Tag - Rexi

Small-cap stocks remained higher into mid-session, underpinned by a few bright spots on the earnings front, M&A enthusiasm and confirmation of Timothy Geithner’s appointment as Treasury Department Secretary. However, record low consumer confidence kept some buyers at bay. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX), Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE:PCX) and Massey Energy Co. (NYSE:MEE).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Outside of coal, energy shares are down, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund off about 0.1% in line with slumping crude oil futures.  
• The chart picture for small caps shows that the market is trapped in a mini-range loosely defined by the inauguration day collapse.  
• Copper took a 5% nosedive in overseas trading, which is a troubling sign for the economy as copper is a key ingredient in building.  
• On Thursday, new home sales data will help provide further information about the housing market.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Netflix Inc. jumped 14% on heavy volume following surprisingly positive earnings figures. See (Nasdaq:NFLX).   
• Among coal stocks, small-cap company Patriot Coal Corp. was up 2.7%, while Massey Energy Co. was up 3.2%. See (NYSE:PCX) and (NYSE:MEE).
• Resource America Inc. was only slightly higher at midday, but was seeing unusually brisk volume, especially for such a tight daily range. See (Nasdaq:REXI).

Small Cap Losers:

• Olin Corp. fell 12% on brisk volume tied to earnings news. See (Nasdaq:OLIN).  
• UAL Corp., parent company of United Airlines, is off about 8%. See (Nasdaq:UAUA).  
• The AMEX Airline Index was off 6.3%, with small-cap carrier US Airways Group Inc. down 12%. See (NYSE:LCC).
• LivePerson Inc. was off about 2.6% on a jump in turnover without any apparent fresh news. See (Nasdaq:LPSN).  

Small-cap stocks remained higher into mid-session, underpinned by a few bright spots on the earnings front, M&A enthusiasm and confirmation of Timothy Geithner’s appointment as Treasury Department Secretary. However, record low consumer confidence kept some buyers at bay. At 12:22 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 6.45, or 1.43%, at 456.39.

The consumer confidence report came in this morning at 37.7, which was below the forecast of 39 and at record lows as consumers fret about sinking house prices and rising unemployment. Speaking of house prices, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index tumbled 18.2% from year-ago levels, which clouded some of the optimism from Monday’s more upbeat existing home sales data.

As for big-cap earnings news, American Express, US Steel and Texas Instruments helped offset weak reports from Verizon Communications and DuPont Co. and provided a small sliver of hope that an awful earnings season will still serve up some glimmer of good news.

Looking at sector activity so far today, coal stocks, steel companies, health-care distributors, diversified banks, motorcycle manufacturers, industrial conglomerates, advertising agencies, office electronics and semiconductor firms were the top performers. On the downside, airlines, oil refiners, electrical equipment manufacturers, telecoms, internet retailers, home improvement retailers, home furnishing retailers and food distributors were the weakest performers.

Looking at airlines, the AMEX Airline Index was off 6.3%, with small-cap carrier US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:LCC) down 12%. Meanwhile, UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) was off about 8%. The big news on the airline front came from big-cap carrier Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL), as the world’s largest firm tumbled 18% . . .

Medical Action Industries Inc (Nasdaq:MDCI), Sigma Designs Inc (Nasdaq:SIGM) and WGNB Corp (Nasdaq:WGNB) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

New Oriental Energy & Chemical Corp (Nasdaq:NOEC), Resource America Inc (Nasdaq:REXI) and Landmark Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:LARK) are also among the biggest percentage losers.

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Small-cap stocks took flight Thursday, soaring to the highest daily close since Jan. 2, powered by a rally in the downtrodden financial sector and by money flow away from commodities and debt markets into stocks. The latter trends were likely boosted by a tumble in crude oil, which slipped below $127 dollars a barrel, and by a rally in the U.S. dollar, which climbed about 0.8% against both the euro and the yen. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rose 7.09, or 0.96%, to 745.55, but did slip late off the highs when a test of key resistance near 750 attracted sellers.

Shortly after the regular market close, Dell Inc. (Nasdaq:DELL) reported earnings above the forecast, and the stock climbed about 5% on the immediate response in after-hours trading, which could provide a boost to stocks in general overnight if the buying interest remains in place.

Small-cap stocks assumed a leadership role on the rally Thursday compared with large-cap index products, and have in fact held up better recently even on down days — a possible sign that stocks are not as vulnerable at these levels as was feared.

“Small caps have been outpacing large caps on the open corporate debt market and firm credit conditions,” Nick Kalivas, vice president of financial research at MF Global told SmallCapInvestor.com in an email interview. “Risk-taking has picked up over the past two months given the dynamics in the corporate bond market.” He noted that the rest of the rise versus large caps is more index-related, tied to the underlying stocks in each product.

Kalivas also said that month-end window dressing had a role in the rally today in stocks, with pharmacy and financial shares attracting buyers while energy and commodity markets, which had been the hot zone, were pulled down by profit-taking. What’s more, Kalivas said that small caps have a timing tendency to rally at the turn of the month, and that appeared to be taking place once again.

The Commodity Futures Trading Association today announced a sweeping investigation into crude oil futures trading, and Kalivas said that news could be helping out . . .

The Lamson & Sessions Co. (NYSE: LMS), Spartan Motors, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAR) and Resource America, Inc. (Nasdaq: REXI) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers: