Tag - Stmp

Whew. As much of the country sweltered in July's heat, and all eyes were on the spending stalemate in Washington, stock investors scurried to find safe havens.

A wave of positive earnings news on Friday helped small-cap investors generally pick out some individual winners and emerge from the month in better shape than their large-cap brethren.

However, the two leading indexes that track small caps, the Russell 2000 Index and the Standard & Poor's Small Cap 600, both finished July with substantial losses: The Russell was off 3.6 percent, with the S&P Small Cap down 3.3 percent.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:SWHC), Lifeway Foods Inc. (Nasdaq:LWAY) and Starent Networks Corp. (Nasdaq:STAR) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Isramco Inc. (Nasdaq:ISRL), Liberty Media Corp. (Nasdaq:LCAPB), Stamps.com Inc. (Nasdaq:STMP), Franklin Electric Co Inc. (Nasdaq:FELE), Sturm Ruger & Co Inc. (Nasdaq:RGR) and BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq:BSTC).

Northern Technologies International Corp (Nasdaq:NTI), American Spectrum Realty Inc (Nasdaq:AQQ) and Tercica Inc (Nasdaq:TRCA) are among the new 52-week highs in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Columbus Acquisition Units (Nasdaq:BUS.U), Stamps.com Inc (Nasdaq:STMP) and GMX Resources Inc (Nasdaq:GMXR) are also among the new 52-week highs.

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

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Thursday, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) climbing 8.96, or 1.27%, to 717.07. Small caps assumed leadership among equity index products on the rise, fueled by a bounce in the U.S. dollar and a drop in crude oil prices. Financial stocks and insurers provided a significant lift to equities big and small, with Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) jumping nearly 8% as the company raised its dividend, and insurance giant Travelers (NYSE:TRV) climbing 5% as the company upgraded its 2008 outlook.

Commodities took a tumble today, which may have eased some of the food and energy fears that have weighed on investor psyche and made headlines in national and international media. Just two days after a USA Today poll said that rising food costs were a major concern for a majority of consumers, news hit around the country of rice being rationed at grocery stores because of shortages. However, the Commodity Research Bureau Index tumbled 1.6% today, which may have provided a lift to stocks, especially since crude oil came off about $3 per barrel from its lofty perch.

Investors also appeared to breathe a sigh of relief about the economic outlook when weekly claims came out at 342,000, much better than the forecast of 375,000. Even though durable goods orders were relatively soft and the New Home Sales report was awful, market focus seemed to settle in on the claims data as a bright enough spot to counter the other economic news. As it stands, the durables data tends to fluctuate quite a bit month-to-month, and everyone already knows that the housing market is floundering. The only data of note Friday morning comes from the Michigan . . .

Stocks managed to climb higher midday after seeing a sell off earlier in the session, as investors digested a slew of economic data and mixed earnings reports.

At 12:45 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) had gained 8.44, or 1.19%, at 716.55, while the Dow surged 135.07, or 1.06%, to 12,898.29.

At 10 a.m. ET, the Census Bureau reported new homes sales in March plummeted to an annual rate of 526,000, the lowest level in 16.5 years, sending stocks cascading lower this morning. Sales were below the 585,000 that economists were forecasting and represented a 36.6% plunge from the March 2007 level of 830,000, and a 8.5% slide below the revised February rate of 575,000.

In keeping with the downbeat economic news, durable goods orders for the month of March declined for the third consecutive month, decreasing $0.7 billion or 0.3% to $212.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau said this morning. This is the longest succession of decreases since the last recession in 2001.

In contrast, applications for unemployment benefits fell by 33,000 to 342,000 for the week ended April 19, the Census Bureau also reported this morning. It should be noted that the weekly claims figures are often volatile, and even though today’s headline number was better than the forecast, the claims numbers still point to extensive layoffs and a rise in the unemployment rate.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have moved up and the small-cap index will likely open in the green.

The economy will come into focus today as policy makers head to the U.S. Congress. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to tell lawmakers that the economy will slow but avoid recession.

Also appearing before a Senate committee on banking and housing at 10 a.m. ET is U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

In economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims for the weak ended Feb. 9 fell 9,000 to 348,000. However, the four-week moving average rose.

Small-cap stocks staged a solid rally Wednesday, with the Russell 2000 climbing 16.45, or 2.33% to 721.93. The rise lifted the index through the recent consolidation rectangle, and the breakout carries a target move to 735. The only convincing resistance along the way is at the recent double top at 731, although we might encounter mild selling interest today in the 726 zone. Look for support at 712 and 701.

Rocky Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCKY), Wayside Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: WSTG) and Protherics PLC (Nasdaq: PTIL) are the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers:

The following are the most actively traded companies in pre-market trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million (at 8:46 ET):

The following companies were among the small-cap percentage losers at 1:15 ET:

Shares of Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) slid on heavy volume in after-hours trading today after the Los Angeles, Calif.,-based provider of Internet-based postage services announced it would likely miss earnings expectations for fiscal 2007.

Also today, the company posted revenue of $20 million for the first quarter ended March 31 compared with $20.5 million in the same period last year. Four analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting revenue of $21.6 million.

Earnings per share of $0.14, however, were in line with the analyst expectations.

Looking ahead, Stamps.com said it currently expects total fiscal 2007 revenue to be $87 to $97 million and fiscal 2007 GAAP net income per share to be $0.67 to $0.77, including approximately $2.4 million of stock-based compensation expense.

Analysts had estimated earnings per share of $0.86 on revenue of $95.5 million for the year.

Stamps.com’s stock was down by $1.25, or 8%, to $14.10 in after-hours trading – close to its 52-week-low of 13.80, which was reached on Jan. 19, 2007. It hit its 52-week-high of 39.24 on April 24, 2006.