Tag - Skil

Stocks are holding their ground through Tuesday trading as financial and homebuilder stocks stayed firm following a positive housing starts report.

At 1:49 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 9.37, or 2.43%, at 395.73, while the Dow is up 1.29% at 7,309.76, and the S&P 500 is up 1.83% at 767.68.

This morning the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments jumped 22.2% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units. Economists were expecting construction to drop to a pace of around 450,000 units.

Small cap on the move today include Star Bulk (Nasdaq:SBLK), up 20% as the company’s Q4 net soars on bigger fleet. SkillSoft Public Limited Company (Nasdaq:SKIL) is also 24% higher today following a Q4 earnings boost.

Universally Reviled

I have never seen a company more determined to make itself universally reviled than AIG. It truly boggles the mind that anyone at AIG, especially those in the financial products division that lost $62 billion on credit default swaps in the fourth quarter alone, could think they should receive a bonus.

I don’t care what the contract says — if you’re party to losing $62 billion in a three-month span, you get no reward. Sorry. And if you even have to ask if bonuses can be paid with bailout money that’s keeping your business going, your moral compass is seriously out of whack.

And it doesn’t end with the bonuses. Of the $170 billion American taxpayers have dumped into the bottomless pit that is AIG, $106 billion was paid out in settlement for the credit default swaps that AIG guaranteed.

$11.92 billion to France’s SocGen, $11.8 billion to Deustche bank and $12 billion to Paulson’s own Goldman Sachs. Well, isn’t that nice. We’ve paid off foreign banks, and our former Treasury Secretary made sure his alma mater got its payoff, too.

This is dirty business. And if Paulson knew the extent of Goldman’s exposure to AIG, and it’s impossible to think he didn’t, he needs to be called to . . .

Skillsoft ADR (Nasdaq:SKIL), MAXXAM Inc (Nasdaq:MXM) and PHI Inc (Nasdaq:PHIIK) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Zhongpin Inc (Nasdaq:HOGS), Ryland Group Inc (Nasdaq:RYL), Dillard's Inc (Nasdaq:DDS), W.R. Grace & Co (Nasdaq:GRA), West Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:WTBA) and Ship Finance International Ltd (Nasdaq:SFL).

Zale Corp. (Nasdaq:ZLC), Stanley Furniture Co Inc. (Nasdaq:STLY) and NBTY Inc. (Nasdaq:NTY) are among the new 52-week lows in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Skillsoft ADR (Nasdaq:SKIL), Argan Inc. (Nasdaq:AGX), Stewardship Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:SSFN), Cadence Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CADE), Babcock & Brown Air Ltd. (Nasdaq:FLY) and Williams Controls Inc. (Nasdaq:WMCO).

Small-cap stocks turned lower at midday as slumping technology shares weighed on investor psychology and offset optimism over yet another new government credit facility aimed to encourage consumer loan activity. In addition, fresh economic data had a predominantly gloomy tone and the market may have been ripe for a breather following two days of dramatic advances. At 12:51 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 6.29, or 1.44%, at 430.50.

Yields on Treasury products were sharply lower this morning, which suggests investors are still risk averse, even after a two-day rally that rivaled anything seen since the bounce off the 1987 stock market crash. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was off some 5.1%.

Looking at sector activity so far today, homebuilders were the best performers, followed by motorcycle manufacturers, industrial REITS, construction materials, managed health care, building products and Internet software services. The firm tone in various housing-related stocks was interesting given fresh economic data this morning showing that housing prices staged a record decline last month from previous year levels.

In other data news today, the GDP report came in as advertised, with a retreat of 0.5%, which puts the economy on the verge of an “official” recession, even though many market watchers argue the economy has already been mired in a recession for months on end. Interestingly, consumer confidence levels actually improved quite a bit more than expected, rising to 49.9, up from the forecast of 38.5 (but still low historically).

When the government isn’t outright giving taxpayer funds to big banks, they are continuing to build credit facilities to try and encourage lending activity and the latest products today included one for consumer asset-backed items (like autos, . . .

Zale Corp. (Nasdaq:ZLC), Dycom Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:DY) and Skillsoft ADR (Nasdaq:SKIL) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Haynes International Inc. (Nasdaq:HAYN), Titan International Inc. (Nasdaq:TWI), Mentor Graphics Corp. (Nasdaq:MENT), Pioneer Drilling Co. (Nasdaq:PDC), Redwood Trust Inc. (Nasdaq:RWT) and TreeHouse Foods Inc. (Nasdaq:THS).

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).

SkillSoft PLCʼs (Nasdaq:SKIL) stock climbed 6.6% this morning after the education software firm raised its 2009 guidance and reported second-quarter earnings that beat analystsʼ estimates.

For the quarter ended July 31, SkillSoft said before the bell this morning that it earned $12.9 million, or $0.12 per share. Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $0.05.

The strong results prompted the Nashua, N.H.-based firm set its financial expectations higher for the 2009 fiscal year.

Skillsoft is now targeting fiscal 2009 revenue to be in the range of $335 million to $338 million compared with a May guidance of between $329 million to $336 million. It also anticipates that its adjusted net income for fiscal 2009 will be between $38 million and $41 million, or $0.35 to $0.38 per share, compared with a previous estimate of $35 million to $38 million, or $0.32 to $0.35 per share.

By mid-morning, Skillsoft is at $10.54, up $0.65 from Thursday's close. The stock has traded between $7.75 and $11.42 during the past year.

For detailed price information and news stories on SkillSoft, click SKIL.