24/7 Wall St. » INHX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (COST, XOM, AKAM, P, SCCO, MRK, AYI, CBST, AA, INHX, PSOF, IDIX, NFLX, THRX, LTRX)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:07:28 +0000

US markets opened up slightly this morning and have maintained a slight positive tone for most of the day. Today marks the unofficial beginning of another earnings season, with Alcoa kicking things off after markets close today. There was little substantive news out of Europe other than France and Germany have agreed to propose financial transaction tax which has no chance of being enacted. European markets were mixed today as were Asian markets. Crude oil is lower today, with WTI down -0.3% at $101.26/barrel and Brent down -0.84% at $112.11/barrel. Gold is also down less than half a point, at $1,609.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 33 points to 12,392.54 (0.26%), the NASDAQ rose more than 2 points (0.09%) to 2,676.56, and the S&P 500 rose 0.23% or nearly 3 points to 1,280.70.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) cut to ‘underperform’ at Bernstein; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) cut to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) started as ‘buy’ at Needham; Southern Copper Co. (NYSE: SCCO) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) downgraded to ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed Friday include: Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is up nearly 9% at $54.79; and Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) is down -0.55% at $39.95. After markets close today bellwether Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) is expected to report an EPS loss of -$0.02.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) is up more than 140% at $23.70 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.08 earlier today. The drug company has agreed to be acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) for $2.5 billion ($26/share in cash).

Pansoft Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: PSOF) is up nearly 56% at $3.13. The Chinese enterprise software company received a buyout offer from Timesway Group Ltd, which is controlled by Pansoft’s chairman, for $3.76/share for the shares Timesway does not already own.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX) is up more than 36% at $9.59 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.39 earlier today. The drug maker’s hepatitis C drug got a postive report on an interim drug trial, the same categoy of drug made by Inhibitex. More coverage here.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up more than 14% at $98.62. The video rental and streaming company launched its streaming service in the UK and Ireland today. We have more coverage here.

Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX) is down more than -19% at $16.27. The biopharmaceutical firm reported that a new drug to treat asthma and other pulmonary diseases performed no better than an existing drug in a clinical trial.

Lantronix Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) is up more than 28% at $2.95. The networking products maker launched new wireless printing products aimed at devices that use the iOS operating system software from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

Stay tuned for Tuesday. San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Kansas City Fed President Esther George are giving speeches. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – NFIB small business optimism index
11:30 a.m. – 4- and 52-week Treasury bill auctions
1:00 p.m. – 3-year Treasury note auction

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close, The Day Tagged: AA, AKAM, AYI, CBST, COST, IDIX, INHX, LTRX, MRK, NFLX, P, PSOF, SCCO, THRX, XOM

What’s Important in the Financial World (1/9/2012) Chevy Volt Revivial, M&A Monday

247wallst — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:47:05 +0000

Deal makers were busy over the weekend. Strategic considerations were more the driver of activity than an improved economy, however. Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) will buy Summit Entertainment for $400 million, according to several reports. Lions Gate itself has been speculated as a takeover target. Summit owns the franchise for the remarkably successful Twilight movies. Lions Gate has set an M&A deal that will make it competitive with larger studios. Also over the weekend, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) moved further into biopharma. It will pay $2.5 billion for Inhibitex (NYSE: INHX), which has developed treatments for hepatitis C — a rapid-growth market.

Eurozone Crisis Meetings

The financial disaster in the eurozone is still without a systematic solution. The European Central Bank leaders will meet this week. It is nearly certain that the central bank will keep rates low, or perhaps even drop them. But, as the U.S. has demonstrated, low rates are not the key to GDP improvement. The ECB also has said it will not be the financial catalyst of a rescue of weak nations in the region. Germany’s Merkel and France’s Sarkozy are set to meet to discuss how job growth might be renewed in the region. How a fund to help save the eurozone might be structured will also be part of talks. As long as each of these issues is open, the rescue of the eurozone will remain incomplete.

Chevy Volt Production

General Motors (NYSE: GM) said it will match demand for its Chevy Volt electric car with adequate production. That should not be difficult. Battery fire problems have prompted analysts to question whether GM can sell many of the cars. GM has offered to reinforce battery housings in the Volt. This is an admission there is more risk to owning a Volt than anyone might have expected. Production of the Volt could be so tiny that it will become uneconomic for GM to stick with the model at all.

Gadgets on Parade

The International Consumer Electronics Show opens this week in Las Vegas. It is the world’s largest exhibition of gadgets each year. All of the major software, hardware and internet companies will display their latest products. So will hundreds of small firms, each with hopes it can strike gold with consumers, and perhaps with big companies that will buy or license their technologies. The show is so vast that it will be hard for any product, whether from a big company or a small one, to rise above the chaos of an event attended by hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of potential customers.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Market Open Tagged: BMY, GM, INHX, LGF

Media Digest (1/9/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg

247wallst — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:46:35 +0000

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1324331373.html The U.S. may start legal proceedings against Swiss financial firm Wegelin & Co. based on beliefs that it helped shield Americans from taxes. (Reuters)

The EPA may send fresh water to communities close to fracking sites. (Reuters)

The International Monetary Fund says that Europe may avoid a 2012 recession, but that some areas are in deep trouble. (Reuters)

China may create a large ministry to oversee the nation’s energy. (Reuters)

Merkel and Sarkozy will meet to discuss ways to stimulate job growth in Europe. (Reuters)

The euro reaches a 16-month low against the dollar. (Reuters)

Olympus is close to a delisting from the Tokyo stock exchange. (Reuters)

Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) is about to buy Summit, which created the Twilight series. (Reuters)

Pay cuts on Wall St. will be large for 2012. (WSJ)

Detroit car companies have begun to introduce new models to fight back against Japanese and European brands. (WSJ)

Unemployment problems are likely to last many years in the U.S. (WSJ)

Occupancy rates at malls saw a small improvement late last year. (WSJ)

BMW claims it will outperform the car market next year. (WSJ)

Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW) will begin to market to men and to the Chinese. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says Volt production will meet demand, but did not say what the demand is. (WSJ)

Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. will delay DVD releases for eight weeks after theater release, up from four weeks. (WSJ)

The Canadian government to begin deliberations on a pipeline to run from its oil sands areas to the Pacific ocean. (WSJ)

Venezuela may stop working with the World Bank’s tribunal, which would leave billions of dollars in disputes in limbo. (WSJ)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says it will rely on Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) less for product platforms, but that may be challenged by the software firm’s problems in mobile devices. (WSJ)

Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY) to buy hepatitis C drug-developer Inhibitex (NASDAQ: INHX) for $2.5 billion. (WSJ)

RHR International, a research firm, says more CEOs feel under pressure to deliver short-term results. (WSJ)

A European Central Bank meeting likely will not yield any aid for nations in the region that are part of the financial crisis. (WSJ)

A slowdown of trading will hurt Wall St. Q4 results. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) will gamble on its mid-sized Fusion to beat Japanese competition. (NYT)

Germany is unlikely to offer more money for bailouts as its belief in effective austerity grows. (NYT)

The oversight panel of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision says some banks may be able to drop below capital requirements. (NYT)

The UK may still give the IMF a large sum, intended mostly for a bailout of some eurozone nations. (FT)

S&P 500 earnings growth likely will stumble. (FT)

The ECB could cut interest rates much as the Federal Reserve did. (Bloomberg)

A strong export economy helps keep Germany out of recession. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Press Digest Tagged: BMY, F, GM, INHX, INTC, MSFT, TWX

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (ZNGA, AAPL, SCCO, AMGN, DFS, RIMM, DRI, STEI, HOV, ZQK, ISTA, RRR, MRT, INHX, CRYP, CIE)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:08:47 +0000

US equity markets opened solidly higher this morning, but began to lose momentum by mid-morning. From there it’s been a mostly downhill day with the DJIA creeping back to nearly flat with about an hour of trading left this week. The release of November’s CPI — flat and up just 0.1% excluding food and energy — made no impact on trading. The IPO of social game maker Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) went out at $10/share, but appears to be headed for a lower finish by about -5%. The US dollar showed some muscle today, and Treasury yields were lower, keeping the appetite for risk under wraps. WTI crude rose about 0.3% to $94.16/barrel and Brent crude was up by the same percentage at $103.91. Gold closed at $1,598.60, up about 1.4%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 6 points to 11,862.68 (-0.05%), the NASDAQ rose more than 14 points (0.56%) to 2,555.33, and the S&P 500 rose 0.3% or more than 3.5 points to 1,219.40.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including an “outrageous” prediction from the UK’s Saxo Bank that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) would lose half its value in 2012. Other ratings actions today include Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) restarted as ‘equal weight’ with a $35 target price at Morgan Stanley; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) raised to ‘neutral’ with a target price of $57 at Goldman Sachs; and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus. Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) received a number of ratings changes this morning following an uninspired earnings report and delayed release of its new operating system software: shares cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital Markets; maintained as ‘hold’ at Needham; maintained as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; maintained ‘hold’ with lowered price target of $15 at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Research in Motion Ltd. is down more than -11.5% at $13.38, after posting a new 52-week low of $13.12; Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) is down -0.5% at $43.52; Steward Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: STEI) is down more than -1.5% at $5.41; Hovananian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is down more than -4% at $1.29; and Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE: ZQK) is up more than 11% at $3.42.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) is up nearly 71% at $6.65. The eye-care drug company is the target of a hostile takeover bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) at a 68% premium to last night’s closing share price, or $6.50/share. More coverage here.

RSC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RRR) is up more than 57% at $17.88, a new 52-week high. The construction and industrial equipment rental company is being acquired by competitor United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) for $18/share, or about $1.9 billion in cash and stock.

Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. (NYSE: MRT) is up nearly 33% at $$6.85. The steakhouse chain has agreed to an all-cash acquisition by privately held Landry’s Inc. at $6.90/share, for a total price of about $116.6 million.

Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) is down more than -20.5% at $10.32. The biopharmaceutical firm is being hit with concerns over a new hepatitis C drug following the withdrawal of a rival drug discovered to impair liver function.

CryptoLogic Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRYP) is up more than 42% at $2.25, after posting a new 52-week high of $2.30 earlier today. The online gambling software maker is expected to get a takeover offer from Amaya Gaming Group (OTC: AMYGF) worth about $34.5 million.

Cobalt International Energy Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is up more than 21% at $10.90. The oil & gas E&P company was able to extend its lease on a deepwater rig from Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) that enables the company to continue exploring for two prospects offshore of Angola that the company believes may hold up to 2 billion barrels of crude.

Stay tuned for Monday. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker is speaking in Charlotte, NC. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – National Association of Builders housing market index
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6- month Treasury bill auction
1:00 p.m. – Two-year Treasury note auction

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, AMGN, CIE, CRYP, DFS, DRI, HOV, INHX, ISTA, MRT, RIMM, RRR, SCCO, STEI, ZNGA, ZQK

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (RIMM, QCOM, AMAT, HPQ, NFLX, TIF, MAGS, RIMM, STX, INHX, GLW, AMR)

Administrator — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:04:39 +0000

Markets opened higher this morning but the day ended up mixed between stock winners and losers. Janet Yellen talked more about her outlook inside the Federal Reserve, but more poor housing price data was considered. As has become the norm, the headlines in Europe were watched all day and the reaction to Iran overrunning the U.K. embassy had only a limited impact.

The unofficial closing bells, which are likely to change, put the DJIA up almost 34 points to 11,556.69, the NASDAQ fell 0.5% to 2,515.51 and the S&P 500 was up 0.23% at $1,195.22.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) raised to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein. Other ratings actions included Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) started as ‘outperform’ at Scotia; Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) started as ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to ‘outperform’ at RBC; and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained as ‘sell’ and price target cut to $57 at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s big post-earnings reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is down almost 8.7% at $67.25 right before the close. Magal Security Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: MAGS) was up over 70% at %4.58 right before the closing bell after strong earnings. Other news of interest includes the reverse split and delisting of B+H Ocean Carriers Ltd. on the Amex, a further sign of troubles facing the shipping industry. Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) was up almost 6% at $17.46 in the final minutes as that analyst upgrade identified a merger scenario.

Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) was up 4% at $16.64 in the final minutes. The storage drive maker raised its revenue outlook for the current quarter, and an analyst at Citi raised the company’s price target from $24 to $26.

Inhibitex, Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) was up as it benefits from the current interest in hepatitis drug developers, and shares were up 20.5% at $13.74 in the final minutes before the close.

Corning Inc . (NYSE: GLW) was pounded lower with shares down 10.5% after the company lowered its fourth-quarter outlook and said that an unnamed Korean customer was not going to honor its contracts, sending earnings estimates down by -30%. This Korean contract default was not in any analyst models and that was not an expected event even if the warning should have been expected.

AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) was the loser of the day… bankruptcy! Shares were down just over 80% at $0.813 right before the close.

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

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications report
7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
9:45 a.m. – Chicago purchasing manager’s index
10:00 a.m. – National Association of Realtors pending home sales report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Beige Book released
3:00 p.m. – US Department of Agriculture Farm Prices report

JON C. OGG

Filed under: The Day, Trading Alert Tagged: AMAT, AMR, GLW, HPQ, INHX, MAGS, NFLX, QCOM, RIMM, STX, TIF

NASDAQ/NYSE Delisting Notices Galore (BFNB, DEAR, DCGN, DNE, EUBK, HRZB, IAO, IPII, INHX, RPC, RGCI, RHIE, TONE, VIAP, XBKS)

247wallst — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:52:59 +0000

It is year-end. That means that NASDAQ and the NYSE have been sending out more and more letters of non-compliance to public companies over their subsequent listing requirements. Some are due to capitalization minimums not being met, while many are due to share prices as so many stocks are still under the minimum share price. Enter the land of penny stocks. These are some of the companies which have been under this notice:

Beach First National Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: BFNB)
Dearborn Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: DEAR)
deCODE genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCGN)
Dune Energy, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: DNE)
EuroBancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: EUBK)
Horizon Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: HRZB)
IA Global, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: IAO)
Imperial Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPII)
Inhibitex, Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX)
Radient Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NYSE Amex: RPC)
Regent Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: RGCI)
RHI Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: RHIE)
TierOne Corp. (NASDAQ: TONE)
VIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAP)
Xenith Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: XBKS)

These are just the most recent delisting candidates. There are many many more companies which fall in the delisting category. Companies which receive delisting notifications rarely get delisted from NASDAQ or NYSE immediately. There is a plan for re-listing process. There are requests for exceptions and requests for extensions to these deadlines which are frequently granted.

These won’t be the last of the companies in the coming days which disclose delisting notifications.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Economy, Exchange News, Micro Cap, OTC, Regulation, Shareholder Issues Tagged: BFNB, DCGN, DEAR, DNE, EUBK, HRZB, IAO, INHX, IPII, RGCI, RHIE, RPC, TONE, VIAP, XBKS