24/7 Wall St. » KFY

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (CSCO, DO, LVS, LULU, PM, SLB, CIEN, COST, SFD, LAYN, KFY, DMAN, AFFY, DANG, IVC, PNCL, TSLA)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:08:15 +0000

Stocks opened lower this morning and trailed mostly lower throughout the day. Today’s wholesale inventory reported showed a gain of 1.6% and the initial jobless claims were substantially lower than expectations of 395,000, at 381,000. The two reports probably cancelled each other out as word hit the street that Europe is forecasting weaker growth and that today’s expected interest rate reduction was agreed with less than a unanimous vote by the ECB. The stress test results for European banks were released today, causing shares in some European banks to fall. WTI crude has fallen by more than $2 to $98.33/barrel and Brent crude is also down by about $1.65 at $107.86. Gold is down nearly -2%, at $1,710.40.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 198 points to 11,997.93 (-1.63%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 53 points (-1.99%) to 2,596.38, and the S&P 500 fell -2.11% or nearly 27 points to 1,234.35.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a price target of $24 at Argus. Other ratings actions today include Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) started as ‘sell’ with a target price of $70 at Goldman Sachs; Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) cut to ‘neutral’ at Janney; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) restarted as ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee; Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at Nomura; and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) started as ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is up 2.7% at $12.23; Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) is down -1.3% at $86.33; Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is down -2.6% at $24.29; Layne Christensen Co. (NASDAQ: LAYN) is down -4.1% at $23.61; and Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) is down -8% at $15.77.

Other standouts from today include the following shares:

DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMAN) is up nearly 56% at $13.15. The cloud-software company has accepted a takeover bid from IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) of $13.50/share, a 57% premium over yesterday’s closing price.

Affymax, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) is up more than 38% at $8.10. The US FDA has approved the company’s anemia drug for dialysis patients suffering from chronic kidney failure.

E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG) is up nearly 24% at $5.76. The Chinese e-commerce company has announced that it will issue an e-reader later this month and split content revenue with producers, keeping 40% for itself.

Invacare Corp. (NYSE: IVC) is down more than -25% at $15.39, after posting a new 52-week low earlier today. The medical supplies maker is in danger of having the US FDA close down some of its operations because Invacare has failed to comply with quality standards.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) is down about -23% at $1.47, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.40 earlier today. The regional airlines has initiated a program to cut costs and raise liquidity.

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is down nearly -3.5% at $30.75. The electric car maker’s stock was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from ‘overweight’ to ‘underweight’ and the target price was slashed from $70 to $44.

Stay tuned for Friday. Here are some noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade report for October
9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AFFY, CIEN, COST, CSCO, DANG, DMAN, DO, IVC, KFY, LAYN, LULU, LVS, PM, PNCL, SFD, SLB, TSLA

Sudden Excitement in Jobs & Staffing Companies (PAYX, ADP, MWW, MAN, CTAS, KFY)

Administrator — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:53:00 +0000

After a long period of unemployment, any upside to the jobs numbers at any point offers a helping hand to the stocks of companies that revolve around the jobs market. That is payroll services, online job search destinations, career management, uniform makers, and even head hunters. So it is no surprise that we are seeing a move higher in stocks such as Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX), Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP), Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW), Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), and even in Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY).

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX), a payroll services company, is up 1.7% at $26.45 versus a 52-week range of $24.65 to $32.88.

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP), another payroll services company, is up 1.55% at $40.31 versus a 52-week range of $26.46 to $45.74.

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW), the top online destination for those looking for jobs, is up a sharp 5.77% at $12.19 versus a 52-week range of $10.01 to $19.28.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN), a key recruiting and labor outsource firm, is up 2.7% at $48.09 versus a 52-week range of $39.94 to $63.00.

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), which is the go-to name for uniforms and other corporate employee services, is trading up 1.8% at $27.15 versus a 52-week range of $23.10 to $30.85.

Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), an executive recruiting firm, a.k.a. head-hunter, is up 2.8% at $14.74 versus a 52-week range of $12.57 to $18.62.

What is interesting here about this sector is that there is generally an improving environment for companies like these. There is high demand for good temporary workers and this creates more demand for these services. The stocks have also underperformed the broad market and many of these are still very close to 52-week lows.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Business Services, Economy, Labor & Unions Tagged: ADP,, CTAS, KFY, MAN, MWW, PAYX

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:06:14 +0000

Circuit City (CC) Poor earnings and almost certainly more to come. Down to $8.46 from 52-week high of $29.31.

Enterra Energy (ENT) Still falling after cutting dividend. Drops to $1.33 from 52-week high of $10.30.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) Cable companies under pressure because of competition from big telecommunications companies. Down to $31.96 from 52-week high of $44.

Korn Ferry (KFY) Head hunting business must be particularly rough. Drops to $16.68 from 52-week high of $27.13.

ACI Worldwide (ACIW) Providesr of software for electronic payment systems cuts guidance. Falls to $20.65 from 52-week high of $38.72.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:47:50 +0000

King Pharmaceuticals (KG) One of the company’s patents found to be invalid. Down to $12.59 from 52-week high of $22.25.

Korn Ferry (KFY) Earnings and employment outlook not doing executive search firm any good. Down to $17.45 from 52-week high of $27.13.

New York Times Company (NYT) Stock get bad rating from Banc of America. Down to $20.21 from 52-week high of $26.90.

Applied Digital Solutions (ADSX) Majority holder of VeriChip (CHIP) who implantable chip technology creates cancer in animals. Down to $.88 from 52-week high of $2.82.

Smart Modular Technologies (SMOD) Chip maker offered disappointing preliminary fiscal fourth-quarter and 2007 results. Down to $6.86 from 52-week high of $15.89.

Active Power (ACPW) Power transport solutions shares just keep sliding. Down to $1.28 from $2.94.

Himax Technologies (HIMX) CFO of Taiwanese semiconductor-company named in class action suits. Drops to $3.53 from 52-week high of $7.10.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Pre-Market Stock News (June 6, 2007)

247wallst — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:13:13 +0000

(AAUK) Anglo American’s CEO will become a non-executive member of the board of directors at BP (BP).
(ACAD) Acadia Pharmaceuticals traded up over 10% after Jim Cramer touted the stock as a speculative play for trading the upcoming data on its schizophrenia and Parkinson’s treatment.
(ACOR) Acorda Therapeutics Starts Second Phase 3 Trial of Fampridine-SR in MS
(AMTD) TD AMERITRADE was notified that JANA and S.A.C. funds have secured an interest of roughly 8.6% stake to pressure the companies to enter a merger.
(AZN) AstraZeneca CFO leaves to join Goldman Sachs.
(CROX) Crocs is launching a fashionable line of high heel and flats for women to appeal to fashion conscious women.
(CSC) Computer Sciences Corp. may look to acquire iSoft Group plc in the UK.
(ETFC) E*Trade trading up 3% on AMERITRADE news.
(FCS) Fairchild Semiconductor reaffirmed Q2 growth targets.
(GSK) GlaxoSmithkline defends Avandia saying it does not increase heart risks.
(KFY) Korn Ferry $0.37 adjusted EPS versus $0.34 estimates.
(MAIR) MAIR Holdings -$0.06 EPS vs -$0.05e.
(PNRA) Panera trading down $7.00 on an earnings warning of $0.38-0.40 vs $0.47-0.51e.
(PLUG) Plug Power named new CFO.
(PRU) Prudential lays off 420 in a research phase out, will cease covering all equities immediately.
(RUS) Russ Berrie rejected an $18.00 buyout as an undervalued deal.
(SCHW) Charles Schwab traded up 1% after the AMERITRADE news.
(SIRI) Sirius Satellite Radio announced a $250 million term-loan from Morgan Stanley.
(STAR) Starent priced a 10.5 million share IPO at$12.00, above the $9.00 to $11.00 range.
(WFMI) Whole Foods is facing a deal blockage by the FTC over a ‘natural foods market disruption’ according to FTC.

Jon C. Ogg
June 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.