Tag - Osk

The markets were up today sloughing off yesterday's losses. The down closed up 57 points to 8,504. The Nasdaq gained 11 points to close at 1,845 and the S&P 500 gained 4 points to close at 923 after hitting resistance at 932 in morning trading and slowly sliding back down.

The Russell 2000, moved up just under 2% for the day to close at 517. The Russell 2000 represents the 2,027 small cap companies and contains well known companies like 1-800 Flowers.com (Nasdaq:FLWS), BankRate.com (Nasdaq:RATE), and Dominos Pizza (NYSE:DPZ). The Russell 2000 Index is up 50.7% since the market's nadir on March 9, 2009.

Small-cap gainers were lead by Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK), up 27% after the Pentagon announced that the firm's new blast resistant, off-road ground force vehicles were the "clear winners" in a multi-billion dollar competition. Oshkosh won the bid to build 2,244 vehicles for a deal worth $1.06 billion. The company beat out defense industry heavyweights including BAE Systems (LSE:BA.L) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD).

A very exciting small-cap gainer today was LogMeIn (Nasdaq:LOGM), up 25% on it's IPO. LogMeIn is an on-demand connectivity specialty service firm whose product allows computer users to access files and services on one of their computers from another computer across the Internet.

For example, workers can access files resident on their office computers from home without having to attach to a corporate network or have their files stored on network servers. LogMeIn's services are primarily directed to small and medium-sized businesses.

Other gainers included Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN), up 23%; Northeast Bancorp (Nasdaq:NBN), up 23%; and ShengdaTech (Nasdaq:SDTH), up 19% after being upgraded by Roth Capital to a Buy rating from a Hold.

Small-cap decliners were lead by CardioNet (Nasdaq:BEAT), down 41% on news that the company slashed its profit and revenue outlook for 2009. The Pennsylvania-based maker of wireless heart-monitoring devices revised its profits to a range of 30 cents to 35 cents from earlier forecasts of 69 cents to 73 cents. Investors punished the company by unloading shares started right the open and continuing through the day. Shares tumbled to $9.57 from Tuesday's close of $16.32.

Rounding out the small-cap decliners were Repros Therapeutics (Nasdaq:RPRX), down 31% after being downgraded by Wedbush Morgan and Ladenburg Thalmann; Spartan Motors (Nasdaq:SPAR), down 27%, and Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq:IMMR), down 23%.

*****Earnings season is right around the corner. It seems that expectations are pretty low. I've read a few commentaries that suggest that estimates are low enough that companies should be able to meet them. Of course, what corporate America has to say about the future will be important.

Of course, I'll be watching the banks closely.

*****A lot has gone right for the banks lately. Changes to accounting rules have allowed them enough breathing room to operate. Mortgage loan modifications have brought in fees. And trading activities have even helped some banks to boost profits.

Still, I believe there's another banking shoe to drop.

As I reported yesterday, foreclosure sales are the majority of home sales these days. And when a bank sells a foreclosed home, it is a realized loss. That's as opposed to a non-performing loan or a foreclosed home that has yet to be sold, which can be counted as an asset.

Further exacerbating this is that banks are not realizing as much profit on those sales of foreclosed homes as they're all flooding the market with them and thus driving down prices.

So I expect to see higher losses affecting banks' earnings in the future. These losses may not show up in the earnings season that's about to begin, but they are looming.

*****It was reported today that mortgage applications fell 19% last week, another sign that foreclosures are driving the market. It also reinforces the point that once foreclosure sales slow, there may well be little demand for traditional home sales to pick up the slack.

Rising interest rates and still-falling home values are also impacting new mortgage applications. It's a buyers market, and there's no reason to rush in when prices are falling and loan costs are rising.

*****Bloomberg is reporting that 20 million of the 93 million homes, condos and co-ops in the U.S. are underwater as of March 31, 2009. Somebody will take these losses at some point, whether it's the homeowner, the bank or the government/taxpayer or a combination of any or all of the three.

******We know that sub-prime mortgages were a major source of non-performing loans and foreclosures. Now, prime mortgages are in trouble. In his morning missive to his traders, TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts' Jason Cimpl had this to say:

Delinquencies on prime mortgages soared in the first quarter of this year. Delinquency rates on prime mortgages, the least risky category, were 661,914, a jump from 250,986 a year earlier. Two thirds of all mortgages in the U.S. are prime mortgages, so any percentage increase in delinquencies represents a huge absolute number of delinquent mortgages. Here is more proof that banks are in for a tough few years as they must monitor their loan portfolios even closer and suffer write-offs. If prime mortgages start going south in a big way, look for banks to stiffen lending standards even more. Either way, this will have a negative impact on their bottom line numbers

The evidence is building that the economy is nowhere near out of the woods. And we can also see that banks will be facing serious problems ahead. As I said yesterday, investors should be on their toes.

Also, we're not recommending downside positions on banks - yet. But that time will come, and there will be a lot of money to be made.

*****I'm giving my staff the day off on Friday. There will be no Daily Profit that day. And I've cajoled Jason into giving us his video chart analysis tomorrow, so we have that to look forward to tomorrow…

If you can't wait, check out Jason's video from last week and get a special opportunity to try his TradeMaster service. Click here.

 

Integral System Inc. (Nasdaq:ISYS), Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (Nasdaq:BBW) and Oshkosh Corp. (Nasdaq:OSK) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Circor International Inc. (Nasdaq:CIR), Carbo Ceramics Inc. (Nasdaq:CRR), ENPRO Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:NPO), ManTech International Corp. (Nasdaq:MANT), Ardea Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq:RDEA) and Pacific Capital Bancorp (Nasdaq:PCBC).

Oshkosh Corp. (Nasdaq:OSK), DryShips Inc. (Nasdaq:DRYS) and Selective Insurance Group Inc. (Nasdaq:SIGI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Small-cap stocks pushed lower on the opening, pressured by a sloppy batch of earnings reports this morning and another weak slate of economic reports that threatens to break a four-day winning streak for the market. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were POZEN (Nasdaq:POZN), OSI Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:OSIS) and Sepracor (Nasdaq:SEPR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Crude oil prices have been closely tethered to equities, and today’s rugged economic data reinforces the demand difficulties facing energy companies.   Crude oil prices were on the defensive this morning, with futures off some $1.60 a barrel into the stock market open.  
• The stock market appeared to extend the morning slide after the dreary home sales report.  
• New home sales fell off a cliff today, sinking 14.7% to an annual rate of 331,000 units, way below the forecast of 400,000.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• POZEN informed by FDA that endoscopic gastric ulcer incidence continues to be an acceptable primary endpoint; shares climb 17% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:POZN). 
• OSI Systems Inc. rose 16% as the electronics system designer received an earnings lift. See (Nasdaq:OSIS).  
• Sepracor rises 10% in pre-market to cut workforce despite rise in profit. See (Nasdaq:SEPR)

Small Cap Losers:

• Banner Corp. fell 15%, gapping lower as the bank holding company announced quarterly results. See (Nasdaq:BANR).  
• Oshkosh Corp. fell 20% as the specialty equipment maker posted a quarterly loss and announced job cuts. See (NYSE:OSK).  
• Arkansas Best swings to loss on 15% lower revenue; stock slides 11% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:ABFS).  
• DryShips in breach of some loan covenants; shares tumbles over 26% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:DRYS). 

Small-cap stocks pushed lower on the opening, pressured by a sloppy batch of earnings reports this morning and another weak slate of economic reports that threatens to break a four-day winning streak for the market. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.00, or 2.32% at 462.03.

New home sales fell off a cliff today, sinking 14.7% to an annual rate of 331,000 units, way below the forecast of 400,000. The stock market appeared to extend the morning slide after the dreary home sales report.

The weekly claims report came in at 588,000, which was a tad higher than the forecast. The bleak news was on continuing claims, which rose to record highs at 4.77 million, topping the recessions from the 1970s and 1980s in the process. This was a sobering look at recent layoffs ahead of the big monthly employment report next week.

Also on the data front, the durable goods report came out at minus 2.5%, which was nominally worse than the projection for a decline of 2%. However, when stripping out the “big ticket” transportation orders, durables were off 3.6%. This marked the December report on durable goods; for the year, orders were down more than any year since 2001.

As for the latest earnings reports, Allstate Corp. (NYSE:ALL), QUALCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq:QCOM), Black and Decker Corp. (NYSE:BDK) and Fortune Brands Inc. (NYSE:FO) all posted various troubling numbers on profit reports, setting a bleak tone for the morning, just a day after investors were finding spots of good news on the profit front for buying enthusiasm.

Interestingly, all the bleak news on earnings and economic data shuttled aside excitement over the House passage of the Obama stimulus plan; but even before today’s data, the market was already lower, suggesting that the House passage wasn’t a surprise and that the market would need something fresh to . . .

Small-cap stocks pushed modestly higher on the opening, and were still holding in positive territory after a dreadful manufacturing report slashed away gains in large-cap index products. At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 4.05, or 0.75%, at 541.57.

The ISM Manufacturing Survey came in at 38.9%, which was below the forecast of 42% and marked the lowest manufacturing activity index in 26 years.

Now that ISM is out of the way, focus will return to debate about the U.S. elections. The general perception right now is that Barack Obama will win the presidential election, which means market watchers will be looking to see whether or not Democrats win power in the Senate and House. Since 1900, the stock market has averaged a gain of nearly 10% in the 12 months following a Democrat transition into the White House. In addition, vehicle sales were slated to roll in today and could have an impact on automaker shares. The rate for vehicle sales is pegged at 12 million units.

Libor, or inter-bank lending rates, continue to decline and are now at the lowest point since the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. The steady pullback in Libor rates is seen as a sign that frozen credit lines are thawing and that banks are more trusting on the lending front.

In company news this morning, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) was upgraded by analysts at JP Morgan and the world’s largest retailer was up 1.1% shortly after the open. Also on the analyst front, Merrill Lynch downgraded rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and the investment bank was off 1.3%. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (NYSE:GT) topped the earnings forecast and rallied 14.5%.

Individual small-caps of note were highlighted by Seneca Foods Corp. (Nasdaq:SENEA) was up 25%, gapping higher on light volume. Safe Bulkers Inc. (NYSE:SB) was up 12.8%, climbing above the 20-day moving average for the . . .

Old Point Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:OPOF), Oshkosh Corp. (Nasdaq:OSK) and Catapult Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:CATT) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Synnex Corp. (Nasdaq:SNX), AZZ Inc. (Nasdaq:AZZ), Access National Corp. (Nasdaq:ANCX), Novogen Depository Receipt (Nasdaq:NVGN), Strattec Security Corp. (Nasdaq:STRT) and Primeenergy Corp. (Nasdaq:PNRG).

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:

Bancorp of New Jersey Inc. (Nasdaq:BKJ), Morgan Stanley California Quality Muni Securities (Nasdaq:IQC) and IRSA GDR (Nasdaq:IRS) are among the new 52-week lows in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Entergy Arkansas, Inc.  (Nasdaq:EHB), Morgan Stanley Muni Income Opportunities Trust (Nasdaq:OIA), Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:TYY), American Municipal Income Portfolio Inc. (Nasdaq:XAA), Morgan Stanley Muni Income Opportunities Trust III (Nasdaq:OIC) and Oshkosh Corp. (Nasdaq:OSK).

Here are the new 52-week lows among small caps: