Tag - Twi

Monday started off with a bang as President-elect Obama’s stimulus plans and auto bailout talk helped buoy the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) to a closing above 4%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are DryShips (Nasdaq:DRYS), Excel Maritime Carriers (NYSE:EXM) and Titan International (NYSE:TWI).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The Russell is now down 37% for 2008, while the Dow is off 33% and the S&P 500 is down 38%.
• Obama said he hopes to create more than 2.5M jobs by 2011 while launching the biggest infrastructure project in the U.S. since the 1950s.
• Commodities in general were back on the rally track today after being dismissed for the last few months amid the global slowdown.
• Corn shot up 6%, soybeans were up 4%, sugar and coffee rallied 6%, silver was up 6%, and platinum and palladium were up 7%.
• Crude oil joined in on the commodities surge, climbing 7.1%, or $2.90 a barrel.
• Oil, metal and cement stocks saw dramatic gains in several emerging market locales today.
• Commodities were bolstered by a decline in the U.S. dollar against the euro, with the greenback off more than 230 basis points, or 1.8%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• DryShips Inc. rode the wave of commodity-themed bargain hunting, closing up 51%. See (Nasdaq:DRYS).
• Within the ocean vessel theme, Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. jumped 40% and is another stock that has seen the bottom fall out of their boat since mid-August, but is trying to mount a recovery now. See (NYSE:EXM).
• Titan International Inc. rose 37% as the tire maker for off-road . . .

Small-cap stocks started out the week with a bang, breakout out of last week’s range in dramatic fashion amid hope that a massive public works proposal by President-elect Obama will ignite a business spending and economic recovery. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) jumped 20.29, or 4.40%, to 481.38, the highest daily close Nov. 13. The Russell is now down 37% for 2008, while the Dow is off 33% and the S&P 500 is down 38%.

Obama said this weekend he hopes to create more than 2.5 million jobs by 2011 while launching the biggest infrastructure project in the United States since the 1950s. As news of the Obama plan spread this weekend, it triggered a rally in stock markets overseas and then when U.S. markets opened for trading basically anything even loosely tied to construction, engineering, steel, or commodity resources became a hot item. These types of companies had been hammered in recent weeks, making the combination of attractive valuation and massive infrastructure projects an enticing outlet for investors.

Commodities in general were back on the rally track today after being dismissed for the last few months amid the global slowdown. Corn shot up 6%, soybeans were up 4%, sugar and coffee rallied 6%, silver was up 6%, platinum and palladium up 7% and the Commodity Research Bureau Index of 19 physical markets shot up 4% after making multi-year lows last week. Crude oil joined in on the commodities surge, climbing 7.1%, or $2.90 a barrel. The rally in crude oil prices was not only tied to the general rise in commodities, but was also spurred by talk of OPEC production cuts. Energy stocks rose 5.4% on the day.

Commodities were bolstered by a decline in the U.S. dollar against the euro, with the greenback off more than 230 basis points, or 1.8%, which makes commodities that are priced in dollar terms more attractive to buyers around the world. Emerging markets were clearly a big beneficiary of today’s moves, with Brazil’s stock market climbing nearly 8% and Mexico’s equities up almost 5%. Both of those countries . . .