Tag - Mtox

The Russell staged a dramatic comeback at Friday’s closing, closing up a stunning 4.66%, and shooting nearly 12% off an intraday trough that marked the lowest point since August 2003. Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• In what will be forever remembered as a historic week for the stock market, small caps shed 15.6% in an unprecedented collapse this week.
• From a charting and index perspective, the late recovery move in stocks today was paced by small caps, which was an encouraging sign.
• If small caps start to show a leadership role in the coming days, it could be a sign that a bottom, or at least stabilization is nearby. 
• AMR Corp, Delta and Continental Airlines were among the most actively traded small caps today amid falling oil prices.
• Crude oil prices tumbled 10% today to fresh one-year lows.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) closed up about 30% on momentum from the decline in energy prices, late day small-cap recovery moves.
• Ardea Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq:RDEA) jumped some 39%, recovering from new move lows set Thursday.
• Material Sciences Corp. (NYSE:MSC) up 25.2% on slight increase in Q2 earnings reported Thursday.
• Willis Lease Finance (Nasdaq:WLFC) up 26% after $63M sale of 10 . . .

Small-cap stocks remained sharply lower into midday, down 4.05% and unable to sustain a morning rally for the third consecutive day. Market Watch highlights so far today include:

• When President Bush spoke this morning, small caps were off about 1.2% and the Dow was down about 80 points. The President made a surprisingly quick prepared remark, took no questions, and the began falling hard … within an hour after his appearance the Dow was down more than 350 points and small caps were off 4%.
• After multi-year highs a few months ago, cattle/hog prices are down on fears that meat consumption will suffer in a global recession.
• Gold/silver stocks and oil/energy stocks are the weakest sectors in today's trading. Footwear and retail home improvement are up fractionally. Gold is currently off 10%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Audiovox (Nasdaq:VOXX) swings to Q2 loss. Shares of the electronic products distributor shoot up 16%.
• Union Bankshares (Nasdaq:UBSH) upgraded by Robert W. Baird; shares surge 17%.
• Stifel Nicolaus initiates coverage on Umpqua Holdings (Nasdaq:UMPQ) with a “hold” rating. Shares jump 21%.
• Airline small-cap UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) announced Thursday it will lay off 414 mechanics; stock is currently up 8.4%.
• Private equity firm Prospect Capital (Nasdaq:PSEC) to repurchase up . . .

Small-cap stocks remained sharply lower into midday, unable for a third consecutive day to sustain a morning rally in positive territory as fears of an economic recession and frozen credit lines spark investor flight from equities into cash. At 12:33 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 20.23, or 4.05%, at 478.97, up modestly from the morning low, which marked the lowest point since August 2003.

The Russell actually was up more than 1% briefly this morning, and the Dow turned into positive territory generating a big roar of approval on trading floors in New York and Chicago, but the rally died off quickly, especially after a speech by President Bush failed to inspire confidence among investors that the worst of the storm has been weathered.

At the time Bush started speaking, small caps were off about 1.2% and the Dow was down about 80 points; the President made a surprisingly quick prepared remark, took no questions, and the market started falling hard … within an hour after his appearance the Dow was down more than 350 points and small caps were off 4%.

Today’s extension of the downside rout in stocks came on the heels of steep declines in stock markets around the world overnight as the credit contagion spreads to the banking systems of countries in every corner of the planet. Far-flung posts such as Iceland and Indonesia halted trading on stock markets overnight, a move also seen in Russia, Romania and Ukraine.

The distrust of equity markets has also spread into other asset classes, with Treasury markets sinking at the same time that commodity prices are tanking. Crude oil prices were down some 8% this morning, slipping below $80 a barrel for the first time in a year. Even meat prices were hit hard; after rising to multi-year highs a few months ago, cattle and hog prices were tumbling on fears that meat consumption . . .

Small-cap stocks gapped higher on the opening, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) extending overnight gains on the coattails of good news in the tech sector. The tone for today’s early action was clearly established yesterday afternoon when after-market stock trading hit the ground running following better-than-expected earnings from Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC).

The market appears to be focused on earnings news at this stage. When stepping back from the expectations, the numbers are generally weak, but that has been priced into both market valuations and psychology, which helps fuel gains when the numbers are slightly better than forecast.

Although Housing Starts data slumped to a 17-year low in March, the market basically shrugged it off as no surprise — after all, it’s a known fact that the housing market is in the midst of a severe pullback. In addition, U.S. CPI data rose 0.3% in March, which was in line with expectations. It might be painful to fill up the gas tank right now, but food prices are beginning to stabilize, which kept the inflation data from . . .

Medtox Scientific, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTOX) shares are sagging after the medical products seller and provider of medical services announced before the opening that its third-quarter revenue rose to $20.8 million, below analyst estimates of $21.5 million and from $18.7 million a year earlier. The firm’s net income surged 31% to $1.9 million, or $0.22 per share, above Wall Street estimates of $0.21 per share from $1.5 million, or $0.17 per share, during the same period of 2006.

The firm’s laboratory services segment’s revenue increased to $15.7 million, versus $14.7 million in the prior-year quarter. Revenue for the product sales segment increased to $5 million, from $4 million a year earlier.

In afternoon trading, MTOX shares are down 4.78%, or $0.97, at $19.33. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $9.91 to $31.63.

Shares of MEDTOX Scientific Inc. (Nasdaq: MTOX) continued to plummet Tuesday after the laboratory testing services company reported earnings one penny below analysts’ consensus.

For the three months ended June 30, the St. Paul, Minn.-based company booked net income of $1.76 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.28 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2006.

Two analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of $0.21 for the second quarter.

Medtox booked revenues of $20.7 million, compared with $17.4 million from the prior-year period. Two analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected revenues of $20.37 million.

Shares of MEDTOX tumbled 19.58%, or $5.29, to $21.37 Monday afternoon.

MEDTOX Scientific, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTOX), Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Inc. (Nasdaq: XING) and Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NLS) are the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:

Here are today's biggest percentage losers:

Hearst Communications sold 243,128 of paid-search provider Local.com Corp. (Nasdaq: LOCM) at $9.07, according to Briefing.com.

Home improvement products maker Q.E.P. Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: QEPC) reported first-quarter sales of $57 million, above estimates of $54 million.

Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Inc. (Nasdaq: XING) filed with the SEC a form to release its annual report and restate its financial data from fiscal years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

The following are the most actively traded companies in Tuesday pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million: