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Patriot Coal’s Starts Bloodbath for Coal Miners (PCX, BTU, ACI, CNX, ANR, JRCC, WLT, CLD, KOL)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:24:47 +0000

Shares of Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) are in freefall this afternoon on a report from Debtwire that the company is seeking a firm to help with its restructuring. The Debtwire report cited at ZeroHedge includes this statement:

Patriot Coal on Friday fielded informal pitches from restructuring advisors, said three sources familiar with the matter. The distressed coal miner aims to retain the professionals in the even[t] the company can’t satisfy its near-term financing needs.

The company failed to syndicate a $625 million bond offering last week after announcing that it lost a key customer. The situation is getting desperate and a bankruptcy filing is a real possibility at this point.

Other coal miners shares are also getting hit hard: Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU), which spun-off Patriot in 2007, is down -5%, Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is down -10%, Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is down -3.8%, Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is down -5.5%, James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down -8.4%, Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) is down -5.6%, Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) is down -2.8%, and the Market Vectors Coal ETF (AMEX: KOL) is down -2.2%.

The weakness in domestic coal demand has absolutely clubbed the coal miners in the last year or so. Rising natural gas prices have led to some happy talk about coal, but there is nothing but bad news on the horizon for the industry.

Shares of Patriot Coal are down about -45% at $1.84 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.67 earlier today. Peabody also posted a new low of $23.30, as did Arch Coal at $6.84, James River at $3.12, Walter Energy at $48.35, and the Market Vectors ETF at $26.05. And except for Cloud Peak, the others came within pennies of posting new lows.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Metals Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, CNX, JRCC, KOL, PCX, WLT

Coal, Natural Gas Reaching Price Parity (XOM, CHK, EOG, CNX, BTU, ANR, ACI)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:58:33 +0000

Natural gas prices have been rising, getting to around $2.75/thousand cubic feet last week before falling back a little to around $2.69. At this level, coal once again enters the picture, as prices for the two fuels approach equilibrium.

Natural gas producers like Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), and EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) have slowed production in an effort to get gas prices to rise. Coal producers like Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX), Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU), Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR), and Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) have also cut production, but in their case the effort was to reduce costs.

Natural gas inventories remain high, though off by about 13% from their peak in March. Lower injections into storage have helped, as have warmer temperatures in some parts of the country. But temperatures are expected to moderate and the forecast for summer does not include long periods of high temperatures. That means that natural gas inventories will enter the traditional winter drawdown period beginning in October with above average inventories again. Inventories need to drop by more than 500 billion cubic feet by the end of summer or there won’t be any place to put new production. The early estimate for inventory growth this week calls for 67-88 billion cubic feet to be added to already bulging stocks.

As for the coal producers, they could continue to get squeezed at natural gas price below $3.00 because generation plants that have switched to gas won’t want to switch back until they are sure that gas prices are going to remain elevated. Utility companies will drive a hard bargain on coal pricing until it’s clear that gas prices are going to remain high.

The recent modest increase in natural gas prices is not going have much impact coal production unless the price hike gets above about $3/thousand cubic feet and stays there. That does not appear likely at this point.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Oil & Gas Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CHK, CNX, EOG, XOM

Patriot Coal Leads the Way to New Lows

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:28:26 +0000

Today’s not a good day to be in the coal business. Miner Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) announced this morning that it was lowering both shipment and price forecasts for metallurgical coal for this year and next based on “recent developments involving the potential default by a key customer.” The company did not identify the customer.

Patriot dropped its price estimate by $25-$20/ton and estimated shipments of 3.9 million of currently priced tons in the remainder of 2012 and just 200,000 currently priced tons in 2013. Pricing on the 2013 shipments is just $122/ton, compared with $145/ton for the rest of 2012.

Shipments of thermal coal used to generate electricity have been hurting coal share prices for nearly a year now as natural gas prices remain very low. But met coal, which is used in steel-making, has fared a little better and met coal producers have had some backstop for the downturn in thermal coal sales. But not after today.

Patriot is dragging the entire coal mining sector down with it. Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) is off -4.4%, Consol Energy Corp. (NYSE: CNX) is off -4.1%, Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is off -4.6%; Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is off -8.8%, Walter Energy Corp. (NYSE: WLT) is off -6%, James River Coal Corp. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is off -4.3%, and Cloud Peak Energy Corp. (NYSE: CLD) is off -3.2%. And the more met coal a company mines, the worse the story. That’s why Alpha and Walter are down so much further than the others.

Peabody has posted a new 52-week low this morning of $26.72. James River also struck a new annual low of $3.58, and Alpha posted a new low of $11.95.

Patriot, of course, has done even worse. Shares are down -15.4% at $4.09, and the stock’s new 52-week low is $4.08. The prior range was $4.82-$24.99.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, HI/LOW, Metals Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, CNX, JRCC, PCX, WLT

Short Sellers Cast a Wide Net (ACI, XCO, SD, FST, XOM, DUK, AMD, SNY, PFE, NOK, BKS, SVU, PBI, DV, BPI)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:03:31 +0000

The energy sector saw a lot of activity from short sellers in April, but other stocks saw some action as well. We’ve already covered some of the bigger names here and some of the cult stocks here.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) saw a gain of 18.7% in short interest as of for the two weeks ended April 30th. More than 6.6 million shares were added to short interest and 20% of the company’s float is now short. The coal miner’s poor earnings and forecast are to blame.

Short interest in Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) rose nearly 12% to more than 33.5 million shares, or 19.3% of the company’s float. The oil & gas driller missed revenue expectations, although it did post a profit. Revenue is more important now however.

Among the largest overall short positions, SandRidge Energy Co. (NYSE: SD) got short interest on 49.5 million shares, nearly 12% of its float and up 6.7% from the previous reporting period. Shares are down more than -33% in the past 12 months, and the small spikes don’t affect short sellers here. The long-term outlook for natural gas continues to call for weak pricing.

E&P company Forest Oil Co. (NYSE: FST) was another recipient of more short interest in late April. Short sellers added about 3 million shares, a 24.7% increase and enough to put nearly 13% of the company’s float short.

Even Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) didn’t escape. Short sellers added 7.7 million shares to their positions, a 31.8% change to 32 million shares, but still less than 1% of Exxon’s shorts.

The final energy company we’ll look at here is Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK), where 5.8 million additional shares were added to short positions, bringing total shorts to just over 79 million shares. That’s an addition of 8% and represents 5.9% of Duke’s float. It’s odd to see a utility on this list.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD)saw short interest in its share rise by 6.5% to more than 70 million shares or 11.9% of the company’s float. AMD continues to suffer from lower-than-expected earnings and revenues.

Short interest in Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) jumped 265% to more 13.4 million shares. While still only about 0.5% of the company’s float, but generic drug sales are hurting the company as is a weak economy in Europe. Neither condition is expected to improve soon either.

Short interest in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) also rose sharply, buy 21.4% to reach a total of 63.6 million shares, about 0.8% of the company’s float. Like Sanofi, competition from generics hurts. The company also said it will reduce marketing expenditures on its Lipitor drug.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) gets the honor for being the equity with the largest number of short shares, 195 million, which represents 5.2% of the company’s float. The good news is that short interest fell by more than 32 million shares, also the largest change.

More than 75% of Barnes & Noble Inc.’s (NYSE: BKS) float is short, about 19.8 million shares. Short interest in the company grew by just 700,000 shares since mid-April.

Short interest holds more than 42% of grocer SuperValue Inc.’s (NYSE: SVU) shares with a total of 88.5 million shares short, up slightly from two weeks ago.

Short interest in Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) actually fell slightly , but the company’s total of 50.5 million shares short represents 25.3% of the float and 22 days to cover.

Short interest in for-profit educator DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV) jumped 123.2% to 3.7 million shares or 6.3% of the company’s float. Another education company, Bridgepoint Education Inc. (NYSE: BPI) posts short interest of more than 9.7 million shares, or 56% of its float.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Short Interest Tagged: ACI, AMD, BKS, BPI, DUK, DV, FST, NOK, PBI, PFE, SD, SNY, SVU, XCO, XOM

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Paul Ausick — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:06:42 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened sharply lower again this morning as investors consider Greece’s commitment to the austerity measures it had previously agreed to. Renegotiating the deal seems out of the question (more coverage here) and there is even the threat that the EU will not pay the first tranche of the bailout deal when it is due tomorrow (more coverage here). US oil inventories rose last week, putting more pressure on prices today (more coverage here).The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.43% at 80.077. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.5% at 648.60, with commodities mixed on the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.5% at $96.71/barrel and Brent crude trades up 0.02% at $112.75/barrel. Gold settled down -0.6% today, at $1,594.20/ounce, the yellow metal’s first sub-$1,600/ounce closing since December.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 97 points to 12,835.44 (-0.75%), the NASDAQ fell more than11 points (-0.39%) to 2,934.71, and the S&P 500 fell 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,354.61.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) resumed as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; and Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is up 3.8% at $26.55; Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is down -2.2% at $82.69 (more coverage here); Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: DTG) is up 0.2% at $80.68; Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) is down -3.6% at $38.07 (more coverage here); Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) is down -0.2% at $13.96; Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) is up 3.1% at $80.58; and SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) is up 28% at $37.35.

On Wednesday we are scheduled to get earnings from AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX), ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN); Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR); Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS); and Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is up 21.9% at $21.92 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today. The company is being acquired by Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) for $495 million.

Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS) is down -21.7% at $1.98 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.89 earlier today. The biofuels and biotech company posted much higher-than-expected shortfalls in both EPS and revenues.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is up 10.1% at $8.37. The coal miner had no news today, but investors are piling in at a very low price. Volume today topped 25 million shares, more than double Arch’s daily average.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Minneapolis Fed President Naryana Kocherlakota are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year note auction
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: General Tagged: ACI, AGU, AIG, AMCX, AMRS, AOL, BBBY, COP, CPWM, DMD, DTG, ESRX, HNR, HSY, JWN, KSS, M, MCP, MPEL, MT, NUAN, PEIX, PSX, SODA, TM

S&P Cuts Outlook on Coal Miner (CNX, ACI, ANR, WLT)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:14:15 +0000

Ratings agency S&P has lowered its outlook on coal miner Consol Energy Corp. (NYSE: CNX) from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’, while maintaining a ‘BB’ junk rating on the company’s debt. Earlier this week Fitch Ratings dropped its credit rating on Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) four notches to ‘B+’ and S&P had already lowered its outlook on Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT) from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’. Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) took a shot this morning, too, when analysts at Brean Murphy lowered its rating on the company’s stock from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’.

In its report S&P said:

We expect operating results and credit metrics at U.S.-based Consol Energy Inc. to weaken in 2012 as result of low prices caused by the combination of weather-induced weak utility demand and switching to natural gas from coal, lower met coal prices, and low natural gas prices.

The ratings agency also said it expects the weak performance to last “into 2013.” Lower prices for the company’s metallurgical coal, higher safety-related and labor costs, and low natural gas prices get most of the blame for the lowered outlook. And S&P is also thinking long-term prospects are not so hot either:

[O]ver the next several years, more-stringent environmental regulations for power plants make it less likely that new coal-fired generation plants will be built in the U.S. and could reduce the demand for coal and pressure prices.

No coal company can at this moment claim an investment grade rating on its stock. Cash flow and credit availability (at whatever price) are the keys to survival for at least the next couple of years.

Shares of Consol are down -0.7% at $33.30 in a 52-week range of $29.85-$55.02. Shares of Alpha Natural Resources are down almost -3% at $14.41 in a 52-week range of $13.80-$55.20.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Metals Tagged: ACI, ANR, CNX, WLT

Arch Coal Credit Downgrade (ACI)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:56:53 +0000

Another shoe dropped for Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) today as Fitch Ratings has lowered the company’s credit rating to ‘B+’, four notches below investment grade. The rating follows yesterday’s quarterly earnings report from the coal miner which showed an EPS loss, lower revenues, and a significantly lowered production forecast.

Fitch estimates that Arch’s free cash flow for 2012 will be negative, in the range of -$150 million to -$370 million and also points to high inventories and high debt:

The credit ratings also reflect oversupply in the domestic steam coal market which is expected to result in substantially lower earnings through at least 2013. Weak earnings and high debt levels post the acquisition of International Coal Group in 2011 will result in high leverage metrics over the period offset by strong liquidity.

Shares are down about -7.3% today, at $8.55 after posting a new 52-week low of $8.42 earlier. The previous low of $9.02 was set yesterday.

Filed under: Commodities, Metals Tagged: ACI

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Paul Ausick — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:03:50 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened flat this morning but started to move higher following the better-than-expected ISM report on manufacturing (our coverage here). Construction spending in the US was a bit lower, but not enough to quell the enthusiasm over the manufacturing report. The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.056% at 78.820. The GSCI commodity index is up fractionally at 684.88, with commodities mostly lower on the rising dollar. Cocoa put up a big gain today, while orange juice posted another sharp decline. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% at $106.16/barrel, and Brent crude trades up 0.17% at $119.67/barrel. Gold settled up 0.1% today, at $1,662.40/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 67 points to 13,280.31 (0.5%), the NASDAQ rose about 4 points (0.13%) to 3,050.44, and the S&P 500 rose 0.57% or nearly 8 points to 1,405.89.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) reiterated as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity; AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) raised to ‘neutral’ at BofA; Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS; SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and Meru Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: MERU) cut to ‘neutral’ at RW Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is down -3.8% at $9.39 (more coverage here); Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) is up 14.8% at $34.67 (more coverage here); Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -21.8% at $11.67 (more coverage here); Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) is up 7.9% at $33.25; Corn Products International Inc. (NYSE: CPO) is down -0.14% at $56.98; Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is down -7.6% at $19.95; Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) is down -9.6% at $34.18; Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is down -0.14% at $22.87; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is up 0.9% at $24.92.

Tomorrow we get earnings from Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX), JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. (NASDAQ: PFCB) is up 29.7% at $51.46. The company is being taken private in a deal worth $1.1 billion. More coverage here.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is up 0.8% at $11.05. The airlines bought an oil refinery from newly-public Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). More coverage here.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is up 6.3% at $19.60. The company’s chairman will be replaced and the company reports earnings after markets close today. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo and Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker are giving speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ABX, ACI, ADM, ANF, AVP, AZN, CHK, COST, CPO, DAL, DPZ, featured, FSLR, JDSU, MERU, MRO, PBY, PFCB, PFE, SPWR, V, VECO, VLO, WPI, YGE

Arch Coal’s Bad Results Could Get Worse (ACI, BTU, ANR, PCX, JRCC, CLD)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:39:40 +0000

No one was expecting much from Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) when it reported first-quarter results this morning. And that’s just what investors got. The company reported an adjusted EPS loss of -$0.04, way below the consensus estimate of $0.16. Revenue reached $1 billion, again below the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion.

The company’s results are far worse than those of either Peabody Energy Co. (NYSE: BTU) or Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD), both of which reported a profit. Peabody’s profit came from overseas operations and Cloud Peak’s from shipping its Powder River Basin coal to China. Alpha Natural Resources Incl. (NYSE: ANR) is expected to post an EPS loss of -$0.06 for the first quarter, Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is forecast to post an EPS loss of -$0.40, and James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is looking at a loss of -$0.66. Arch, comparatively speaking, didn’t fare too badly.

The company also revised its forecast, cutting full-year sales volume to a range of 136-142.5 million tons, about 10% below 2011 sales at best. Costs are rising due at least partly to lowered volumes. Rising natural gas prices, up from around $2/thousand cubic feet to around $2.30, will help coal miners a little bit, provided that exports grow as predicted and the US has a hot summer.

For the most part coal stocks are rising this morning. Even Arch is up nearly 1% after lowering its quarterly dividend from $0.11 to $0.03. Patriot Coal is up nearly 5% and Cloud Peak is up 3%. What investors are seeing is a bottom surely. But coal mines are deep, dark places that hide as much as they reveal.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Commodities, Earnings, Metals Tagged: ACI, ANR, BTU, CLD, JRCC, PCX

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Paul Ausick — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:13:01 +0000

The major US stock indexes opened slightly lower this morning and continued drifting lower all day. The Chicago PMI report got the day started on the wrong foot, showing a decline in spending even though personal income rose in March (our coverage here). Spain’s slip into recession did not help (our coverage here) and a report on global unemployment doesn’t offer much hope for economic expansion (our coverage here). The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.05% at 78.780. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.35% at 684.45, with commodities mixed. Cocoa and orange juice posted sharp declines today. WTI crude oil closed down -0.1% at $104.87/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.24% at $119.54/barrel. Gold settled down less than -0.1% today, at $1,664.20/ounce, and an overall loss for the month of April of -0.5%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 15 points to 13,213.63 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 23 points (-0.74%) to 3,046.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.39% or more than 5 points to 1,397.91.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) cut to ‘equal weight’ at Evercore; TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) cut to ‘hold’ at Desjardins; American Railcar Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ARII) raised to ‘neutral’ at UBS; Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) raised to ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital; Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) raised to ‘strong buy’ at Raymond James; and Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU) raised to ‘buy’ at Dahlman Rose.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) is up 10.8% at $3.28 (our coverage here); Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is down -8.4% at $80.49; Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) is up 0.32% at $22.09; and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is down -7.4% at $51.62.

Tomorrow we get earnings from Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI), Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM), Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Chesapeake Energy Corp., Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ); Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP); Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE); Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is up about 54% at $21.07 after posting a new 52-week high of $26.00 earlier today. The company has created a joint venture with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). More coverage here.

Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) is up 19.5% at $48.89 after posting a new 52-week high of $49.50 earlier today. The company is merging with Energy Transfer Partners L.P. in a deal worth about $5.3 billion. More coverage here.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is down -12.7% at $47.52. The company’s stock was downgraded at Deutsche Bank, along with comments that the company was inflating its organic growth estimates.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, Minneapolis Fed President Naryana Kocherlakota, San Francisco Fed President John Williams, and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are all giving speeches. Motor vehicle sales are expected to be reported throughout the day. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week bill auctions

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACI, ADM, ARII, BKS, BRCM, CHK, DG, DMD, DPZ, HUM, KALU, KFT, LDK, ODP, PAY, PFE, RATE, SIRI, SNH, SOHU, SUN, TRP, VLO