October 2008 Archives
Gramercy Capital Corp. (NYSE: GKK) reported higher third quarter funds from operations that surpassed expectations and increased its liquidity by withdrawing its third quarter dividend. Shares of the real estate investment trust leaped $1.17 to close at $2.66.
Cosmetics company Bare Escentuals Inc. (Nasdaq: BARE) posted higher third quarter profits of 25 cents per share compared with 22 cents per share in the year ago period, but the results missed targets. Analysts promptly downgraded the stock which skidded $2.69 to close at $4.18.
Tessera Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: TSRA) reported a favorable decision in its patent dispute against Amkor Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: AMKR) over chip technologies used in DRAM and wireless applications. Shares of Tessera leaped $3.85 to close at $16.76 while Amkor stock eased 25 cents to close at $3.25.
Shares of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) continued to fall by dropping 35 cents to close at $1.35 after it was revealed that the company has borrowed a total of $90.3 billion from the government and will most likely borrow more.
Vimpel Communications (NYSE: VIP) paid approximately $226 million to acquire a 49.9% stake in mobile handset retailer Morefront Holdings. Shares of the Russian telecommunications company soared $1.39 to close at $8.78.
Embarq Corp (NYSE: EQ) received a $5.8 billion all-stock offer from rural telephone company CenturyTel Inc. (NYSE: CTL). Shares of Embarq gained 64 cents to close at $30.38 while CenturyTel stock plunged $3.88 to close at $25.62.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) posted sharply higher third quarter earnings of 59 cents per share compared with 44 cents per share in the year ago period as a gain of 1.5 million wireless subscribers beat expectations. Shares of the nation's second largest telecommunications company surged $2.53 to close at $27.61.
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) impressed with first quarter earnings that tripled to 93 cents per share from 31 cents per share last year to exceed analyst expectations by a wide margin prompting an upgrade. The stock price climbed $1.65 to close at $14.70.
Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) impressed with higher third quarter earnings of 31 cents per share compared with 5 cents per share last year and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations prompting an upgrade. Shares of the chipmaker climbed 90 cents to close at $14.70.
Shares of SanDisk Corp. (Nasdaq: SNDK) collapsed $4.67 to close at $10.09 after Samsung withdrew its $26 a share bid for the world's largest supplier of flash storage card products.
Shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) leaped $31.00 to $384.02 after the search engine giant posted healthy gains in revenues and earnings of $4.24 per share, up from $3.38 per share a year earlier despite worries of cutbacks among advertisers.
Shares of United Air Lines parent UAL Corp. (Nasdaq: UAUA) leaped $2.95 to close at $10.30, US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) surged $1.49 to close at $6.78 and American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) soared $2.02 to close at $10.80 after crude oil prices retreated to a 14-month low of $69.85 per barrel.
Shares of Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose $1.24 to close at $12.99 after Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer said that acquiring Yahoo would make economic sense for both companies. Microsoft stock gained $1.53 to close at $24.19.
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) reported third quarter earnings of 38 cents per share compared with loss of 69 cents per share last year but the results missed analysts' estimates. The company forecast fourth quarter results that fell short of expectations and trimmed its full year outlook. Shares of the online auction giant tumbled 36 cents to close at $14.97.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. The nearly $3 billion loss was slightly better than expectations, but investors still sold off the stock sending the stock price down 33 cents to close at $15.90.
Box makers say that they will not pay the higher prices that containerboard producers began charging sending shares of Temple-Inland Inc. (NYSE: TIN) plummeting $4.27 to close at $9.11, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (Nasdaq: SSCC) plunging $1.04 to close at $1.95 and International Paper (NYSE: IP) tumbling $4.13 to close at $18.17.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) warned that a drop in natural gas prices may hurt its cash position making it more difficult to finance new drilling projects. The stock price skidded $5.24 to close at $16.34.
Shares of Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) plummeted $4.01 to close at a multi-year low of $9.51 after the apparel maker lowered its profit outlook.
Chipmaker Linear Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: LLTC) posted better than expected first quarter results of 48 cents per share compared with 40 cents per share a year earlier, but lowered its outlook for the second quarter sending the stock price plummeting $3.89 to close at $22.00.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) posted sharply lower profits of 11 cents per share compared with 97 cents per share in the year ago period as revenues fell. The stock price dropped $2.22 to close at $38.49.
EnergySolutions Inc. (NYSE: ES) blamed the financial crisis for delays in the decommissioning of identified nuclear power plant assets sending the stock price skidding $4.50 to close at $5.64.
Shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) surged 80 cents to close at $3.10 over optimism that the federal government's plan to buy shares in the nation's leading banks will benefit the regional bank.
Citi Investment Research analyst Greg Ketron upgraded regional banks Huntington Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: HBAN), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), and Zions Bancorp. (NYSE: ZION) saying that they will benefit from the government's plan to take a stake in the nation's leading banks. Shares of Huntington Bancshares leaped $3.38 to close at $10.13 while BB&T stock climbed $2.75 to close at $34.40. Zions stock surged $7.78 to close at $39.77.
Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) leaped $3.84 to close at $21.94 following news of both private and publicly-funded equity investments to shore up its balance sheet. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), whose stock price soared $3.74 to close at $26.53, and Citigroup (NYSE: C), which surged $2.87 to close at $18.62, were among the beneficiaries of the government's equity investment plans.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) received a much-needed cash infusion of $9 billion from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group which will be receiving both non-convertible and convertible preferred stock with a 10% dividend. The stock price leaped $8.42 to close at $18.10.
Industry experts predict oil prices to test the $75 a barrel level. Shares of Exxon Mobile Corp. (NYSE: XOM) plunged $5.64 to close at $62.36 and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) tumbled $6.17 to close at $57.83.
Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service placed a negative outlook rating on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) sending the stock price skidding $12.55 to close at $88.80.
XL Capital Ltd.'s (NYSE: XL) credit default swaps began trading on an upfront basis while the cost surged to approximately 12.5% of the sum to be insured sending the stock price skidding $4.67 to close at $4.01.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) continued to spar with the Federal Reserve unable to reach a resolution to sell Wachovia Bank (NYSE: WB). Wells Fargo had offered to buy all of Wachovia while Citigroup wanted only the assets with government backing. Shares of Citigroup dropped $1.47 to close at $12.93 while Wells Fargo stock plunged $4.65 to close at $27.25. Wachovia stock tumbled $1.46 to close at $3.60.
Shares of Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMY) leaped $2.75 to close at $10.66, Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) jumped $2.17 to close at $8.94 and Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) surged $5.11 to close at $31.02 as nervous investors sought the safety of gold.
Shares of MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) plummeted $9.87 to close at $27.00 after the insurer announced job cuts. Yesterday, it released plans to sell 75 million common shares to raise at least $2.5 billion in order to "build a warchest."
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) disappointed with sharply lower third quarter earnings of 33 cents per share compared with 63 cents per share last year as global demand and prices dropped prompting a downgrade. Shares of the aluminum producer plummeted $2.00 to close at $14.71.
Bloomberg News reported that Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) will most likely acquire Wachovia Corp.'s (NYSE: WB) mid-Atlantic and Southeastern branches which account for approximately 75% of the company leaving Citigroup (NYSE: C) with the bank's Northeastern branches. Shares of Wells Fargo rose $1.30 to close at $31.90 while Citigroup stock fell 75 cents to close at $14.40. Shares of Wachovia eased 19 cents to close at $5.06.
Shares of Stewart Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq: STEI) plummeted $2.09 to close at $5.00 after rival Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI) withdrew its takeover offer. Stewart Enterprises provides funeral and cemetery products and services. Service Corp. stock edged up 32 cents to close at $7.51.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) lowered its prime lending rate to 4.5% from 5% sending shares of the bank down $1.67 to close at $22.10.
Goldman Sachs downgraded First Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: FSLR) citing an oversupply of photovoltaic modules. The stock price plummeted $31.71 to close at $128.00.
Analysts are expecting a wider third quarter loss for Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MER) sending the stock price plummeting $6.20 to close at $18.00.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) plunged $8.45 to close at $23.77 after the bank announced plans to sell common stock to raise $10 billion.
Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) announced plans to spin off factories into a joint venture with the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi. The stock price climbed 36 cents to close at $4.59.
Merrill Lynch cited global economic uncertainty for downgrading Steel Dynamics Inc. (Nasdaq: STLD) and Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE). Shares of Steel Dynamics tumbled $1.02 to close at $11.10 while Nucor stock fell $1.01 to close at $33.74.
Shares of regional banks gave up recent gains despite the signing of the $700 billion banking rescue package last week. National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) plummeted 95 cents to close at $2.56 and Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV) lost 22 cents to close at $5.62.
Allianz SE invested $2.5 billion in Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) lifting the stock price $3.50 to close at $30.90.
A series of four auctions will be held on Monday to set the price of credit default swaps for Fannie Mae's (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac's (NYSE: FRE) debt. Shares of Fannie Mae fell 22 cents to close at $1.34 while Freddie Mac stock dropped 31 cents to close at $1.49.
Passage of the $700 billion bailout package by the House of Representative lifted shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) 37 cents to close at $3.51. Yesterday, the company announced a dividend of a penny per common share and 61.71875 cents per share of Series F preferred stock both payable on November 3 to shareholders of record on October 13.
Morgan Keegan initiated coverage of Huntington Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: HBAN) with a Market Perform rating sending the stock price soaring $1.48 to close at $10.72.
A federal court upheld anemia drug patents owned by Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN) which hoped to block sales of a competing drug by Roche. The stock price rose 30 cents to close at $58.89.
Shares of Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) leaped $2.30 to close at $6.21 after Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) offered $15.1 billion in stock to buy the troubled bank. Earlier this week, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and the government's Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. arranged to buy Wachovia's deposits and banking operations. Wells Fargo stock slipped 60 cents to close at $34.56 while Citigroup stock plunged $4.15 to close at $18.35.
A comment by Senate majority leader Harry Reid that a major insurance company was on the brink of bankruptcy sent shares of insurers MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) plunging $7.19 to close at $40.96, Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) tumbling $7.15 to close at $57.65 and Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) skidding $12.20 to close at $25.91.
Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) expects third quarter income to surpass analyst expectations and reassured investors that the student lender is well capitalized. The stock price rose 95 cents to close at $9.30.
Shares of Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV) gained 43 cents to close at $5.25 and National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) rose 25 cents to close at $3.14 as bargain hunters viewed regional banks as a beneficiary to the pending $700 billion financial rescue package.
September sales for Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) excluding Volvo sales plunged 30.9% with year to date sales down 17.3%. Shares of the automaker tumbled 65 cents to close at $4.55.
Optimism that lawmakers will soon succeed in passing a bailout package sent shares of regional bank National City Corp. (NYSE: NCC) soaring $1.14 to close at $2.89.
An analyst lowered his opinion on Houston-based electricity provider Reliant Energy Inc. (NYSE: RRI) sending the stock price downg 98 cents to close at $6.37.
Moody's Investors Service placed Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) under review for a downgrade due to a possible spin-off of its mortgage portfolio. The stock price plunged $1.25 to close at $7.36.
The cost of borrowing at GE Capital (NYSE: GE) rose sharply while the company lobbied lawmakers to approve the proposed $700 billion bailout. Shares of GE dropped $1.00 to close at $24.50.
