Tag - Wbd

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, bolstered by an oversold bounce after Tuesday’s jolting losses. Additional upside momentum was tied to solid earnings from tech bellwether IBM. The market will now dissect various earnings numbers today and look for details on the Obama stimulus plan for trading direction. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG), Tier Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:TIER) and Wimm-bill-Dann Foods (NYSE:WBD).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• From a money flow standpoint, Treasury prices were taking a hit today, raising yields on bonds and notes, suggesting money moving into equities.  
• The Architecture Billings Index rose to 36.4 in December, up from 34.7 the previous month.  
• Johnson-Redbook Retail Sales came in down 2.3% for last week, yet another gloomy picture of the spending mentality in play right now.
• This week’s action is basically devoid of economic indicators, which will put extra attention on various earnings reports, political news and world events.  
• Bank stocks have been hammered mercilessly in recent days and paced the declines again during Tuesday’s rout. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Packaging Corporation of America rallied 19%, getting a lift after reporting quarterly results after the close Tuesday. See (NYSE:PKG).  
• Tier Technologies Inc. was up 14% following news that the firm will buy ePayments Solutions and also will implement a stock repurchase program. See (Nasdaq:TIER).  
• Wimm-bill-Dann Foods was up almost 13% as Russia’s big diary company tries to mount a bounce after several days of heavy losses. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) reported results ahead of the opening today, with a big loss (but not as bad as the Street had feared), and an erosion on fuel hedges hurting results. UAUA was up almost 3% shortly after the open. See (Nasdaq:UAUA).

Small Cap Loser:

• Omnicell updates 2008 year-end guidance and announces company reorganization; shares plummet nearly 40% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:OMCL).

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, bolstered by an oversold bounce after Tuesday’s jolting losses. Additional upside momentum was tied to solid earnings from tech bellwether IBM. The market will now dissect various earnings numbers today and look for details on the Obama stimulus plan for trading direction. At 9:54 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 6.56, or 1.51%, at 440.21.

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) topped the forecast when reporting earnings after the close Tuesday, rose some 4% in extended trading and was up about 7% shortly after the open today, providing some bullish leadership for a market that was reeling Tuesday.

Bank stocks have been hammered mercilessly in recent days and paced the declines again during Tuesday’s rout. And even though banks remain in a difficult position and traders are fretting about the risk of nationalizing some major banks, there was a bright spot this morning with Northern Trust Corp. (Nasdaq:NTRS) beating the forecast. NTRS was up some 21% early.

There will be plenty of earnings fodder to chew on today, with Apple Inc., Ebay, Abbott Labs, UAL Corp., and United Technologies on the results docket at some point. Looking at airlines, that group was soft in overseas action. UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) reported results ahead of the opening today, with a big loss (but not as bad as the Street had feared), and an erosion on fuel hedges hurting results. UAUA was up almost 3% shortly after the open.

President Obama is slated to meet with his economic leadership team today to begin the difficult task of vetting out the right policy to spark a recovery. His pick to lead the Treasury Department, Timothy Geithner, still faces tough questions from Senate leaders on tax issues before his confirmation. Most believe that Geithner will eventually be confirmed – perhaps as soon as this week. Paul Volcker is expected to introduce Geithner to the Senate confirmation hearing, which will put some weight behind the proceedings. Geithner today said that the financial bailout program . . .

Small-cap stocks soared into mid-session trading, with financial, energy and gold stocks driving an impressive rally to provide confirmation of Friday’s big rally. The market continues to find bullish inspiration on economic advisor appointments by President-elect Obama, who announced his team today in just the second major press conference since he won the presidential vote earlier this month. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE:WBD), General Cable Corp. (NYSE:BGC) and SL Green Realty Corp.  (NYSE:SLG).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Investment banks, brokerage firms, diverse financial instruments, wireless telecoms, homebuilders, coal, real estate services all higher.  
• Gold stocks were seeing huge gains today, boosted by safe haven flows.  
• Commodities in general were a big factor in the stock market rise today, supported by a slide in the U.S. dollar against the euro.  
• Crude oil prices extended the morning rally into midday, rising some $4 a barrel, which stoked a 5% surge in energy stocks. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC jumped 39% as Russia’s largest dairy company generated a huge bounce off 52-week lows set last week. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• General Cable Corp. rallied 36% as the copper, aluminum and fiber optic cable manufacturer rose off last week’s lows with the overall bounce in commodity shares today. See (NYSE:BGC).  
• SL Green Realty Corp. jumped 35% as the real estate investment trust embraced the Citigroup bail out plan, as Citigroup is the firm’s biggest tenant. See (NYSE:SLG).  
• Dress Barn last week reports increase in Q1 sales, shares are up 10% today. See (Nasdaq:DBRN).

Small Cap Losers:

• Ann Taylor swings to Q3 loss, sees tough Q4. Shares are down 8.7% near a 52-week low of $4.21, down from a 52-week high of $32.82. See (NYSE:ANN).  
• China Eastern passenger throughput down 2.72% in October; shares tumble 12%. See (NYSE:CEA).  
• Life Time Fitness down another 10% today after the small cap announced last week that it would cute 100 jobs. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• Tween Brands is down 18% following last week's announcement of a Q3 sales, earnings drop in "challenging environment." See (NYSE:TWB).

Small-cap stocks soared into mid-session trading, with financial, energy and gold stocks driving an impressive rally to provide confirmation of Friday’s big rally. The market continues to find bullish inspiration on economic advisor appointments by President-elect Obama, who announced his team today in just the second major press conference since he won the presidential vote earlier this month. At 12:27 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 16.15, or 3.97%, at 422.69, leaving the market on track for the biggest two-day gain since the Oct. 10 bounce.

Most of Obama’s key selections had already been leaked to the press, and helped fuel the rally on Friday. There is a sense among investors that the fact Obama has made these moves on his economic appointments so quickly shows that the economy is his top priority as the nation lurches through the worst financial malaise since the Great Depression. The market dipped slightly off the highs (losing about 1.5 percentage points) about 15 minutes into Obama’s press conference today when he said that he would not announce a dollar figure for his stimulus plan. There were hopes among some investors that he would announce a plan that was bigger than $700 billion.

The other big news event this morning was a government rescue package for the nation’s No. 2 bank, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C). The plan calls for $306 billion in guarantees on toxic assets and a direct cash injection of $20 billion. Citigroup shares soared some 60% on the news, providing a lift to financial stocks in general as the bailout quashes some systemic risk fears.

Crude oil prices extended the morning rally into midday as well, rising some $4 a barrel, which stoked a 5% surge in energy stocks. Commodities in general were a big factor in the stock market rise today, supported by a slide in the U.S. dollar against the euro (which makes commodities priced in dollar terms more attractive). Gold stocks . . .

Looks like we’re back in the slump we saw pervade October trading. Small caps plummeted 6.12% today and are now down 41% for the year. Today’s small-cap gainers are ATA Inc. (Nasdaq:ATAI), ARYx Therapeutics (Nasdaq:ARYX) and Imperial Sugar (Nasdaq:IPSU).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Anything currently linked to Russia is trouble; the Russian Stock Exchange closed for two days to stem massive selling in Russian equities.
• For 2008, the Russell is now down 41%, while the Dow is off 38% and the S&P 500 is down 42%.
• Including action since mid-September, this was the eighth session sporting a loss of 5% or more.
• Energy and other commodity values remain a bearish element for many stocks right now. 
• Crude oil prices in the U.S. tumbled $3.17 a barrel to $56.16, the lowest closing price since January 2007.
• Copper and aluminum prices slumped to three-year lows in overseas trading (although copper did close slightly higher in U.S. trading). 
• Energy shares were a drag on the market, with the Energy SPDR Fund off 8.1%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• ATA Inc. rallied 19% as the Chinese computer testing firm reported earnings. See (Nasdaq:ATAI).
• ARYx Therapeutics swings to profit in Q3; shares up a whopping 47%. See (Nasdaq:ARYX). 
• Imperial Sugar Co. jumped nearly 15% as the sugar processing firm extended a recent upside push from the October lows. See (Nasdaq:IPSU).
• Embattled Dow component General Motors Corp. was up 5.4% on talk that legislators are warming up to ideas to help provide financial assistance . . .

Small-cap stocks went into freefall mode Wednesday, burdened by new plans for the troubled asset relief program (TARP), ongoing worries about corporate profitability, money flow out of equities into credit markets, further downside probing in commodities to 5-year lows and renewed concerns about consumer spending in a difficult economic environment. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 29.49, or 6.12% at 452.80, the second-lowest daily close in more than five years. For 2008, the Russell is now down 41%, while the Dow is off 38% and the S&P 500 is down 42%.

We’ve all become somewhat numb to mind-boggling daily volatility since the collapse kicked into gear, but to give some perspective, if you went back before the stock market crash began in mid-September, today’s slide would have been the largest one-day swoon of the year. Including action since mid-September, this was the eighth session sporting a loss of 5% or more.

The market was already in a fragile frame of mind this morning after Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY) lowered its outlook, which stirred worries about consumer spending heading toward the key holiday season. With two-thirds of the U.S. economy driven by consumer spending, a picture of rising unemployment and a dreary outlook for next year make for a troubling brew. BBY shares lost 8% on the day, while the S&P Retail Index was off 5.7%.

Then after the BBY scare, investor confidence seemed to be shaken even more by the Treasury Department’s decision to scrap the original rescue plans of using $700 billion in TARP funds to buy up toxic debt and instead divert money into more capital injections. Those investor concerns appear to be two-fold: first, there is a perception that the government still is bouncing back and forth trying to put out fires instead of having a deliberate plan of attack to help restore financial solvency. Second, there is a chance that if the government funnels billions of dollars into these financial firms it will dilute share-holder equity. The PHLX KBW Banking Index was off 6.1%.

When the TARP was first approved by Congress back on Oct. 3, the Russell was at 619.40. After putting $350 billion to “work” to rescue the market out of the credit crisis, the Russell is now at 452.80. Clearly, there is still work to be done. And the longer the market struggles the more likely it is that public frustration over . . .

Small-cap stocks extended the opening slide after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson suggested that the government’s initial plan to rescue our fragile financial system by scooping up bad debt off the books of financial firms wasn’t that great of an idea after all. A lack of confidence in the rescue plan simply added to existing jitters about the economy and the corporate profit outlook. Today’s small-cap gainers are Rex Energy (Nasdaq:REXX), CTC Media (Nasdaq:CTCM) and Ticketmaster (Nasdaq:TKTM).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Anything currently linked to Russia is trouble; the Russian Stock Exchange closed for 2 days to stem massive selling in Russian equities.  
• The U.S. dollar was down mildly against the euro, but absolutely tanking against the Japanese yen, losing some 2.1%.  
• Treasury markets rallied as equity markets tumbled, reflecting flight toward “safe haven” outlets and away from stocks.  
• Small caps are down neaerly 4% after Paulson said the govt. would scrap the original “rescue” plan, in lieu of a better alternative.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• Rex Energy trading up over 10% after clocking a profit in Q3 on Nov. 7. See (Nasdaq:REXX).
• CTC Media reports inducement grant under NASDAQ marketplace rule 4350. Shares up 8.4%. See (Nasdaq:CTCM).  
• Ticketmaster Entertainment posts Q3 revenue increase, removes convenience fees for certain concerts. Shares trading up 6% this morning. See (Nasdaq:TKTM).  
• FalconStor Software, Inc. up 5% on higher-than-average volume. See (Nasdaq:FALC).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC tumbled 24% on news that ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the firm’s debt. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• Though crude prices are down, select airlines are struggling. UAL Corp. is down 23%, US Airways is off 20% and Alaska Air is down 7.5%. See (Nasdaq:UAUA), (NYSE:LCC) and (NYSE:ALK).  
• Central European Distribution Corp., the largest vodka producer in Poland, tumbled 21%. See (Nasdaq:CEDC).  
• Hadera Paper Ltd., an Israeli company that specializes in manufacturing and recycling of paper products, was off 20% after reporting earnings. See (NYSE:AIP).  

Small-cap stocks extended the opening slide after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson suggested that the government’s initial plan to rescue our fragile financial system by scooping up bad debt off the books of financial firms wasn’t that great of an idea after all. A lack of confidence in the rescue plan simply added to existing jitters about the economy and the corporate profit outlook. At 12:16 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 18.46, or 3.83%, at 463.83.

Paulson said that the government was moving toward another round of capital injections into financial institutions, scrapping the original “rescue” of buying up toxic debt as a way to utilize the $700 billion in funds targeted to rescue the market from the credit crisis. Fair or not, the immediate reaction from stock market investors to the news was that they seemed to see the announcement as another sign of a wishy-washy, “putting out fires” approach to the crisis instead of a well-thought, well-executed approach to the problems at hand.

Treasury markets rallied as equity markets tumbled, reflecting flight toward “safe haven” outlets and away from stocks. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes fell 2%. Yields move inverse to price, so the slide on yields reflected demand for the 10-year note product. The U.S. dollar was down mildly against the euro, but absolutely tanking against the Japanese yen, losing some 2.1%.

Individual small caps on the slide today included Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC (NYSE:WBD), as Russia’s largest dairy company tumbled 24% on news that ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the firm’s debt. Pretty much anything linked to Russia right now is trouble as the Russian Micex Stock Exchange closed for . . .