24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 8, 2012 (CSCO, SD, QCOM, KMI, LEN, XIDE, PNY, FGP, KMGB, FNSR, KORS, FDS, KFY, KR, PIR, WGO, PCX, ANR, NOK, NAV, CHK)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:11:33 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened lower this morning as investors wait for weekend data on Chinese trade and industrial production. The drop in US unemployment benefits claims didn’t spur much buying, nor did news of the smaller US trade deficit in April. Trading volume has been light today, with just 400 million shares trading hands on the NYSE. Going into the last hour of trading the DJIA is up about 0.5%, the Nasdaq is up about 0.6%, and the S&P 500 is up about 0.8%, and all finished the day higher by less than 1%.

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.55% at 82.506. The GSCI commodity index is fractionally at 592.05, with commodities prices mostly lower today on the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.9%% at $84.10/barrel. Brent crude trades down -0.24% at $99.69/barrel. Natural gas rose about 1.1% today to $2.299/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled up 0.2% today, at $1,591.40/ounce, but took a weekly loss of about -2%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 93 points to 12,553.97(0.75%), the NASDAQ rose more than 27 points (0.97%) to 2,858.42, and the S&P 500 rose 0.81% or nearly 11 points to 1,325.63.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) started as ‘buy’ at Citigroup; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) started as ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $80 at Argus; Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘sell’ at Citigroup.

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: Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) is up 16.3% at $2.85; Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. (NYSE: PNY) is up 0.3% at $31.71; Ferrellgas Partners LP (NYSE: FGP) is up 6.9% at $17.25; and KMG Chemicals Inc. (NASDAQ: KMGB) is down -2% at $16.91.

As we approach the quarter’s end there are fewer and fewer notable earnings reports scheduled. Next week we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR), Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS), FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR), and Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is down -9.5% at $1.68. The coal miner took the biggest share price hit today following news that Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is closing some mines. More coverage here.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is up 5.7% at $2.99. The Finnish handset company was rumored to be the target of a possible takeover by Samsung Electronics. More coverage here.

Navistar International Inc. (NYSE: NAV) is up 16.6% at $28.10. The commercial truck and engine maker got a boost from an increased investment by Carl Icahn, who now owns 12% of the company.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is 2.7% at $18.33. The natural gas producer sold $4 billion in assets today (coverage here) and stockholders rejected two current directors by a wide margin at today’s shareholders’ meeting (more coverage here).

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

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: ANR, CHK, CSCO, FDS, FGP, FNSR, KFY, KMGB, KMI, KORS, KR, LEN, NAV, NOK, PCX, PIR, PNY, QCOM, SD, WGO, XIDE

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (C, SHLD, SIRI, YHOO, MCP, FGP, TITN, OPTT, KMGB, DMND, BCSI, FLOW, PCYC, CTIC, GE)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:05:13 +0000

Equity markets opened higher this morning as an agreement on dealing with the Eurozone’s debt crisis boosted markets. Shares climbed during the day, recovering some of the losses in yesterday’s bear market. The consumer sentiment index rose to 67.7, higher than expected, giving the markets another shot in the arm. WTI crude oil is up nearly 1.5%, to $99.48/barrel and gold is up slightly to $1,710.60 shortly before the market closes today. For the week, equity markets are on track to post a small gain, but nothing like last week’s 7% jump.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 186 points to 12,184.11 (1.55%), the NASDAQ rose more than 50 points (1.94%) to 2,646.85, and the S&P 500 rose 1.68% or more than 20 points to 1,255.14.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) started as ‘equal-weight’ at Evercore Partners. Other ratings actions today include Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) started as ‘underperform’ at Imperial Capital; Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) started as ‘buy’ with a target price of $2.20 at Citigroup; Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) started as ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital; and Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) started as ‘hold’ at ThinkEquity.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Ferrellgas Partners L.P. (NYSE: FGP) is down -2.7% at $20.77; Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ: TITN) is up about 1% at $23.11; Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTT) is up 0.63% at $3.20; and KMG Chemicals Inc. (NASDAQ: KMGB) is up 3.4% at $15.67.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is up more than 47% at $39.06. The snack food maker got a huge boost today on word from a broker that the accounting issues that have delayed Diamond’s acquisition of Pringles from Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) will be resolved soon and the acquisition will proceed quickly.

Blue Coat Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI) is up more than 44% at $25.18. The network technology company is being taken private at $25.81/share in an all-cash offer that values the company at $1.3 billion.

Flow International Corp. (NASDAQ: FLOW) is up more than 44% at $3.50. The industrial products company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues after markets closed last night. The stock also got an upgrade from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform’ from Northland.

Pharmacyclics Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) is down more than -15% at $12.34. The cancer and immune system drug maker was downgraded to ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital on lowered expectations that the company may be acquired in 2012.

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) is down more than -13%, at $1.19. The cancer treatment maker announced a $20 million sale of preferred stock and warrants that could boost the number of shares of common stock outstanding by 17.4 million.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is up more than 3.5% at $16.90. The conglomerate raised its quarterly dividend from $0.15/share to $0.17/share, the fourth increase since September 2010.

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

11:30 a.m. – Short-term Treasury note auctions
1:00 p.m. – Three-year Treasury note auction
2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget release

Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Active Trader, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BCSI, C, CTIC, DMND, FGP, FLOW, GE, KMGB, MCP, OPTT, PCYC, SHLD, SIRI, TITN, YHOO

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24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — June 8, 2012 (CSCO, SD, QCOM, KMI, LEN, XIDE, PNY, FGP, KMGB, FNSR, KORS, FDS, KFY, KR, PIR, WGO, PCX, ANR, NOK, NAV, CHK)

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (C, SHLD, SIRI, YHOO, MCP, FGP, TITN, OPTT, KMGB, DMND, BCSI, FLOW, PCYC, CTIC, GE)