Tag - Ltm

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) pushed higher Thursday, boosted by talk that the Obama stimulus plan . . .

Small-cap stocks reversed morning losses and climbed into positive territory, sparked by talk that the “mark-to-market” accounting rules might be suspended to provide additional relief to banks and financial institutions to weather the current crisis. In addition, solid action for tech stocks and gains for retailers amid same-store sales reports provided further bullish fodder. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Badger Meter Inc. (NYSE:BMI), Dynamics Research Corp. (Nasdaq:DRCO) and Mainland Services Inc. (Nasdaq:MNLU).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Even though individual store results were spotty, the S&P Retail Index was up about 2.5% at midday, clearly outpacing the general market.  
• Retail stocks provided a surprising source of strength today, despite a bevy of mostly disappointing monthly sales reports.  
• Outside of the recovery bounce in financials, the stock market also found support from tech shares.  
• The KBW Banking Index rallied about 6% off the early low and briefly traded in positive territory.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• Badger Meter Inc. rose 20% as the liquid flow specialist received an earnings-related boost. See (NYSE:BMI).  
• Dynamics Research Corp. rallied 21% as the technology management firm updated guidance. See (Nasdaq:DRCO).  
• Mainland Services Inc., an oil exploration firm, jumped 37% to the highest point since November. See (Nasdaq:MNLU).  
• Kelly Services Inc. jumped 50% on ultra light volume without any apparent fresh news after hitting a new low Wednesday. See (Nasdaq:KELYB).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Gartner Inc. fell 22% as the IT firm beat the earnings estimate, but presented a gloomy 2009 outlook. See (NYSE:IT).
• Life Time Fitness Inc. slumped 13% as the operator of workout facilities released preliminary earnings news. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• Corporate Executive Board Co. fell 17% as the executive networking firm announced earnings after the close Wednesday. See (Nasdaq:EXBD).   

M I Homes Inc. (Nasdaq:MHO), Abiomed Inc. (Nasdaq:ABMD) and Corporate Executive Board Co. (Nasdaq:EXBD) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Micrus Endovascular Corp. (Nasdaq:MEND), Life Time Fitness Inc. (Nasdaq:LTM), 99 Cents Only Stores (Nasdaq:NDN), Forrester Research Inc. (Nasdaq:FORR), Harman International Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:HAR) and Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:YAVY).

Lennar Corp. (Nasdaq:LEN), Citi Trends Inc. (Nasdaq:CTRN) and Life Time Fitness Inc. (Nasdaq:LTM) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Hadera Paper Ltd. (Nasdaq:AIP), Meritage Homes Corp. (Nasdaq:MTH), United Community Bancorp (Nasdaq:UCBA), American Woodmark Corp. (Nasdaq:AMWD), Student Loan Corp (Nasdaq:STU) and National Research Corp. (Nasdaq:NRCI).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening but slipped briefly into negative territory as optimism over a new government plan to open credit facilities for mortgage assets and “consumer” loan assets was countered by soft economic reports. The credit news helped the market strive to look past a predictably weak GDP report and a report that said home price declines posted a record decline from year-ago levels. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Life Time Fitness Inc. (NYSE:LTM), Futures Canada China Environment Inc. (Nasdaq:FCCE) and Nuance Communications (Nasdaq:NUAN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Crude oil prices were off about $2 a barrel shortly after the stock market opening, absorbing a mild pullback off the big 9% surge Monday.  
• Treasury yields were taking a big downside hit even while the stock market was pointing toward a strongly higher open.  
• The Case-Shiller Home Price Index tumbled a record 17.4% from last year and the index was down 1.9% in September from the previous month.  
• The Fed and Treasury announced a new TAL, which will be granted initial funding of $20B via the original $700B in TARP money. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Life Time Fitness Inc. rose 33%, gapping higher after plunging to 52-week lows Monday. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• Futures Canada China Environment Inc. jumped 33% on extremely light volume (only 1,000 shares). See (Nasdaq:FCCE).  
• Nuance Communications Q4 earnings beats Street view, shares up 12%. See (Nasdaq:NUAN).  
• Brinker International climbs over 10% after analyst upgrade company to "strong buy" froM "market perform." See (NYSE:EAT).

Small Cap Losers:

• Zale Corp. was down 25% as the jeweler reported a larger-than-expected loss. See (NYSE:ZLC). 
• SkillSoft dips 13% after guiding below fourth-quarter estimates. See (Nasdaq:SKIL).  
• Penson Worldwide down 9% on light volume in pre-market, following news it will expand its senior managment team. See (Nasdaq:PNSN).  
• United Natural Foods down 2% in pre-market after reporting a drop in Q1 profit. See (Nasdaq:UNFI).

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening but slipped briefly into negative territory as optimism over a new government plan to open credit facilities for mortgage assets and “consumer” loan assets was countered by soft economic reports. The credit news helped the market strive to look past a predictably weak GDP report and a report that said home price declines posted a record decline from year-ago levels. At 10:07 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 1.14, or 0.26%, at 437.94.

The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department announced a new TALF (Troubled Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility), which will be granted initial funding of $20 billion via the original $700 billion in TARP money (i.e., taxpayers). This facility is expected to provide funding for asset-backed securities such as auto loans, student loans and credit card debt.

The GDP report came in at minus 0.5%, which hit the forecast on the nose and meant the number might be awful, but was in line with market expectations. The scary part is that economists are unanimously saying that things will get worse before they get better. “Economic growth dipped in Q3, the result of a sharp drop in consumer spending on top of a weak housing market. Because both have deteriorated even more quickly so far in Q4, GDP will shrink much more rapidly in the current quarter. Our current estimate is minus 4.5%,” Steven Wood, chief economist with Insight Economics, said in an email.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index tumbled a record 17.4% from last year and the composite index of 20 metropolitan areas was down 1.9% in September from the previous month. “The turmoil in the financial markets is placing further downward pressure on a housing market already weakened by its own fundamentals,” David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, said.

The consumer confidence report came in better than expected at 44.9, . . .

Small-cap stocks soared into mid-session trading, with financial, energy and gold stocks driving an impressive rally to provide confirmation of Friday’s big rally. The market continues to find bullish inspiration on economic advisor appointments by President-elect Obama, who announced his team today in just the second major press conference since he won the presidential vote earlier this month. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE:WBD), General Cable Corp. (NYSE:BGC) and SL Green Realty Corp.  (NYSE:SLG).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Investment banks, brokerage firms, diverse financial instruments, wireless telecoms, homebuilders, coal, real estate services all higher.  
• Gold stocks were seeing huge gains today, boosted by safe haven flows.  
• Commodities in general were a big factor in the stock market rise today, supported by a slide in the U.S. dollar against the euro.  
• Crude oil prices extended the morning rally into midday, rising some $4 a barrel, which stoked a 5% surge in energy stocks. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC jumped 39% as Russia’s largest dairy company generated a huge bounce off 52-week lows set last week. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• General Cable Corp. rallied 36% as the copper, aluminum and fiber optic cable manufacturer rose off last week’s lows with the overall bounce in commodity shares today. See (NYSE:BGC).  
• SL Green Realty Corp. jumped 35% as the real estate investment trust embraced the Citigroup bail out plan, as Citigroup is the firm’s biggest tenant. See (NYSE:SLG).  
• Dress Barn last week reports increase in Q1 sales, shares are up 10% today. See (Nasdaq:DBRN).

Small Cap Losers:

• Ann Taylor swings to Q3 loss, sees tough Q4. Shares are down 8.7% near a 52-week low of $4.21, down from a 52-week high of $32.82. See (NYSE:ANN).  
• China Eastern passenger throughput down 2.72% in October; shares tumble 12%. See (NYSE:CEA).  
• Life Time Fitness down another 10% today after the small cap announced last week that it would cute 100 jobs. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• Tween Brands is down 18% following last week's announcement of a Q3 sales, earnings drop in "challenging environment." See (NYSE:TWB).

Small-cap stocks opened higher but quickly slipped into negative territory, as a bounce in banking and commodity stocks and a rise in overseas equities was countered by weak profit reports for a raft of small-cap firms. The market is clearly oversold following dramatic losses this week, which could power a pre-weekend short-covering bounce, but fear about the slumping global economy remains a big part of negative investor psychology. Today’s small-cap gainers are Life Time Fitness Inc.  (NYSE:LTM), USG Corporation. (NYSE:USG) and Mindray Medical (NYSE:MR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Researchers at Goldman Sachs today said that the upcoming November employment report will be the worst yet for 2008.   Nov 21, 2008 10:10am
•  It should be noted that any improvement today still comes against a backdrop of one of the worst stock market declines in history.   Nov 21, 2008 10:09am
• The U.S. dollar was down about 1% against the euro, which was also seen as a mild bullish element for commodities in general.   Nov 21, 2008 10:08am
• This week has seen massive flight to safe haven ports, out of stocks, which drove yields on Treasury products to historically low levels.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Life Time Fitness Inc. rose 24% on a bounce from 52-week lows forged Thursday. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• USG Corporation announces agreement to sell $400M of contingent convertible senior notes; shares climb 23%. See (NYSE:USG).
• Shares of Shares of Mindray Medical are climbing 18% this morning on very light volume. See (NYSE:MR).  
• Quicksilver Resources up over 17% after board approves $600 million capital budget for 2009. See (NYSE:KWK).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Foot Locker Inc. collapsed 42% as the athletic shoe retailer missed earnings projections. See (NYSE:FL).
• Flow International announces departure of CFO Douglas Fletcher; shares careen 28%. (Nasdaq:FLOW).  
• Celanese Corp. plummets 25% after Citigroup downgrades the small cap to "hold." See (NYSE:CE).  
• Joy Global Inc. down 5% in pre-market after shares tumbled 17.56% on Thursday. See (Nasdaq:JOYG).

Forest City Enterprises (Nasdaq:FCE.A), Hiland Holdings GP LP (Nasdaq:HPGP) and Brown Shoe Company Inc. (Nasdaq:BWS) are among the new 52-week lows in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Image Sensing Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:ISNS), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (Nasdaq:KCP), VeriFone Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:PAY), Agree Realty Corp. (Nasdaq:ADC), Life Time Fitness Inc. (Nasdaq:LTM) and Hiland Partners LP (Nasdaq:HLND).

WellCare Health Plans Inc. (Nasdaq:WCG), KV Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:KV.A) and Oriental Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:OFG) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Fundtech Ltd. (Nasdaq:FNDT), Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq:RTLX), Life Time Fitness Inc. (Nasdaq:LTM), RHI Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq:RHIE), SI Financial Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SIFI) and Primoris Services Corp. (Nasdaq:PRIM).