Tag - Wsii

3PAR Inc (Nasdaq:PAR), Lifeway Foods Inc (Nasdaq:LWAY) and Waste Services Inc (Nasdaq:WSII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Sierra Bancorp (Nasdaq:BSRR), Drew Industries Inc (Nasdaq:DW), Basic Energy Services Inc (Nasdaq:BAS), Lufkin Industries Inc (Nasdaq:LUFK), Bridge Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:BDGE) and United Security Bancshares Inc.(Nasdaq:USBI).

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed slightly higher today on news that a deal was hammered out on the stimulus bill. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were First M&F Corp. (Nasdaq:FMFC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE:MI) and Golden Star Resources (AMEX:GSS).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The MBA Mortgage Application Index fell 24.5% today despite a mild dip on fixed rate mortgages, which suggests that the housing market is still struggling mightily.
• Economist Steve Wood: "The housing market is still mired in a deep recession with no indication that a bottom has yet been reached."
• The monthly trade report was released, showed the smallest trade gap in nearly six years, but that gap was still a tad bigger than expected.
• Bank shares were a bright spot for the market today, with the KBW Banking Index rising about 5%. 
• Gold stocks were a source of strength today, likely bolstered by investors looking for a hard goods safe haven away from struggling equities.
• Crude oil prices tumbled 4.2%, losing $1.61 to $35.94 a barrel, pulled down by a surprisingly large build on weekly inventories.
• Copper prices in U.S. trading tumbled some 5% amid news that China’s January imports of copper fell 19%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Small-cap banks dominated the biggest percentage gainers today, with firms like First M&F Corp. climbing back from a big slide Tuesday. FMFC gained about 21% on the session. See (Nasdaq:FMFC).
• Small-cap bank Marshall & Ilsley Corp. rose 12% today, gaining back some of the 26% spiral from Tuesday. See (NYSE:MI).
• Several small-cap gold stocks were a hot item today, including . . .

Small-cap stocks remained higher into mid-session, supported by gains in gold stocks, banks and homebuilders but the rise was taking place on fairly light volume and in the shadow of Tuesday’s big collapse. At 12:27 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 3.29, or 0.74 at 449.06.

Investors continue to sit on their hands waiting for news out of Washington, as hearings on the first tranche of TARP spending take place. In addition, lawmakers still have to piece together the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill to present to President Obama for signing. And of course, the biggie is to see whether or not the Administration can mount some type of spin control off the disastrous market response to the Treasury Department’s rollout of the bank bail out plan Tuesday.

The big question facing market watchers so far today is whether or not the rise is simply a dead cat bounce from hot money shorts booking profits from Tuesday’s swoon, or if there are legitimate buyers coming in to find bargains and beaten down shares. Light volume and limited ranges tilt the answer toward the dead cat side of the ledger, but it is comforting to see that the Russell held above the late January lows despite a breach from the Dow.

As for sector activity, gold bugs were a happy lot today; gold futures were up over 3% to four-month highs, the Gold and Silver Index was up 7.5% at midday, small-cap gold stock Golden Star Resources Ltd. (AMEX:GSS) built on morning gains to climb 12.5% and big-cap group leader Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) rose 8.4%.

Real estate services shares, homebuilders, insurance brokers and photo product companies were also doing well so far today, sharing the spotlight with diverse financial services firms, regional banks and asset management specialists.

That’s not to say that everything was peaches and cream today; constructional material firms, paper products companies, industrial real estate investment trusts, footwear companies, gas utilities and oil exploration firms were all on the losing side of the ledger. Energy stocks gave back morning gains to slip into the red as crude oil prices slipped off the highs following weekly inventory data that showed a . . .

Waste Services Inc. (Nasdaq:WSII) gained 12% in pre-market trading today after Tuesday’s after-the-close announcement of profitable second-quarter earnings. For the quarter ended June 30, net income was $3.9 million, or $0.09 a share, compared with a net loss of $14.4 million, or $0.32 per share, for the same period a year ago. Revenues were $128.3 million versus $119.4 million for the quarter a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting $0.08 per share with revenues of $124.3 million.

The Canada-based company said it expects its full-year guidance to be in line with previous estimates of revenues between $480 million and $500 million with earnings per share of $0.30 to $0.35.

Before today’s market open, shares are at $9, up $0.95 from Tuesday’s close.

If the state of the current market has you down in the dumps, look no further than waste management companies American Ecology Corp. (Nasdaq:ECOL) and Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CWST), market leaders in two of the best-performing segments – hazardous waste remediation and waste recycling.

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. is the nation’s 12th-largest waste management firm and considered one of the most forward-looking by many industry analysts. This vertically integrated, regional player provides waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services to residential and commercial customers across 14 states in the eastern United States. At FY 2008 year end, Casella’s operations consisted of 34 solid waste collection operations, 30 transfer stations, 11 disposal facilities, 38 recycling facilities and three landfill gas-to-energy facilities. The company also holds a 50% interest in a joint venture that manufactures and sells cellulose insulation made from recycled fiber, and has a 20% equity interest in a company that markets incentive-based recycling services to some 250 national and local customers.

Casella was one of the first waste management service providers to recognize an emerging industry trend favoring improved resource management and greater recycling. More than 150 million tons of material was recycled in the United States last year and recycling has become a $71 billion industry employing more than 50,000 workers nationwide. Casella currently derives more than 30% of revenues from recycling. In 2007, the company sold more than 400,000 tons of recycled paper and 15 million tons of recycled aluminum. 

Since 2003, Casella has invested over $200 million in developing strategically located landfill capacity with the goals of strengthening its market position and creating . . .

One man’s trash can be another man’s treasure — especially during recessionary periods. To unearth profits in the unlikeliest of places, waste management companies are generally considered defensive investments since they provide essential services and have long-term contracts. Not bad, especially when you’re Waste Services Inc. (Nasdaq:WSII) and American Ecology Corp. (Nasdaq:ECOL), two fast-growing waste management companies.

Demand for hazardous waste cleanup grew rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s as a result of new environmental laws and actions by federal and state agencies to clean up contaminated sites under the federal Superfund law. Hazardous waste cleanup is a $2 billion North American market today, not including the much larger industrial maintenance market. Barriers to entry are huge because of the arduous federal, state, provincial and local permitting processes. No new competitors have entered North America in the past decade and as a result, established players such as American Ecology and Waste Services are benefiting from more stable pricing and new regulatory requirements that increase in-house disposal costs and encourage outsourcing.

Waste Services provides collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services for commercial, industrial and residential customers in the United States and Canada. The company collects trash for approximately 84,000 commercial and industrial customers and 8.4 million residential homes. The terms of its contracts are typically one to five years for commercial customers and three to 10 years for residential services under contracts with municipalities.

The company operates in the Ontario market where it holds the No. 1 or No. 2 market share in the areas it serves, and in Western Canada, where it has leading market shares in Alberta and British Columbia. Waste Services also operates in Florida, where it ranks No. 3 in market share and No. 2 in disposal capacity. The company . . .