Tag - Mni

Stocks closed down today in all of the major U.S. indices. The Dow closed down 25.92 points to end at 9,070.80; the Nasdaq ended at 1,967.76, down 7.75 points; and the S&P 500 moved downward 4.48 points to close at 975.44.

The Russell 2000 ended the day at 549.54, down 2.56 points.

Small-cap gainers were lead by American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) up 50% to close at $2.02. Other small-cap share price gainers Elron Electronic Industries (Nasdaq:ELRN) up 45%; McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) up 44%; and Conseco (NYSE:CNO) up 36%.

Small-cap decliners were lead by Frontier Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:FTBK) down 21% on announcing Q2 losses of $1.06 per share versus gains of $0.04 a year ago. Joining FTBK in leading decliners today were THQ (Nasdaq:THQI) down 19%; Alvarion (Nasdaq:ALVR) down 17%; and Ariad Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ARIA) down 16%.

*****With the exception of the Nasdaq, the major indices finished yesterday with slight losses. And it looks like an even money bet whether they'll finish in the red today. We've seen an unlikely move over the last two weeks. The S&P 500 has made gains in 9 of the last 11 sessions and moved 11.3% higher. Volume hasn't been especially strong during this move, but it is summer. Volume is always a bit lighter in the summer.

It seems more and more strategist-types are looking for a pullback or correction for stocks. Yesterday, CNBC's Jim Cramer said he was expecting some red. Of course, Cramer makes so many calls it's hard to keep them all straight.

For the record, Cramer says he likes healthcare stocks, technology and financials, believe it or not. He says financials are so universally hated that they will be stronger than average in the event of a pullback. That's the "no one left to sell" theory.

I'm not so sure. The banks have been given time to earn their way back to health. And it could work. But a lot depends on the housing market. Many banks still carry toxic assets. And their reluctance to sell into Geithner's PPIP suggests they remain hopeful these assets will regain value. If they don't, it could be problematic. And then there's the commercial real estate situation we've been discussing.

******Did you know I'm about to publish my first book? The Small Cap Investor: Secrets to Winning Big with Small Cap Stocks will hit the shelves on September 14.

In The Small Cap Investor, I share the proven techniques for uncovering the small cap companies poise for a huge run higher. My biggest success was apparel company True Religion (Nasdaq:TRLG). I recommended that stock to my readers at $1.13 a share. We sold it in 2008 for 2,216% gains. My techniques have also led my SmallCapInvestor PRO advisory service to a 93% win rate this year.

Now, I need your help. As part of the marketing plan for my book, we are holding a T-shirt contest. I want you to be the one who comes with the slogan for The Small Cap Investor: Secrets to Winning Big with Small Cap Stocks T-shirt.

Obviously, "Secrets to Winning Big with Small Cap Stocks" is taken. But slogan's like "I made a 142% on Gulfport Energy and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" or "Ian Wyatt: The Best Small Investor" are open.

We'll be holding the voting on the Small Cap Investor page on Facebook starting today and running through August 9th. You can leave your submissions there, or send them to tshirt@smallcapinvestor.com.

The winner will get their very own shirt plus a full-year subscription to SmallCapInvestor PRO. This should be a lot of fun. I hope you'll participate.

******China is in the news again. Overnight, the Shanghai Composite fell 5%, the biggest drop in eight months. Investors are nervous on reports that the Chinese government may be discussing clamping down on lending due to the potential for imbalances to occur.

Specifically, Bloomberg is reporting that the Chinese government is concerned that asset bubbles may be forming in the stock market and that inflation may be building.

Chinese stocks are reportedly trading at 35 times reported earnings. And that is expensive. But interestingly, the Chinese stocks in the SmallCapInvestor PRO portfolio are trading with Price-to-Earnings ratios between 8 and 11. That's much cheaper than most Chinese stocks, apparently, and one of the reasons we recommended them.

Of course, valuations won't keep our stocks from declining if the Chinese stock market takes a hit. But Chinese stocks are recovering today after last night's sell-off, so that's a good sign.

If you're interested in finding out more about the Chinese stocks in the SmallCapInvestor PRO portfolio click here to get a copy of the report.

*****Finally, Top Stock Insights reader took 35% gains yesterday on Chinese medical device maker called Mindray (NYSE:MR). I love the science fiction name, but couldn't resist taking the gains.

Best Regards,

Ian Wyatt
Editor
SCI Daily

The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI) shares dropped to a 52-week low Tuesday after the newspaper company was downgraded from “hold” to “sell” by Deutsche Bank. Also, on Monday it was announced the Sacramento-based company had been removed from the Russell 1000 index. The newspaper company’s shares fell to $5.95, a low for the year, on Tuesday. McClatchy has felt the pinch of the newspaper industry and has plans for job cuts as ad revenues have declined. McClatchy shares have lost 49% since January.

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, lifted by a slide in crude oil prices, which extended overnight losses and moved toward $134 dollars a barrel. Equities also were underpinned by tame inflation data this morning. At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 7.99, or 1.11%, at 727.82.

The Michigan sentiment survey came in below expectations and notched a fresh 28-year low amid consumer fretting about inflation and rising unemployment. Although the report appears bearish, and even though credit futures edged off lows, the stock market had surprisingly little immediate reaction to the number.

CPI data came out before the regular opening this morning, and although the headline figure was slightly above the forecast at 0.6%, the “core” rate, which excludes food and energy prices, was in line with expectations and the market was able to extend overnight gains after the inflation report was released. CPI on a year-over-year basis was up 4.2%, which was above the median estimate of 3.9%. These numbers might have usually been a little troubling to the stock market, but they weren’t a shock and there is some thought that if inflation remains the focal point for the Federal Reserve, it will speed up the tightening timeline, and therefore boost the dollar. However, there are a lot of hurdles to cross on that line of thinking.

Speaking of the U.S. dollar, the greenback rallied against the euro, gaining more than 100 basis points or about 0.7% and was also at fresh highs versus the yen. The firm dollar tone was a negative early today for commodities and a positive for stocks.

Early this morning, the market digested fresh dour news on the housing front as foreclosures in May were up 48% from last year, and up 7% from April, . . .

The McClatchy Co. (NYSE:MNI) CEO Gary Pruitt said the newspaper company expects the advertising environment to continue to be weak. The Sacramento, Calif.-based firm projects second-quarter revenue to be somewhat better than first-quarter advertising revenue. The newspaper company’s first-quarter ad revenue slumped 17% to $128.4 million compared with $154.4 million a year ago. Pruitt made the comments during an afternoon conference call.

In 2008, Pruitt said the company will focus its efforts in four main areas. First, improving revenue performance with particular attention to Internet advertising is a goal. The second objective is to provide high-quality public service journalism in both print and online. The third aim is to grow McClathy’s audience. Fourth, McClatchy plans to reduce and restructure its costs.

“We are working hard to position the company to benefit from a stronger economy once it turns,” Pruitt said. “Given the revenue trends, we’re simply going to have to reduce costs and we do believe we can sustain a good record on cost throughout this year. We face increasing newsprint prices later in the year, but on the . . .