24/7 Wall St. » LCAV

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (F, GM, TM, EMC, GD, GMCR, POT, TIVO, UNF, PRGS, STZ, MON, FDO, LCAV, REE, NFLX, APKT, LPHI)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:04:24 +0000

Markets opened lower today and stayed in negative territory until mid-afternoon. Car makers reported December sales throughout the day, with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) both showing gains in the morning. Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) posted lower sales in the afternoon. Developments in Europe did nothing to boost shares today, with a new rights issue coming from Italy’s UniCredit and a requirement for additional reserves against bad loans coming in Spain. Crude oil gained on word that Europe is nearing a decision to stop crude imports from Iran, possibly sparking a confrontation in the Persian Gulf. WTI crude is up 0.25% at $103.22/barrel and Brent crude is up 1.34% at 113.63/barrel. Gold is up about 0.8% at $1,613.20.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 21 points to 12,418.57 (0.17%), the NASDAQ fell less than 1 point (-0.01%) to 2,648.36, and the S&P 500 rose 0.02% or less than 1 point to 1,277.31.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) added to ‘US Focus List’ at Credit Suisse; General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) reiterated ‘buy’ with $94 target price at Canaccord Genuity; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) started as ‘underperform’ at National Bank; and Tivo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Evercore Partners.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Unifirst Corp. (NYSE: UNF) is up more than 3% at $59.83; and Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS) is down more than -11% at $17.55. Tomorrow sees earnings from Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) among others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

LCA-Vision Inc. (NASDAQ: LCAV) is up more than 40% at $4.33. The laser vision correction system provider said that it performed more than 14,000 procedures in the fourth quarter, up 30% year-over-year.

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE) is up more than 27% at $4.53. The rare earths miner announced that its resource at the company’s Bear Lodge project is 38% higher than previously believed.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up nearly 11% at $80.02. The video distributor reported that it streamed more than 2 billion hours of video in the fourth quarter. More details on this story are available here.

Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is down more than -19% at $25.65, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.20 early this morning. The networking company warned on earnings last night. We have more coverage here.

Life Partners Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPHI) is down more than -15% at $5.38. The life insurance company has been accused of accounting fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

7:30 a.m. – Challenger Gray & Christmas job-cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:30 a.m. – Weekly initial unemployment benefits claims report
10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas report
11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
4:30 a.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply reports

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: APKT, EMC, F, FDO, GD, GM, GMCR, LCAV, LPHI, MON, NFLX, POT, PRGS, REE, STZ, TIVO, TM, UNF

Mornings Movers (LCAV, LPHI, APKT, PRGS, TIVO)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:57:23 +0000

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include LCA-Vision Inc. (NASDAQ: LCAV), Life Partners Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPHI), Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT), Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS), and Tivo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO).

After the first hour of trading this morning, LCA-Vision is up nearly 26% at $3.88. Volume is already nearly double the daily average. The laser vision correction system provider said that it performed more than 14,000 procedures in the fourth quarter, up 30% year-over-year.

LIfe Partners is down nearly -28% at $4.56. Volume is nearly 6x the daily average. The life insurance company has been accused of accounting fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Acme Packet is down more than -20% at $25.42, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.20 earlier. Volume is already more than double the daily average. The networking company warned on earnings last night. We have more coverage here.

Progress Software is down more than -11% at $17.57. Volume has already surpassed the daily average. The enterprise software company reported weak quarterly earnings after markets closed yesterday.

Tivo is up nearly 9% at $9.69. Volume is already about 50% higher than the daily average. The digital video recorder maker has reached a settlement with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) under which AT&T will pay Tivo at least $215 million to license Tivo technology.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Open, The Day Tagged: APKT, LCAV, LPHI, PRGS, TIVO

The 52-Week Low Club (BA)(AM)(ROK)(HON)(SONC)(LCAV)

247wallst — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:53:17 +0000

Boeing (BA) Hit by broker downgrade on fears of order cuts from troubled airlines. Down to $69.16 from 52-week high of $107.83.

American Greetings (AM) Happy card company gets beat up on poor earnings. Sells down to $13.93 from 52-week high of $29.10. Have a nice day.

Rockwell International (ROK) Weak guidances sends stock diving. Moves off to $44.89 from 52-week high of $75.60.

Honeywell (HON) Hit by downgrades in defense stocks and Boeing. Sells off to $51.20 from 52-week high of $62.99.

Sonic (SONC) Fast food. Bad earnings. Falls to $14.40 from 52-week high of $26.19.

LCA-Vision (LCAV) Says number of procedures the company does will be down this quarter. Drops like a rock to $4.54 from 52-week high of $50.69.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:03:08 +0000

Fremont General (FMT) Mortgage company talks with investor fall apart. Stock drops to $2.74 from 52-week high of $17.30.

Watts Industries (WTS) Downgraded after poor earnings. Falls to $27.91 from 52-week high of $46.71.

Time Warner Cable (TWC) Cable loses exclusive franchise in apartment complexes. Drops to $27.55 from 52-week high of $44.

Merge Technologies (MRGE) Company says it will restate some earlier financial results. Shares drop to $1.84 from 52-week high of $8.16.

Lca-Vision (LCAV) Two downgrades on poor earnings outlook. Falls to $16.90 from 52-week high of $50.69.

Douglas A. McIntyre