Tag - Tnl

Origin Agritech Ltd. (Nasdaq:SEED), Bob Evans Farms Inc. (Nasdaq:BOBE) and Applied Signal Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:APSG) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Hub Group Inc. (Nasdaq:HUBG), Life Partners Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:LPHI), Utah Medical Products Inc. (Nasdaq:UTMD), Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (Nasdaq:APL), Technitrol Inc. (Nasdaq:TNL) and Rubicon Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:RBCN).

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rallied back into positive territory today, rejecting a morning slide to seven-week lows as technology firms, energy companies, gold stocks and downtrodden financial shares attracted buying interest from bargain hunters. Some of today's small-cap gainers were Geron Corp. (Nasdaq:GERN), Tempur-Pedic (NYSE:TPX) and Canadian Solar (Nasdaq:CSIQ).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Stock markets in Europe and Asia were in retreat mode overnight, which only added to the selling bias early on in U.S. trading.
• Small-cap stocks rallied back into positive territory, rejecting a morning slide to seven-week lows.
• For 2009, the Russell is off 11%, while the Dow is down 7.9% and the S&P 500 is down 7.8%.
• For the day, bank stocks were up 4.1%, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund rose 3.3%.
• Energy stocks were among the strongest performers today, bolstered by a recovery rally in crude oil prices, which jumped $2.80/barrel.
• Gold prices steamrolled to $900 an ounce Friday, gathering momentum from short-term investors seeking a safe-haven.

Small-Cap Gainers:

• Geron Corp. jumped 40% on unusually heavy volume on news that the FDA approved the first tests in human patients of embryonic stem cells. See (Nasdaq:GERN).
• Tempur-Pedic International Inc. rose 24% as the mattress maker beat the earnings forecast just a week after rival Sealy Corp. posted a stunning loss. See (NYSE:TPX).
• Canadian Solar Inc. climbed 17%, reversing a morning slide . . .

Forced liquidations, fear of a global recession and a worrisome corporate profit picture sparked another stiff sell-off in small-cap stocks, capping off a bruising week that saw the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) sink to the lowest close in more than five years. The Russell closed down 18.80, or 3.84%, at 471.12 and is now down 38% for 2008. The Dow is off 37% this year, while the S&P 500 is down 40%. Today’s small-cap gainers are Hansen Medical (Nasdaq:HNSN), Rubicon Technology (Nasdaq:RBCN) and IPC Holdings (Nasdaq:IPCR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Today’s slump underscored the fact that the credit crisis and economic crunch we’ve been feeling in America is also very much a global problem.
• This morning, data in Great Britain revealed that the U.K. economy contracted for the first time in 16 years, which ignited the largest one-day slide in the pound since 1992. 
• Also, Argentinean officials are pondering taking over billions in pension funds, Asian equities and European bourses are at five-year lows and even commodity markets are in a scary freefall.
• Crude oil prices plunged again today, sinking 5% to 17-month lows at $64.15 a barrel.
• The Commodity Research Bureau Index of 19 physical markets collapsed to the lowest point since January 2004 and is down more than 50% from the spring highs.

Small Cap Gainers:

• IPC Holdings gained 18% on no fresh news. See (Nasdaq:IPCR).  
• Rubicon Technology gained 24% at closing. See (Nasdaq:RBCN).  
• Hansen Medical closed up 30% after its bottom-line beat estimates and revenues soared in Q3. See (Nasdaq:HNSN).   
• Insituform Tech posted a 16% spike in Q3 EPS that beat the Street, as it made progress in its N. Am sewer rehabilitation operations. See (Nasdaq:INSU).

Small Cap Losers:

• Ariba Inc. closed down 22% on sloppy earnings results. See (Nasdaq:ARBA).  
• Technitrol Inc. tumbled some 35% on sloppy earnings news. See (NYSE:TNL).  
• XL Capital closed down 13% after Moody’s put the insurer on watch for downgrade on posting a Q3 loss due to bailing out Syncora Holdings. See (NYSE:XL).  

Forced liquidations, fear of a global recession and a worrisome corporate profit picture sparked another stiff sell-off in small-cap stocks, capping off a bruising week that saw the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) sink to the lowest close in more than five years. The Russell closed down 18.80, or 3.84%, at 471.12 and is now down 38% for 2008. The Dow is off 37% this year, while the S&P 500 is down 40%.

Anyone awake and watching the market before the opening today had to endure chilling news: stock index futures were locked limit-down, a trading halt on stock derivatives was in place, the Japanese market was down nearly 10%, Europe was off 8% and the yield on the long bond was at the lowest point since the product was issued back in 1977. It looked like the world was caving in ahead of the opening, and there were probably some sighs of relief that things weren’t even worse today than they turned out.

As it turned out, the opening news wasn’t pretty but it also wasn’t as bad as many feared. Then, the 10:00 a.m. ET existing home sales report came out much better than forecast and helped insert at least a modicum of optimism into a gloomy picture of the global economy. After all, if the housing market started this whole mess, a bottom in the home news could hint at a bottom for the rest of the crisis. For the record, existing home sales came in at 5.18 million units, way above the forecast of 4.98 million. Also, the rate climbed 5.5%, the best percentage performance in some three years for the moribund housing market. However, those gains in home sales are volume related because the inventory of unsold homes is huge, forcing sellers to swallow lower prices to move. As we saw in the RealtyTrac data earlier this week, foreclosures are at insane levels, with some one out of every 475 homes receiving foreclosure notices in September. Home sales might be bottoming, but home prices are not yet in recovery mode and the lofty number of “under water” mortgages . . .

Technitrol Inc. (NYSE:TNL) slumped to a 52-week low Wednesday after the electronic components producer cut its second-quarter revenue outlook. The Trevose, Pa.-based company expects revenues to be about $320 million, down from $330 million. The revision is due to lowered demand for high-margin electronic equipment components, the recent earthquake in China that impacted a components factory and higher-than-anticipated expenses, the company said. Technitrol will report its second-quarter earnings on July 24.

On Wednesday, shares of Technitrol fell more than 12% to $14.75.