t want to be caught short over the weekend just in case the G-20 comes out with some stunning stimulus package. G-20 leaders started an economic summit today in Washington to discuss the ongoing global financial crisis. And while G-20 leaders are in Washington working on ways to fix the world’s financial problems, central bankers are over in Europe, where the latest news overnight is that the eurozone economy slipped into recession for the first time in 15 years. Bernanke said that bank liquidity measures were generating tentative improvements in credit markets and that central banks remain ready to act if needed. His comments came into the teeth of the retail sales release but seemed to have limited initial market reaction.

Libor rates edged up again overnight for the second consecutive session, which raises some caution flags among investors about the lending mentality around the world. Within the credit spectrum this morning, money seemed to moving into Treasury products, with the yield on benchmark 10-year notes tumbling more than 3%. Since yields move inverse to price the big slide on rates reflects demand for Treasury products. Energy shares were a big positive factor for the market during Thursday’s rally, but were a drag this morning as crude oil prices slipped about $0.70 . . .

In a fitting finish to an exasperating day, small-cap stocks collapsed in the final half-hour of trading as worries about a recession and tight credit lines clouded exuberance tied to a dramatic coordinated global rate cut ahead of this morning’s stock market open. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 12.39, or 2.22%, at 546.57, the lowest daily close since August 2004.

It was a turbulent session that saw the market sharply higher ahead of the open, sharply lower shortly after the open, solidly higher in mid-morning, sharply lower at midday, solidly higher with an hour to go, but then finally sinking back into a red sea by the close. For the year, the Russell is now down 28.6%, while the Dow is off 30.2% and the S&P 500 is down 32.9%. At the lows today, the Russell was down 37.1% from the all-time highs.

At approximately 7:00 a.m. ET this morning, the Federal Reserve slashed the target rate for fed funds to 1.5% from 2.0%, which marked the lowest level for fed funds since August 2004. At the same time, central bankers in England, Switzerland, Sweden and China also announced rate cuts, resulting in the first concerted international action on weak economic conditions since the 9/11 attacks seven years ago.

The market appeared to struggle mightily early today with whether or not the surprise global rate cut move was really enough to unclog credit lines and jolt the economy out of the grip of recession. For most of the day, the answer to those questions appeared to be “no.” However, tech stocks led the way back out of the midday slump, apparently driven by bargain hunting and by ideas that access to cheaper money would help investment in technology companies. The tech-laden Nasdaq 100 gave back a 4% afternoon rally by the close, but still managed to finish flat on the day, bouncing off five-year lows in the process. At the trough today, the Nasdaq 100 was down 42% from record highs, near levels consistent with previous recession . . .

Few can top G-III Apparel Group’s (Nasdaq:GIII) stable of trendy brands, from Calvin Klein to the newly acquired Andrew Marc. Bred for growth, this clothes horse is racking up sales in an economy only a mudder could love.

G-III’s strategy is to load up on acquisitions and licenses, providing a range of high-quality clothes to retailers — coats, jackets and pants, and women’s wear, such as suits and dresses. It makes and sells clothes under licensed, proprietary and private retail brands to retailers such as Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN). G-III’s made four acquisitions since mid-2005, including Andrew Marc in February. That purchase brought the brands Andrew Marc and Marc New York into the fold, along with outerwear licenses for the Dockers and Levi’s brand.

Sales — almost all of which are in the United States — have been on a tear. Revenue rose 35% to $113.5 million in the second quarter through July, from the same period in 2007. The company sported a loss in the quarter, attributed to seasonal weakness at the newly acquired Andrew Marc and its Wilsons outlet chain. G-III lost $0.23 per share, compared with a loss of $0.05 the previous year.

Still, G-III plans on eclipsing fiscal 2008’s performance, when sales grew 21.5% to $519 million and earnings per share rose 11.2% to $1.05. Guidance calls for earnings to increase to $1.35 to $1.40 per share in the 2009 year through January, and revenue to climb to $730 million.

With a market value of $316 million, New York-based G-III closed Wednesday at $19.13 per share, near the top of a 52-week range from $10.73 to $21. That puts the P/E at 13.7 based on the average analyst estimate of $1.39 for this . . .

Small-cap stocks took it in the chin Wednesday, with retail stocks and financial shares falling out of favor with investors amid a gloomy economic environment and the ongoing credit crisis. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) lost 5.86, or 0.80%, to 730.71.

The S&P Retail Index crumbled nearly 2% to the second-lowest close since late March. Big-name department stores like Dillards (NYSE:DDS), JC Penney (NYSE:JCP), Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN), Kohls (NYSE:KSS), Macy’s (NYSE:M) and Sears (Nasdaq:SRLD) were all deep in the red

In the financial arena, the biggest percentage loser of the day was MF Global (NYSE:MF), the giant futures and commodities brokerage firm that was split off from Man Group last year. MF shares collapsed nearly 40%, shrinking its market cap down to about $945 million in the process. MF projected a significant decline in revenue and said it would raise $300 million to repay debt via $150 million in preference shares and another $150 million in convertible senior notes.

Although the steep freefall in MF shares was an attention grabber, the bears were active throughout the financial sector. In fact, late in the day seven of the top 10 percentage declines on the Nasdaq were either banks or financial firms. Tuesday’s slide in regional banks remained in play today, with Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) sinking nearly 20% after the firm said it would raise at least $2 billion in capital and slash dividends to help overcome credit losses.

The Dow slipped to the lowest daily close since mid-March, when the market was grappling with the collapse of Bear Stearns. For the recent move, the Dow peaked earlier than the Russell 2000, hitting a high on May 19 at 13,136. From the May 19 high to today’s low, the Dow is off 8.7%, while the Russell is only down 2.9% over that same time frame (although the Russell is off 4.8% from the early . . .

After a brief rise after the opening, small-cap stocks headed lower after a gloomy consumer sentiment encouraged sellers.  At 12:25 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 7.12, or 0.96%, at 736.26.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey came in at 59.5, which was below the projection of 62. The figure was the lowest May reading in 28 years, and underscores consumer trepidation about lofty gas and food prices.

April housing starts came in at an annualized rate of 1.032 million units, which was well above the forecast of 940,000. In addition, permits were up 4.9%. These numbers, however, are still weak numbers since the number was fueled by multi-family units — not single-family homes.

Oil prices touched new highs, propelled by an increase in Goldman Sachs’ oil price estimate to $141 a barrel in late 2008. In midday Friday action, crude futures were up $2.63 to $126.75 a barrel in New York.

Small-cap stocks edged lower, unable to sustain a pre-opening upside pop tied to housing starts data. In addition, the latest consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan was below expectations, which tugged down stock prices. At 10:07 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 5.80, or 0.78%, at 737.58.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey came in at 59.5, which was below the projection of 62. The figure was the lowest May reading in 28 years, and underscores consumer trepidation about lofty gas and food prices.

April housing starts came in at an annualized rate of 1.032 million units, which was well above the forecast of 940,000. In addition, permits were up 4.9%. It should be noted that these are still weak numbers, especially since the number was fueled by multi-family units — not single-family homes.

Today serves up a double witching expiration for stocks, with equity and cash index options for May on the expiration block. With the SPX climbing well past the concentrated strike at 1,400, it might have taken some of the punch out of expirations, but there could be added volatility in play from the expiry.

Action in crude oil futures will likely be on the radar screen for stock market traders today following another jump in crude values overnight back above $127 dollars a barrel. Although energy stocks might get a lift from higher crude, the . . .

A recent infusion of big-time talent has things looking up for a beaten-down microcap software play in the human resource management sector.

After years of largely profit-less growth, Burlingame, Calif.-based Workstream Inc. (Nasdaq: WSTM) could finally be poised to turn the corner under a recently revamped management team. In February, Deepak Gupta, the former general manager and founder of PeopleSoft’s On Demand software unit, was named chief executive of tiny $56 million Workstream. Prior to PeopleSoft, Gupta was the chief architect of Oracle Corporation’s (Nasdaq: ORCL) hosting business and the global leader for the software giant’s middleware line.

Since the hiring of Gupta, a string of heavy hitters from established enterprise software leaders have also joined Workstream’s executive ranks. This impressive group of new sales & marketing hires hail from Oracle, PeopleSoft, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Kronos among other well-known software companies. While it remains to be seen if Gupta can charge up Workstream’s top-line growth and lead this microcap software play to profitability, he certainly has attracted a high-caliber management team that has tasted success before.

Founded a little over a decade ago, Workstream has historically focused its efforts on selling compensation, performance and talent management solutions to large enterprises (over 2,500 employees). Workstream’s 400 customers include such brand names as Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD), The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD), the American Red Cross and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a bid to significantly expand its market opportunity, Workstream unveiled last month three new on-demand solutions for mid-sized businesses (between 100 and 2,500 employees). Workstream’s software frees companies from having to manually manage human resources processes using spreadsheets and paper documents for tracking.