24/7 Wall St. » HNR

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Tuesday: Markets Mixed at Open, Closes Slightly Higher

Paul Ausick — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:06:01 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened mixed this morning as investors weighed conflicting data from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. In Europe, retail sales declined more than expected in Germany, Italy’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 11.5%, and eurozone inflation moderated to 1.2%, below a forecast for inflation of 1.6%. In Asia, Japanese industrial production rose less than expected, retail unexpectedly fell, and unemployment came in below expectations. In the U.S., the S&P Case-Shiller housing price index rose more than expected (more coverage here), while the Chicago PMI came in well below expectations and chilled investors for a spell this morning (more coverage here). The latest U.S. consumer confidence index came in higher than expected, which put some heat back into the morning trading session (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.47% today, now at 81.762. The GSCI commodity index is up 1.2% at 629.99. WTI crude oil closed down 1.1%, at $93.46 a barrel, down 3.9% for the month of April. Brent crude trades down 1.6% at $102.19 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.4% today at about $4.15 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.3% today at $1,472.10 an ounce, but lost 7.8% for the month, the largest drop in 16 months.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 20 points to 14,839.18 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 22 points (0.66%) to 3,328.79, and the S&P 500 rose 0.24% or nearly 4 points to 1,597.45.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) initiated as ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets; Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) cut to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc; Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank (more coverage here); PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan; and SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ) is up 6.7% at $34.94; Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) is up 1.6% at $59.38; General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) is up 2.2% at $22.50 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.80 earlier today; Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is up 2.7% at $39.78 (more coverage here); Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is up 0.2% at $24.03 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.79 earlier today; Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is down 5% at $32.27 after posting a new 52-week low of $31.33 earlier today; Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) is up fractionally at $14.86; 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) is up 7.3% at $38.39; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 2.5% at $57.55 after posting a new 52-week high of $58.63 earlier today; Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) is up 0.3% at $95.72; Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up 4.5% at $23.23 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.30 earlier today; BP plc (NYSE: BP) is up 2.3% at $43.61 (more coverage here); Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down 5.5% at $3.25; Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is down 4.9% at $78.39; Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is up 4.9% at $3.88; United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) is up 0.3% at $17.59; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is down 2.5% at $40.17 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX), Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE), Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPB), Trulia Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLA), Vanguard Health Systems Inc. (NYSE: VHS), ADT Corp. (NYSE: ADT), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA), and Viacom Corp. (NASDAQ: VIAB).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is up 5.5% at $3.24 after posting a new 52-week high of $3.25 earlier today. The satellite radio company posted good numbers and made permanent the hire of interim CEO James Meyer.

Delcath Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) is down 39.8% at $0.84. The pharmaceutical and medical device maker will have to repeat a clinical trial.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) is down 16.6% at $13.52. The business equipment company had a 57% drop in profits and cut its dividend.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concludes a two-day meeting. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:58 a.m. – PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – ISM manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – FOMC meeting announcement

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADT, AET, AFFX, AVP, BBY, BP, BUD, BWLD, CHK, CMCSA, DCTH, DDD, ESRX, GGP, HLF, HNR, HTZ, HUM, JRCC, LEAP, MA, MPC, NEM, ODP, P, PBI, PHM, RATE, RVBD, SINA, SIRI, SPB, TRLA, VHS, VIA-B, VLO, X

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — Monday: Markets Open Higher, S&P Closes on New High

Paul Ausick — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:07:42 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning after the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that personal income and spending both rose by 0.2%, which was slightly higher than expected for spending and slightly lower than expectations for income (more coverage here). We also noted the sharp drop in spending on energy and the impact that could have on oil and gasoline prices for the rest of this year (more coverage here). In Europe, new data was limited to Italian business confidence (down), Spanish retail sales (also down, but not as much as expected), and eurozone business and consumer survey (more coverage here). Italian government borrowing costs posted a two-year low (more coverage here). In Asia, both Japanese and Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. U.S. pending home sales rose in March, reversing a drop in February sales (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.42% today, now at 82.159. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.5% at 622.29. WTI crude oil closed up 1.6%, at $94.50 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.5% at $103.72 a barrel. Natural gas is up 4% today at about $4.39 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 1% today at $1,467.40 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 106 points to 14,818.83 (0.72%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 28 points (0.85%) to 3,307.02, and the S&P 500 rose 0.72% or more than 11 points to 1,593.59, a new high.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS; Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR), aka Petrobras, raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Union Pacific Co. (NYSE: UNP) cut to ‘hold’ at TD Securities; Gold Fields Inc. (NYSE: GFI) cut to ‘neutral’ at HSBC; and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) raised to ‘outperform’ at Macquarie.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) is up 3.6% at $60.76; Loews Corp. (NYSE: L) is up 0.4% at $44.63 (more coverage here); Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) is down 1.4% at $28.18; and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) is down 0.2% at $50.66.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP), Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF), Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD), Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET), Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD), Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP), BP plc (NYSE: BP), Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR), Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC), Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 6.6% at $19.23. Petrobras, as it’s known, reported lousy earnings, but it forecast growth going forward, added to a possible restart of drilling by Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) in the Frade field following a year of inactivity due to a spill.

Conceptus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTS) is up 19.5% at $30.95. The medical device maker is being acquired by Germany’s Bayer AG $1.1 billion.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down 3.6% at $3.23. The social games maker had no news today, but is giving back some of Friday’s gains, which followed losses earlier last week on a weak earnings report.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins a two-day meeting. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Employment cost index
9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller house price index
9:45 a.m. – Chicago purchasing manager’s index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence index
11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week bill auctions
3:00 p.m. – Farm prices

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AET, ANF, AVP, BP, BUD, CPTS, CVX, DDD, DIS, ERJ, ESRX, ETN, GFI, GGP, HLF, HNR, HTZ, L, MPC, NEM, ODP, PBR, RVBD, SIRI, SNH, SOHU, UNP, VLO, X, ZNGA

Another Big Problem for Harvest Natural Resources

Paul Ausick — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:25:20 +0000

Oil and gas producer Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) said this morning that proved and probable reserves for its joint venture in Venezuela, Petrodelta, declined in 2012. The news comes just a few weeks after the sale of Petrodelta to Indonesia’s Pertamina was cancelled by the potential buyer.

Harvest’s 32% share of the total proved and probable reserves came to just over 100 million barrels at the end of 2012. That was down 3% from the company’s reserves position at the end of 2011. Worse still, proved reserves fell 11% to 38.4 million barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2012.

This is the latest in a string of lousy news for Harvest. There is the failed deal with Pertamina, and even worse was the company’s failure to file its Form 10-K annual report on time and the possibility that Harvest will have to restate financial results for the past three years. As part of that announcement, Harvest said that its auditors would include in the audit report a “going concern” note.

Shares of Harvest are down more than 11% today to $2.63, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.45 earlier. The 52-week high is $10.83, posted just before the announcement of the failed sale to Pertamina.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Oil & Gas Tagged: HNR

Market Close: Big Winners & Losers for March 19, 2013 (EFUT, ATOS, PRMW, RDIB, KELYB, AFFY, MTSL, HNR, WSCI, AQQ)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:29:17 +0000

Here are today’s five biggest gaining stocks at closing:

eFuture Information Technology (NASDAQ: EFUT) is up 44% at $4.19.

Atossa Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: ATOS) is up 34.1% at $12.35.

Primo Water Corp. (NASDAQ: PRMW) is up 24.8% at $1.26.

Reading International Inc. (NASDAQ: RDIB) is up 20.9% at $6.83.

Kelly Services Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYB) is up 20.2% at $19.47.

And here are today’s five biggest losing stocks at closing:

Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) is down 64% at $1.05.

MER Telemanagement Solutions Ltd. (NASDAQ: MTSL) is down 35.4% at $3.25.

Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down 32.6% at $3.70.

WSI Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: WSCI) is down 20.9% at $5.19.

American Spectrum Realty Inc. (NYSEMKT: AQQ) is down 20% at $1.56.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AFFY, AQQ, ATOS, EFUT, HNR, KELYB, MTSL, PRMW, RDIB, WSCI

Harvest Shares Collapse on Filing Delay, Likely “Going Concern” Opinion

Paul Ausick — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:48:20 +0000

Energy producer Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) saw its share price cut nearly in half earlier today following a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this morning stating that the firm will not be able to file its Form 10-K annual report on time. A failed sale of the company’s Venezuelan assets to Indonesia’s Pertamina earlier this year sent the stock down 40% in one day, from over $9 a share to around $5.50.

In its filing Harvest provided a laundry list of problems related to its financial reporting:

“[C]ertain errors related to our incorrect capitalization of certain lease maintenance costs”
“[C]ertain internal selling, general and administrative costs”
“[A]n error in the presentation of certain cash flow items”
A determination “that certain long-lived assets have been impaired”
“[C]ertain errors … that will require the company to revise and possibly restate its financial statements for certain periods in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Harvest also said it expects to post a net loss of $9.6 million ($0.26 per share) for the 2012 fiscal year. Worst of all, the company’s auditors have said that the audit report “will include a going concern qualification.”

Shares are 34% at $3.61 in a previous range of $4.93 to $10.83.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Earnings Warning, Oil & Gas, Regulation Tagged: featured, HNR

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — February 20, 2013: Markets Open Low, Slide Further on Fed Minutes (WIN, LOW, BIDU, BCS, GMCR, ADI, CF, DELL, HLF, AVA, CLH, DISH, LEAP, MGM, SODA, TOL, CROX, ETP, PAAS, TSLA, WLT, AUY, CG, CHK, CDE, ESV, SWY, WMT, OMX, ODP, NTSP, TSS, HNR)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:04:40 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened flat to lower this morning as it waited for data on U.S. housing starts and producer price inflation. In Europe, markets got some downward signals from a higher-than-expected reading on German PPI, a sharper-than-expected drop in Italian industrial production, a slightly higher unemployment rate in the U.K., and strikes in Greece (more coverage here). In Asia, the only data point of note came from China, where foreign direct investment declined by 7.3%. In the U.S., housing starts came in lower than expected, mainly the result of a sharp drop in multifamily building (more coverage here). The U.S. producer price index rose to its highest level since September. In the afternoon, the FOMC minutes were released, which pushed markets down even more (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.75% today, now at 81.065. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.5% at 675.63, with commodities prices higher today. WTI March crude oil closed down 2.2% today, at $94.46 a barrel. The April contract closed down 1.9% at 95.22 and will be the source of the WTI quote for the next month. Brent crude trades down at 1.7% at $115.52 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.4% today at about $3.28 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 1.6% today at $1,578.00 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 109 points to 13,926.47 (-0.78%), the NASDAQ fell about 49 points (-1.53%) to 3,164.41, and the S&P 500 fell -1.24% or about 19 points to 1,511.90.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Windstream Corp. (NASDAQ: WIN) cut to ‘sell’ at UBS; Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW) reiterated as ‘buy’ and price target raised to $44 at Argus; Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) cut to ‘underperform’ at CLSA; Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) reiterated as ‘buy’ and price target raised to $54 at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) is down 2.2% at $45.98; CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) is down 5.3% at $206.88; Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is up 0.25% at $XX (more coverage here); Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) is down 5% at $37.77 (more coverage here); Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA) is down 0.2% at $26.15; Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) is up 6.1% at $53.37; Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) is down 0.25% at $36.00; Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down 8.3% at $5.61; MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is down 1.5% at $12.55; Sodastream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) is down 6.8% at $48.90 (more coverage here); and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is down 8.7% at $33.71 (more coverage here).

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX), Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP), Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS), Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Walter Energy Inc. (NYSE: WLT), Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY), Carlyle Group LP (NASDAQ: CG), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) (more coverage here), Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE), Ensco PLC (NYSE: ESV), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) is down 11.8% at $11.47 after posting a new 52-week high of $14.92 earlier today. The office supply retailer and Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) finally pulled the trigger on their merger after one false start this morning. Office Depot shares are down 22.1% at $3.91. More coverage here.

Netspend Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NTSP) is up 28.6% at $15.80 after posting a new 52-week high of $15.96 earlier today. The pre-paid credit card provider has agreed to be acquired by Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) for about $1.4 billion in cash ($16 a share).

Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down 40% at $5.50. The oil & gas junior said today that a planned sale to Indonesia’s Pertamina has been cancelled. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, San Francisco Fed President John Williams, and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on Tuesday’s schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:58 a.m. – Flash PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Fed survey
10:00 a.m. – Leading indicators
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 30-year Treasury Inflation-Protected securities (TIPS) auction
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADI, AUY, AVA, BCS, BIDU, CDE, CF, CG, CHK, CLH, CROX, DELL, DISH, ESV, ETP, GMCR, HLF, HNR, LEAP, LOW, MGM, NTSP, ODP, OMX, PAAS, SODA, SWY, TOL, TSLA, TSS, WIN, WLT, WMT

Harvest Natural Implosion

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:25:34 +0000

Usually you only see biotechs and other companies have overnight share price drops of 40% or so. Usually does not apply to Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) this Wednesday.

The independent oil and gas exploration and production outfit announced that the share purchase agreement between PT Pertamina (Persero) and its subsidiary HNR Energia B.V. for the purchase of Harvest’s interests in Venezuela for $725 million has been terminated. Harvest’s press release said that the deal’s termination is “as a result of the Government of Indonesia, in its capacity as sole shareholder of PT Pertamina (Persero), voting not to approve the transaction.” The share purchase agreement was announced back on June 21, 2012, and it also had been subject to approval of the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and a majority of Harvest’s stockholders.

The company tried to briefly smooth this over, but that is not going to help buried shareholders this Wednesday. Harvest’s CEO James Edmiston said, “While we are disappointed that the sale of our interests in Petrodelta to Pertamina was not approved by the Government of Indonesia, Harvest remains committed to exploring all possible alternatives to unlock the potential of our assets and to maximize value for our shareholders.”

Harvest is going to have to try to really unlock value for holders now. Shares were at $9.16, and now they are down 40% at $5.49. Its 52-week range is $4.85 to $10.83, and the pre-implosion market cap was only $361 million. It is important to keep in mind that Houston-based Harvest is a pre-revenue company.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, International Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Oil & Gas Tagged: HNR

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 22, 2012 (FB, GLW, KMB, ONXX, JEF, DRI, CCL, APOL, SNX, HNR, ARNA, PCX)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 20:04:38 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as markets treated the Moody’s downgrade of 15 major banks as old news that was already baked into share prices (our coverage here and here). A slowdown in the German economy has affected business confidence in the country (our coverage here), and the IMF shouted into the wind (more coverage here). Overall, share prices gained back less than a quarter of yesterday’s steep losses.

The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.09% at 82.217. The GSCI commodity index is down -2.9% at 559.00, with commodities prices mixed today. WTI crude oil closed up 2% at $79.76/barrel, but finished the week down more than -5%. Brent crude trades up 2.11% at $91.11/barrel. Natural gas rose about 1.7% today to $2.627/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled up 0.1%, at $1,566.90/ounce, to finish the week down -3.8%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 77 points to 12,650.77 (0.61%), the NASDAQ rose more than 33 points (1.17%) to 2,892.42, and the S&P 500 rose 0.75% or nearly 10 points to 1,335.44.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) started as ‘buy’ at Nomura; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) raised to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) raised to ‘buy’ with a target price of $92 at Argus; Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) raised to ‘equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) started as ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have been scarce, but here are some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down about -0.6% at $50.10 and Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is down -2.5% at $33.73.

On Monday we’re scheduled to get earnings from Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX), among others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is up 88% at $9.19. The oil and gas producer sold its Venezuelan assets for $725 million. More coverage here.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) are down -14.7% at $XX. The drug maker gave back some of its gains from yesterday, likely on profit-taking. An FDA decision on the company’s weight loss drug is due next week.

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is down -10.6% at $1.23. The coal miner will be removed from the S&P MidCap 400 index next week. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
10:00 a.m. – New home sales
10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: APOL, ARNA, CCL, DRI, FB, GLW, HNR, JEF, KMB, ONXX, PCX, SNX

Today’s Breakout Stocks: High And Low

Douglas A. McIntyre — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 15:02:05 +0000

For today’s winners and losers, two of the four companies on the lists today are pharmaceutical companies, moving on action from drug regulators. One of them, Arena Pharmaceuticals, has seen its stock soar in recent days, meaning investors are cashing out there shares. One company is trading on a major buyout, and another continues to struggle due to lower natural gas prices.

Here are Friday’s midday winners and losers.

Winners

Shares of Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE: HNR) soared 69.47% to $8.27on trading volume of 2.4 million shares. Harvest announced Thursday it will sell its 32% stake of Petrodelta to PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned oil company for $725 million cash. Petrodelta is a joint venture between Harvest and Venezuela state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

Shares of NPS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: NPSP) are up 10.42% to $7.95 on trading volume of approximately 930,000 shares. The company announced it has received regulatory support from Europe’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for its drug treating short bowel syndrome, teduglutide. The drug is jointly manufactured by NPS and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.

Losers

Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) are down 16.01% to $9.81 based on trading volume of 39.2 million shares. The stock rose to an all-time high of $11.99 Thursday on anticipation that Arena’s its weight loss drug, lorcaserin, will win backing from the Food and Drug Administration on June 27. FDA advisers backed the drug last month by a vote of 18-4.

Shares of Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) are down 8.69% to $1.25 based on trading volume of more than 2.5 million shares. The company has seen a major drop in share price over recent months due to rock bottom natural gas prices.

Samuel Weigley

Filed under: Active Trader, Index Tagged: ARNA, featured, HNR, NPSP, PCX

Harvest Sells Venezuelan Assets — What’s Left? (HNR)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:50:20 +0000

Independent oil & gas company Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) today announced the sale of its Venezuelan assets to Pertamina, the national oil company of Indonesia, for $725 million in cash. The company expects to realize $525 million after transaction costs and taxes.

Harvest’s stake in Petrodelta, the company’s jointly owned Venezuelan operation, totals 32% and included 43.3 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves and 60.5 million barrels of oil equivalent of probable reserves. The company also owns exploration leases in Indonesia, Gabon, Oman, and China.

The company’s CEO said:

The signing of the SPA represents a significant step forward in the strategic alternatives initiative we began in 2010 and clearly validates the potential of Petrodelta’s business and Harvest’s twenty year partnership with PDVSA in Venezuela.

This transaction will not only provide Harvest and its shareholders with numerous options for the future, but will also provide Petrodelta and PDVSA with a strong, well-financed international partner capable of contributing to Petrodelta’s future growth.

None of Harvest’s leases produces anything yet. The company drilled a dry hole in Indonesia and has exploration plans for other wells.

But no production. The $525 million will definitely help the company expand its exploration, but revenue is likely to be a long ways off.

That hasn’t slowed down investors though. Shares are up 83% this morning, at $9.00, in a 52-week range of $4.85-$14.21.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: International Markets, Oil & Gas Tagged: HNR