Tag - Tdsc

3-D is becoming a hot consumer technology and has helped to resurrect movie theaters over the past year. Major 3-D pictures, from Twentieth Century Fox's 'Avatar' to DreamWorks Animation's 'How To Train Your Dragon', have helped draw people to the theatre - and even enticed them to pay for premium tickets.

What a rally it's been.

Small-cap stocks had a strong run in September, posted decent gains in October, and have marched higher still since November 1st. With momentum on the small cap investor's side, let's take a look at what's been working, and consider what's ahead in the last two months of the year.

Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX), Matrix Service Co. (Nasdaq:MTRX) and Insteel Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:IIIN) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), NASB Financial Inc. (Nasdaq:NASB), Ricks Cabaret International Inc. (Nasdaq:RICK), Santander Bancorp (Nasdaq:SBP), Alama Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ALG) and NACCO Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:NC).

Stocks are in rally mode this Thursday, adding to gains after the board that sets U.S. accounting standards agreed to give banks more flexibility in applying mark-to-market accounting to their toxic assets.

At 12:41 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 24.71, or 5.76%, at 453.87, while the Dow is up 3.88% at 8,062.59 and the S&P 500 is soaring 4.04% at 843.87.

Small caps on the move today include Stein Mart, Inc. (Nasdaq:SMRT), up 22% today, and Century Aluminum (Nasdaq:CENX) is also treading 26% higher.

******Unemployment numbers continue to rise, but investors are more focused on the hope that the economy has bottomed and may be positioning for recovery. At least for now.

Please note that I said “positioning for recovery.” Mortgage rates are down and that seems to be helping the housing market a little. Credit afforded by the Treasury aimed at removing toxic assets from banks is resulting in higher valuations for those banks.

But all of the steps that have been taken are in their infancy. How long will it take to work off the available inventory in the housing market? Will banks and private investors come to an agreement on acceptable prices for toxic assets?

These questions will be answered over time. And it should go without saying that there’s plenty of room for disappointment down the road.

*****The Public-Private Investment Program could create some very low risk profits for its participants. That’s because the Treasury and the Fed are . . .

Polypore International Inc. (Nasdaq:PPO), Force Protection Inc. (Nasdaq:FRPT) and USANA Health Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:USNA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: GrafTech International Ltd. (Nasdaq:GTI), Atlas America Inc. (Nasdaq:ATLS), Bronco Drilling Co Inc. (Nasdaq:BRNC), 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), Unifirst Corp. (Nasdaq:UNF) and TNS Inc. (Nasdaq:TNS).

First M&F Corp. (Nasdaq:FMFC), Superior Industries International Inc. (Nasdaq:SUP) and Calavo Growers Inc. (Nasdaq:CVGW) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), DTS Inc. (Nasdaq:DTSI), Blue Coat Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:BCSI), Sourcefire Inc. (Nasdaq:FIRE), TranS1 Inc. (Nasdaq:TSON) and Calgon Carbon Corp. (Nasdaq:CCC).

Blyth Inc. (Nasdaq:BTH), Volt Information Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:VOL) and Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX), Omega Flex Inc. (Nasdaq:OFLX), First Advantage Corp. (Nasdaq:FADV) and Lincoln Educational Services Corp. (Nasdaq:LINC).

Energy Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq:ES), Domino's Pizza Inc. (Nasdaq:DPZ) and NewStar Financial Inc. (Nasdaq:NEWS) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Winmark Corp. (Nasdaq:WINA), HSN Inc. (Nasdaq:HSNI), Innospec Inc.(Nasdaq:IOSP), Lear Corp. (Nasdaq:LEA), YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:YRCW) and 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC).

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Deltek Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC) and Cheniere Energy Inc. (Nasdaq:LNG) are among the new 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Primedia Inc. (Nasdaq:PRM), Community Bancorp (Nasdaq:CBON) and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:OREX) are also among the new 52-week lows.

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

After opening sharply lower, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM), along with other major indices, remains besieged midday Friday after the credit crisis continued to ravage Wall Street.

At 1:45 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 was down 1.91, or 0.27%, at 717.64, while the Dow sunk 136.54, or 1.06%, to 12,730.24

Credit concerns were reignited after insurance juggernaut AIG (NYSE:AIG) reported a record loss after Thursday’s close, signaling that outside of Wall Street credit conditions have tightened further and the credit tempest isn’t showing signs of letting up.

“[AIG’s earnings] underscore that the credit crunch is ongoing,” said Andy Busch, foreign exchange strategist for BMO Capital Markets, in an interview. “I think we had gone through a period in which the earnings didn’t seem so bad and [now] we are getting earnings that are much larger as far as write downs go. People get nervous … when you have an earnings shock to any company.”

Compounding concerns, oil continued its skyward climb, hitting $126 a barrel midmorning on concerns that Venezuela could cut oil exports. Since then, oil has pulled back slightly to roughly $125 a barrel midday. Over the course of the . . .

Deltek Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC) and GeoEye Inc. (Nasdaq:GEOY) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Omega Protein Corp. (Nasdaq:OME), PowerSecure International Inc. (Nasdaq:POWR) and Knot Inc. (Nasdaq:KNOT) are also among the biggest percentage losers.

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Small-cap stocks opened sharply lower, pressured by a renewal of the credit crisis fears and reeling from a dramatic surge in crude oil that could crimp consumer spending habits and weigh on sentiment. At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.43, or 0.62%, at 715.12.

Financial shares sparked a wave of overnight selling after American International Group (NYSE:AIG) released earnings that disappointed investors and renewed concerns about debt write-downs among financial institutions. AIG tumbled 5% on the regular opening (which was better than the overnight showing), and the largest bank Citigroup (NYSE:C) was basically flat — also not as bad as overnight action — as the CEO spoke at an investor meeting.

There also was talk of asset allocation plays being back in vogue this morning, with investors shifting money away from equities and into treasury products. The old stock market adage “sell in May and go away” appeared to have a life this first full week of May trading.

In a Goldman Sachs research report released overnight, analysts say that the underlying shock of mortgage credit defaults is large and “still has a ways to go.” Although they say that some of the markets that have been beaten down will normalize and create positive spillover on sentiment in the broader economy, they said that excess housing supply, acceleration of home price declines and over leverage in the U.S. housing market will not go away anytime soon.
 
“We believe that such losses (from over leverage) imply further adverse surprises for balance sheets in parts of the financial sector, with correspondingly adverse effects on lending and economic activity. The focus of the pain is likely to shift away from subprime mortgages, where the markets are already discounting very large losses, to other residential mortgage debt, including prime mortgages. This is one reason why we are expecting a renewed slowdown in economic activity after the stimulus-fueled bounce in mid- to late 2008. In turn, it makes us fairly confident that . . .

Shares of 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC) are plummeting out of the gate after the provider of 3-D modeling, rapid prototyping and manufacturing services posted a substantially wider-than-forecasted first-quarter net loss and anemic revenues that slumped below the consensus on Wall Street.

The lackluster results were owed to lower sales of large-frame rapid manufacturing systems on account of soft demand in the U.S. market for prototypes and functional parts produced on these systems. Lower selling prices and a lower success rate to close new systems sales also contributed to the down quarter.

Shares crumbled 30%, or $4.11, to $10.01 at 9:52 a.m. For detailed price information and recent news stories about 3D Systems, click TDSC.

3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: TDSC) CEO Abe Reichental said during a morning conference call that the maker of three-dimensional prototyping systems will continue to focus more on lower-priced products.

The company unveiled the new version of its V-Flash Desktop Modeler in late September. The modeler is a rapid prototype machine designed for home, educational and office environments. To raise awareness, Reichental said the Rock Hill, S.C.-based company will launch an e-commerce site during the fourth quarter that will focus on V-Flash.

“Upon successful completion of our initial rollout phase in the United States, we anticipate expanding the marketing reach of our V-Flash modeler in Europe during the first quarter of 2008,” Reichental said.

The company expects to place about 100 V-Flash systems in the United States before the end of calendar 2007. The unit sells for about $9,900.

“V-Flash is going to represent a game-changing device. We have never had a device that could potentially be sold in the thousands,” he said. “Before we get overly excited, we want to make sure that the system is tested and verified en masse.”

After Thursday’s close, 3D Systems reported third-quarter revenue of $38.2 million, up 21% from $31.5 million and on par with analyst estimates of $38.2 million. The firm’s quarterly profit totaled $0.3 million, or $0.01 per share, below Wall Street projections of $0.05 per share but compared with a loss of $11.3 million, or $0.61 per share, during the same period of 2006.

The Russell 2000 posted the biggest loss among the major U.S. indices as stocks hit the skids following a rise in government bond yields. The Russell 2000 lost 12.16 points, or 1.43%, to finish at 836.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 146.00 points, or 1.07%, to 13,489.42.

Stocks started heading down this afternoon as investors reacted to a rise in the yield of the 10-year Treasury bond. The yield ended the day at 5.146%, above Tuesday’s close of 5.081%. Bond yields first broke through the 5% barrier two weeks ago.

Bond yields help determine rates on loans and mortgages, and an increase suggests that interest rates might move up, making borrowing more difficult and slowing down the economy.

The Russell 2000 index and the Dow are trading close to the flat line this morning. At 11:19 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was down 1.60 points, or 0.19%, to 846.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 11.62 points, or 0.09%, to 13,647.04.

Fuel Tech Inc. (Nasdaq: FTEK) will be expanding into China, the Batavia, Ill.-based developer of proprietary technologies for air pollution control announced after Tuesday’s close. The company has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Japan’s ITOCHU Corp. to jointly test its energy efficient technology on a combustion unit in China. The technology is currently used in coal-fired electric generating units and other waste-to-energy units in North America and Europe.

Air filters and piping systems maker MFRI, Inc. (Nasdaq: MFRI) said strong sales prompted its first-quarter profit to multiply six times over the year-ago period. The Niles, Ill.-based company reported income for the first quarter ended April 30 was $1 million, or $0.15 per share, up from $151,000, or $0.03 per share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted earnings of $0.10 per share.

NeurogesX Inc. (Nasdaq: NGSX) announced it has completed enrollment for the third trial phase of its postherpetic neuralgia treatment NGX-4010.

Boosted by increased pricing and operational improvements, Exide Technologies’ (Nasdaq: XIDE) fourth quarter loss narrowed from the year-ago period. The battery maker reported a quarterly loss of $21.6 million, or $0.35 per share, compared with a loss of $76.3 million, or $2.98 per share, a year earlier.

Cano Petroleum, Inc. (AMEX: CFW) said it sold its Rich Valley, Okl. property to a private company for $7.0 million.

Solar energy equipment maker Amtech Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASYS) announced $4.1 million in new orders from Asia. The Tempe, Ariz.-based company said it expects to deliver the orders in six months.

Rock Hill, S.C.-based 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: TDSC) announced its Tangible Express technology will be featured in the July issue of “Plastics Technology” magazine.

These are the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million: