Tag - Ua

FNB Corp. (Nasdaq:FNB), BPZ Resources Inc. (Nasdaq:BPZ) and Under Armour Inc. (Nasdaq:UA) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: TBS International Ltd. (Nasdaq:TBSI), Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM), ICT Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ICTG), VisionChina Media Inc. (Nasdaq:VISN), Safe Bulkers Inc. (Nasdaq:SB) and Cascade Bancorp (Nasdaq:CACB).

Small-cap stocks went into a tailspin on the opening, with worries about the banking sector combining with slumping retail sales to spark a flight away from equities. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:YRCW) and Sequenom (Nasdaq:SQNM).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Copper tumbled 5% on the opening, yet another worry sign for the economy as copper is a key component in construction.  
• Traders say that concerns over the appointment of Timothy Geithner to Treasury Secretary has played into the overall market malaise.  
• Earlier this morning the import price series tumbled 4.2%, well below the forecast for a drop of 0.5%.  
• Within the economic data news, business inventories came in at minus 0.7%, slightly below the forecast for a drop of 0.5%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• YRC Worldwide Inc. up 10.3% in pre-market today, paring some of the losses the stock saw earlier this week after it was downgraded late last week. See (Nasdaq:YRCW).
• Sequenom up 3% in pre-market after commencing an exchange offer to acquire EXACT Sciences. See (Nasdaq:SQNM).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Under Armour Inc. announced preliminary results that were sloppy and UA’s stock took a 15% hit early this morning. See (NYSE:UA).  
• Biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. down 5.7% in pre-market on very light volume. See (Nasdaq:CRXL).  
• ZymoGenetics, Inc. down 4.3% in pre-market, giving back some of the huge losses the stock clocked on Tuesday. See (Nasdaq:ZGEN).

Small-cap stocks went into a tailspin on the opening, with worries about the banking sector combining with slumping retail sales to spark a flight away from equities. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.62, or 2.45%, at 462.17.

The retail sales report headline figure for December came in at minus 2.7%, which swamped the median forecast for a decline of 1.2%. What’s more, the November figure was revised downward, rubbing a little sale in the wound. The ex-autos figure was off 3.1%, also way off the forecast for a decline of 1.3% and which marked a record drop. Even though this fall in retail sales was “goosed” by a 16% slide in gasoline prices, the dramatic slide in retail sales still suggests that the shock of recession and rising unemployment has stunned households, who in turn are turning off the spending spigot.

The troubling retail sales report clearly sparked money flow away from stocks and into Treasury markets. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes, which runs inverse to price, was off 2.6% early today as investors look for a safe-haven outlet away from equities.

Also within the economic data news, business inventories came in at minus 0.7%, slightly below the forecast for a drop of 0.5%. Earlier this morning the import price series tumbled 4.2%, well below the forecast for a drop of 0.5%. The drop in exports was the largest in 10 years, which isn’t exactly great news if you sell widgets to customers across one of the ponds.

On the financial front, bank stocks were hammered in European trading overnight. HSBC fell some 8%, Deutsche Bank was down 10% and Commerzbank was off 9% as worries about the credit crunch and debt writedowns resurface into the earnings season. U.S. banks remain in a negative spotlight, with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) selling off brokerage assets to raise cash into earnings and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) downgraded by analysts. Shortly after the open, Citigroup . . .

The Finish Line, Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) CEO Alan Cohen said nothing has changed regarding the athletic footwear retailer’s troubled acquisition of rival Genesco (NYSE: GSO) other than what has been publicly stated.

“Nothing’s changed beyond what we’ve said publicly in the press releases,” Cohen said in a morning conference call. “We are in litigation. That’s not by our choice.”

In June, Finish Line announced it was buying rival Genesco, a shoe and apparel chain operator, for $1.5 billion. Since then, Finish Line said on Monday that the deal has stalled because of Genesco's failure to provide financial details or access to the company’s financial officers. Last week, Genesco accused Finish Line of “buyer’s remorse” and filed a lawsuit to close the acquisition.

Since Genesco reported a $4.2 million second-quarter loss on Aug. 30, Wall Street analysts have criticized Finish Line’s $1.5 billion offer as overpriced. Investment bank UBS (NYSE: UBS), Finish Line’s financier, has delayed closing the deal by requesting additional information on Genesco’s financial condition.

An analyst on the call repeatedly pressed Cohen for answers regarding UBS’ financing of the Genesco acquisition, but the CEO only said that he had no comment on the matter and that litigation was in progress.

After Thursday’s closing, the shoe and apparel retailer reported a second-quarter net loss of $1.8 million, or $0.04 a share, above analyst expectations of a loss of $0.10 per share, but down 118% from net income of $9.9 million, or $0.21 per share, a year earlier. The Indianapolis-based firm reported net sales of $343 million for the 13 weeks ended Sept. 1, above views of $282.8 million and 1.3% above the $338.6 million recorded during the same period of 2006.