Retail Sales Rise Less Than Expected, Markets Open Lower
December retail sales rose by a less than expected 0.6% to weigh the markets down to a lower open with the Dow slipping 5 points to 11,726. Nasdaq eased a point to 2733.
On the upside
RBC Capital Markets upgraded Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO) to an Outperform rating.
Wedbush Securities analyst Liana Moussatos said yesterday that Biodel's (Nasdaq: BIOD) fast acting insulin product Linjeta is a potential blockbuster.
Majesco Entertainment (Nasdaq: COOL) launched the free game Cooking Mama Friends' Cafe for Facebook yesterday.
On the downside
Coinstar (Nasdaq: CSTR) blamed a twenty-eight day release delay on certain film titles at its Redbox movie rental kiosks for lowering its fourth quarter guidance.
Local.com (Nasdaq: LOCM) priced its offering of 4 million common shares at $4.25 per share.
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded JA Solar (Nasdaq: DELL) to a Sell rating saying that falling solar prices will negatively impact earnings.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on the NYSE while advancers edged out decliners by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fraction to 801.
