24/7 Wall St. » RGLD

Gold Miner and Royalty Woes Continue

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:10:37 +0000

This morning, Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was the latest gold player to report its corporate earnings. The good news is that the gold company revenues and earnings were up. The bad news is that it and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) have run into continued delays in Chile, and the price of gold is not working in its favor today.

Precious metals reserves on properties subject to Royal Gold’s interests (net of depletion) were approximately 82.8 million ounces of gold and 1.15 billion ounces of silver. This is lower than the 84.5 million gold ounces and 1.2 billion silver ounces from a year earlier.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2013, the gold interest owner showed a 7% increase in its royalty revenue to $74.2 million, while operating cash flow rose by 43% to $68.1 million. A noncash loss was realized on its available-for-sale securities of $12.1 million associated with the common shares of Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE: SA) that were acquired as part of the June 2011 transaction regarding the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell Project. The company’s SEC filing shows its project by project updates.

It has been a very tough time for Royal Gold. Many of its gold investments were made when gold was higher, although it has many legacy projects from much lower gold prices on the books as well. The stock has drifted down to $53.69 from a 2012 peak of $100.84, and the stock is down almost 34% year-to-date in 2013.

Seabridge Gold Inc. (NYSE: SA) also has fallen on hard times, as its $11.07 price compares to a 52-week range of $9.63 to $20.34. Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) is down at $53.47, and its 52-week range is $17.51 to $43.30.

Filed under: Commodities & Metals, Earnings, Metals Tagged: ABX, featured, RGLD, SA

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 18, 2013: Markets Slide on Cyprus Woes (KMB, VZ, RGLD, ACI, HPQ, SYNM, CLSN, HSOL, HAST, KIOR, FF, SBLK, FDS, CTAS, GLUU, JCP, NOK, BBRY)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:07:16 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning following a weekend of confusion over the proposed solution to the banking problem in Cyprus. It’s not that Cyprus claims a particularly large banking system, but the proposed haircut for their depositors makes depositors everywhere wary (more coverage here). The Cypriot banking mess chilled markets in Asia and Europe today as well. There was little data released today, but the eurozone trade deficit came in higher than forecast and in China, house prices rose 2.1% month-over-month. In the U.S. the National Association of Home Builders index fell again in March, the second straight month of decline (more coverage here). U.S. financial stocks performed poorly today, while tech stocks posted a gain as speculation abounded that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) would seriously boost its dividend.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.48% today, now at 82.654. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.4% at 652.50, with commodities prices mostly lower today on the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.3% today, at $93.74 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.2% at $109.57 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.1% today at about $3.87 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.8% today at $1,604.60 an ounce, its first close above $1,600 this month.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 62 points to 14,452.06 (-0.43%), the NASDAQ fell more than 11 points (-0.35%) to 3,237.59, and the S&P 500 fell -0.55% or nearly 9 points to 1,552.10.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup (more coverage here); Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) started as ‘buy’ at BB&T; Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) raised to ‘neutral’ at Nomura; and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Syntroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: SYNM) is down 12.3% at $0.40; Celsion Corp. (NASDAQ: CLSN) is up 1.9% at $1.08; Hanwha Solarone Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSOL) is up 5.7% at $0.93; Hastings Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: HAST) is down 4.4% at $2.17; and Kior Inc. (NASDAQ: KIOR) is down 0.9% at $5.76.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE: FF), Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: SBLK), FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS), and Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) is up 11.1% at $3.71. The mobile games developer has been upgraded by several analysts.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is up 6.6% at $16.50. The beleaguered retailer gets a boost today from an analyst’s plan to convert some of the company’s stores to a REIT.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 2.3% at $3.35. The handset maker is declining as the U.S. release of the new smartphone from BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) approaches later this week..

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

8:30 a.m. – Housing starts
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ACI, BBRY, CLSN, CTAS, FDS, FF, GLUU, HAST, HPQ, HSOL, JCP, KIOR, KMB, NOK, RGLD, SBLK, SYNM, VZ

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AMD, ACI, BBY, BCC, CNP, CRL, BREW, GNRC, HPQ, ISRG, KMB, OMX, ODP, ONNN, ORLY, BTU, RGLD, SI, STAN, SYMC, UTX, VZ)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:25:43 +0000

Investors and traders are always looking for good research-driven ideas for stocks to buy and stocks to sell. Some of these come from independent research and some come from sell-side firms on Wall St. Some research calls are value stocks and some are based on momentum. These are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from select Wall St. research calls.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Boise Cascade Co. (NYSE: BCC) started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo, started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch and started as Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) started as Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Craft Brew Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: BREW) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) and Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) were both raised to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) named Bull of the Day by Zacks.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) raised to Neutral from Reduce at Nomura.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) started as Buy at BB&T.

Siemens A.G. (NYSE: SI) raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Standard Parking (NASDAQ: STAN) named Bear of the Day with struggling earnings growth by Zacks.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) reiterated Outperform with $27.50 target at Credit Suisse.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Here is a list of small cap stocks to buy now by Deutsche Bank.

J.P. Morgan offers a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

Credit Suisse gave a list of MLPs that will thrive and continue high distributions even under the risk of rising interest rates.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Value Investing Tagged: ACI, AMD, BBY, BCC, BREW, BTU, CNP, CRL, GNRC, HPQ, ISRG, KMB, ODP, OMX, ONNN, ORLY, RGLD, SI, STAN, SYMC, UTX, VZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — February 12, 2013: Markets Close Mixed in Another Yawner (CHK, FB, LVS, RGLD, DD, LGF, AVP, CPLA, FOSL, HERO, LVLT, KORS, RAI, KO, MHP, TRP, RATE, BWLD, CLWR, RAX, CMCSA, DF, DE, TOT, ZNGA, LDK)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:03:47 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened about flat this morning on another day devoid of significant data releases. In Asia, markets in China and Hong Kong remain closed for the holiday, but Japan’s Nikkei closed higher. In Europe, U.K. CPI data was mixed and France reported a higher-than-expected current account deficit. In Italy, a new corruption scandal broke out related to the head of the country’s largest defense contractor. U.S. markets took their cue from earnings reports and from a speech by Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) that weighed on tech stocks (more coverage here). The Treasury budget showed a surplus of $2.88 billion, but did little to sway markets.

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.26% today, now at 80.098. The GSCI commodity index is down fractionally at 677.66, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.5% today, at $97.51 a barrel after the U.S. EIA released its monthly outlook (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 0.5% at $118.65 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.3% today at about $3.24 per million BTUs. Gold settled down fractionally today at $1,649.60 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 48 points to 14,019.24 (0.34%), the NASDAQ fell more than 5 points (-0.17%) to 3,186.49, and the S&P 500 rose 0.16% or more than 2 points to 1,519.42.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) started as ‘equal weight’ at Barclays; Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) cut to ‘market perform’ at Bernstein; Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) raised to ‘buy’ with a price target of $25 at Argus; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS; and E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) started as ‘equal weight’ at Barclays.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) is down 0.7% at $19.61 (more coverage here); Capella Education Co. (NASDAQ: CPLA) is down 1.2% at $31.63; Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is up 3.1% at $110.83; Hercules Offshore Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) is up 1.4% at $7.12 after posting a new 52-week high of $7.40 earlier today; Level 3 Communications Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is down 13.5% at $21.34; Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) is up 8.4% at $61.79 after posting an all-time high of $64.55 earlier today (more coverage here); Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) is down 0.8% at $43.87; The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is down 3% at $37.46 (more coverage here); The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is down 0.9% at $43.89 (more coverage here); and TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) is down 1.5% at $47.45.

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE), Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD), Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR), Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Dean Foods Inc. (NYSE: DF), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), and Total SA (NYSE: TOT).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is up 20.8% at $20.87. The cosmetics firm posted results for the fourth quarter that looked outstanding compared with so many previous quarters. The company has begun to stabilize sales and expects to pay down some debt early this year.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down 10.9% at $3.27. The social games company is losing steam following a downgrade to Facebook stock after a couple of days of nice gains.

LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) is up 14.3% at $1.84. The solar maker is getting a boost from reports that demand is catching up with supply and prices are strengthening. More coverage on solar short interest here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Retail sales
8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
10:00 a.m. – Business inventories
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 10-year note auction

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AVP, BWLD, CHK, CLWR, CMCSA, CPLA, DD, DE, DF, FB, featured, FOSL, HERO, KO, KORS, LDK, LGF, LVLT, LVS, MHP, RAI, RATE, RAX, RGLD, TOT, TRP, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CMO, CHK, CBB, DD, FB, GG, GFI, KIM, LVS, MANU, QCOM, RGLD, TSN, URI)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:40:08 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall St. research calls.

Capstead Mortgage Corp. (NYSE: CMO) cut to Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE: CBB) started as Underperform at BofA/Merrill Lynch and started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) named Bear of the Day based on weak gold prices lowering earnings estimates by Zacks Investment Research.

Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) raised to Neutral at Citigroup.

Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM) reiterated Buy and raising target by $2 to $25 at Argus.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) raised to Buy with target of $66 at Argus.

Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU) started as Outperform at Raymond James.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) cut to Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) raised to Buy at UBS.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) named Bull of the Day and said to take a closer look at this top-ranked poultry producer that has a strong earnings, by Zacks Investment Research.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: CBB, CHK, CMO, DD, FB, GFI, GG, KIM, LVS, MANU, QCOM, RGLD, TSN, URI

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — November 1, 2012: Markets Pick Up Some Steam Today (NFLX, TWX, JCP, RVBD, CMVT, ALL, CZR, HTZ, MUR, APA, EXC, XOM, HCA, RGLD, RATE, CHK, FLR, GDOT, LVS, PCLN, SBUX, YELP, CVX, HES, MHP, OZM, RL, KSWS, ZUMZ, RIMM)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:04:41 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher following a spate of moderately good news on U.S. employment. The ADP report showed job gains (more coverage here), and the report on new claims for unemployment benefits came in a bit lower than expected (more coverage here). Tomorrow’s non-farm payroll report is probably the most eagerly anticipated data point in some time, given its potential impact on next week’s presidential election. In Asia, Chinese PMI ticked up for the first time in three months (more coverage here), lifting Asian markets. In Europe, the U.K.’s PMI reading was lower than expected, but Britain’s housing prices have strengthened slightly.

The U.S. dollar index rose today, now up 0.18% at 80.059. The GSCI commodity index is up less than 0.1% at 637.74, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil is up about 1% today, at $87.09 a barrel, following a decline in U.S. crude stocks (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 0.6% at $108.05 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.2% today at about $3.70 per thousand cubic feet, following an inline inventory build (more coverage here). Gold closed at $1,715.50 an ounce, down about 0.2% for the day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 135 points to 13,231.39 (1.03%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 43 points (1.44%) to 3,020.06, and the S&P 500 rose 1.09% or about 15 points to 1,427.59.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) reiterated as ‘outperform’ and target price raised to $53 at Credit Suisse; J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) maintained as ‘buy’ with a target price of $35 at Argus; Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) raised to ‘buy’ at Cantor Fitzgerald; and Comverse Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: CMVT) cut to ‘sector perform’ at RBC.

Earnings reports since last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) is down 3% at $38.79; Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is up 0.7% at $5.83; Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) is up 1.7% at $13.50; Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) is down less than 0.1% at $59.95; Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) is down 1.1% at $81.82 (more coverage here); Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) is down 5.9% at $33.66 (more coverage here); Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is up 0.3% at $91.41 (more coverage here); HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA) is up 5.8% at $30.06; and Royal Gold Inc. (NYSE: RGLD) is up less than 0.1% at $88.18.

Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to hear from Bankrate Inc. (NYSE: RATE), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR), Green Dot Corp. (NYSE: GDOT), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS), Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES), McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP), Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE: OZM), and Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is up 34.7% at $3.07. The footwear company beat EPS estimates this morning and raised its fourth quarter outlook for revenues.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is down 16% at $21.27. The clothing retailer posted weak earnings last night and lowered guidance. We have more coverage of October retail sales here.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is up 9.8% at $8.70. The mobile device maker has been rising for two days on what could be just short covering. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Friday. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Employment report
10:00 a.m. – Factory orders

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALL, APA, CHK, CMVT, CVX, CZR, EXC, FLR, GDOT, HCA, HES, HTZ, JCP, KSWS, LVS, MHP, MUR, NFLX, OZM, PCLN, RATE, RGLD, RIMM, RL, RVBD, SBUX, TWX, XOM, Yelp, ZUMZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — October 31, 2012: Markets Open Higher Only to Flatten Out (RVBD, S, UBS, D, VLO, BUD, MT, CAM, CNH, COCO, CMI, ETN, H, MA, PSX, CLX, WM, ALL, CZR, HTZ, MUR, APA, CVC, EXC, XOM, HCA, RGLD, F, WRC, PVH, WU)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:42:39 +0000

U.S. equity markets re-opened for business in New York this morning after a two-day shutdown forced by Hurricane Sandy. Markets opened higher, but lost their energy by mid-morning. Asian markets were higher on some decent earnings reports out of China and other mixed data reports. In Europe, consumer confidence hit a six-month low in the U.K. and Europe’s unemployment ticked back up to 11.6% (more coverage here). Eurozone members continue to wrestle with the Greek debacle following worse-than-expected estimates on that country’s debt forecast. In the U.S., mortgage applications fell and interest rates ticked back up (more coverage here) and the quarterly report on U.S. employment costs was largely inline with expectations and mostly ignored (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index fell today, now down 0.04% at 79.901. The GSCI commodity index is down less than 0.1% at 635.79, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil is up about xx% in electronic trading today, at $86.24 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.5% at $108.55 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.2% today at about $3.70 per thousand cubic feet. Gold closed at $1,719.10 an ounce, up about 0.4% for the day, but down 3% for the month of October.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 10 points to 13,096.85 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 11 points (-0.36%) to 2,977.23, and the S&P 500 rose 0.01% or less than 1 point to 1,412.15.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) cut to ‘neutral’ at Baird; Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $7.50 at Argus; UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) was added to the ‘Conviction Buy List’ at Goldman Sachs; Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a target price of $39 at BofA/ML.

Earnings reports since last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Anheuser Busch InBev SA (NYSE: BUD) is down 1.7% at $83.79; ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) is down 4.2% at $14.80; Cameron International Corp. (NYSE: CAM) is down 2.6% at $49.92; CNH Global NV (NYSE: CNH) is up 4.5% at $44.79; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is up 8.6% at $2.65; Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) is down 0.3% at $93.56; Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) is up 4.4% at $47.12; Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) is down 4.1% at $36.49; MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) is up 2.1% at $462.65 (more coverage here); Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is down 0.6% at $47.23 (more coverage here); The Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) is up 0.3% at $72.30; and Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) is up 0.9% at $32.83.

Before markets open tomorrow we are scheduled to hear from Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL), Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR), Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR), Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA), and Royal Gold Inc. (NYSE: RGLD).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is up 7.9% at $11.13. The U.S. carmaker hammered third-quarter estimates this morning. More coverage here.

The Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) is down 28.7% at $12.79 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.48 earlier today. The money and payment services company lowered its fiscal year outlook and investors hit the firm’s stock hard.

The Warnaco Group Inc. (NYSE: WRC) is up 38.5% at $70.48, after posting a new 52-week high of $71.41 earlier today. The apparel maker has agreed to a $2.9 billion acquisition by PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH). More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart are scheduled to give speeches. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job cut report
8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
8:58 a.m. – PMI manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index
10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence
10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply.

Happy Halloween!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALL, APA, BUD, CAM, CLX, CMI, CNH, COCO, CVC, CZR, D, ETN, EXC, F, H, HCA, HTZ, MA, MT, MUR, PSX, PVH, RGLD, RVBD, S, UBS, VLO, WM, WRC, WU, XOM

Facebook Added to NASDAQ Q-50, Prelude to NASDAQ-100 Index Addition (FB, CNQR, GRPN, ONXX, RGLD, WDC, MELI, SINA)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:20:47 +0000

The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) has announced its changes in the quarterly reranking of the NASDAQ Q-50 Index, and the effects will take place prior to market open on Monday, September 24, 2012. The index is designed to track the performance of the 50 securities that are next in line to replace the securities currently included in the NASDAQ-100 Index. The big news is that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is being added to the list, and there is little doubt that Facebook will be added to the NASDAQ-100 at the next rebalance. The other companies being added to the index are as follows:

Concur Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CNQR)
Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN)
Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX)
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI)
ONYX Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX)
Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD)
tw telecom inc. (NASDAQ: TWTC)
Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC).

The following stocks are being removed from the list:

Atmel Corp. (NASDAQ: ATML)
Endo Health Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP)
Informatica Corp. (NASDAQ: INFA)
Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO)
MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI)
ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN)
Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO)
Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY)
Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA).

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Active Trader, Index Tagged: CNQR, FB, featured, GRPN, MELI, NDAQ, ONXX, RGLD, SINA, WDC

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — August 9, 2012: Markets Don’t Get Excited Today Either (CSCO, STX, TOL, AAPL, MPEL, AFFY, CTL, CLR, EDMC, JACK, KGC, MNST, AUY, AAP, AMCX, CDTI, HSH, JRCC, RGLD, WEN, DV, JWN, NVDA, CDXS, JCP, RBN, NOV, MDRX, SPWR)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:06:28 +0000

The three major US stock indexes opened mixed this morning following a wealth of data on the Chinese economy. The short version is that the economy is slowing so much and inflation is so low that the government just has to provide some stimulus (more coverage here). In Europe, Italy’s trade balance was not as bad as expected. The US report on new claims for unemployment benefits came in better than expected, which boosted equities a bit before the open (more coverage here), and the US trade deficit was not as large as expected (more coverage here).

The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.32% at 82.659. The GSCI commodity index rose fractionally to 658.72, with commodities prices mixed today. Corn hit an all-time high of $8.27/bushel before pulling back a little. WTI crude oil was essentially flat today, closing at $93.36/barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.95% at $113.20/barrel. Natural gas is down -0.14% today to $2.929/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled at $1,620.20/ounce, up 0.3% for the day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 10 points to 13,165.19 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ rose more than 7 points (0.25%) to 3,018.64, and the S&P 500 rose 0.04% or less than 1 point to 1,402.79.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) raised to ‘Conviction Buy List’ at Goldman Sachs and raised to ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray (more coverage here); Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) started as ‘buy’ at Lazard; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) cut to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan; Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) started as ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) started as ‘underperform’ at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) is down -5.8% at $16.00; CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) is up 1.4% at $42.60 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.43 earlier today; Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) is up 3.6% at $72.04; Education Management Corp. (NASDAQ: EDMC) is down -20.8% at $3.16; Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) is down -0.35% at $25.97 (more coverage here); Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) is up 2.7% at $8.04 (more coverage here); Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) is down -9.7% at $61.23; Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) is up 2.3% at $15.43; Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) is down -3% at $68.43; AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX) is up 0.9% at $43.71; Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTI) is down -2.3% at $2.38; Hillshire Brands Co. (NYSE: HSH) is up 2.9% at $25.88; James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up 16.1% at $2.59; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is down -2.3% at $76.95; and The Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) is up 0.6% at $4.56.

After markets close today we’re scheduled to hear from DeVry Inc. (NYSE: DV), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), and Codexis Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS).

Before markets open on Friday we are scheduled to get earnings results from J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Robbins & Myers Inc. (NYSE: RBN) is up 27.3% at $59.58. The previous high was $53.50. The oil field drilling equipment maker is being acquired by National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) for $2.5 billion, or $60/share.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) is up 18% at $11.34. The medical records software company raised quarterly profit estimate.

SunPower Corp (NASDAQ: SPWR) is down -10.6% at $4.20. The solar PV maker reported so-so results last night, but new guidance was lower than expected. More coverage here.

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

8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAP, AAPL, AFFY, AMCX, AUY, CDTI, CDXS, CLR, CSCO, CTL, DV, EDMC, HSH, JACK, JCP, JRCC, JWN, KGC, MDRX, MNST, MPEL, NOV, NVDA, RBN, RGLD, SPWR, STX, TOL, WEN

Kinross Misses on Higher Costs, Lower Grade Ores (KGC, RGLD, ABX, NEM)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:56:52 +0000

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.14 and $1 billion in revenue after the markets closed last night. The company posted EPS of $0.24 for the same period a year ago, and last year’s revenue totaled $1.07 billion. The results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.21 and $1.14 billion in revenue.

The company revised third-quarter production guidance downward, from 2.6 to 2.8 gold equivalent ounces to 2.5 to 2.6 million ounces following its sale of its 50% stake in a Brazilian mine. The company also revised production costs upward slightly, from $670 to $715 per ounce to $690 to $725 per ounce, reflecting a rise in West African and South American costs.

The company’s recently appointed CEO, J. Paul Rollinson, said:

I’ve been given the mandate from the Board to ensure that we deliver on the capital and project optimization process we announced earlier this year. This means striking the right balance between the objective of growing the business and generating free cash flow. It also means taking the time to get our growth projects right in terms of scale, sequencing, timing, and capital, in order to deliver the best return from every dollar we invest while maintaining our financial strength and liquidity.

Kinross also announced the appointment of Brant Hinze, formerly the company’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer, to the post of president and COO. Like Rollinson, Hinze brings a finance and accounting background to the job.

The company said that its realized price for the quarter was $1,568 a ounce of gold, compared with $1,448 a ounce in the same period a year ago. Production costs rose to $725 a ounce from $569 a ounce “mainly due to increased processing of lower grade ore, as well as higher costs for energy, labour, and consumables.”

For comparison, Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD), which reported full-year and fourth quarter results this morning, obtained an average price of $1,673 a ounce for the year, up from $1,369 a ounce in 2011. But Royal Gold missed both the full-year and quarterly EPS consensus estimates, and revenues were also light. Royal Gold owns only shares in production royalties, and thus reports no production costs.

Following the appointment of its new chief executive, there has been some speculation that Kinross will either be acquired or broken up. With a market cap of nearly $9 billion, the company could only be acquired by one of the biggies like Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) or Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM), neither of which is likely to want to pony up that kind of cash. Alternatively, Kinross may seek buyers for some of its better operations with the idea of financing development of its more promising prospects. Prospective buyers are also scarce on the ground, but perhaps a Chinese buyer could be flushed out.

Shares in Kinross are down about 4% in premarket trading at $7.83. The current 52-week range is $7.11 to $18.25. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $12.15 before today’s results were announced.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities & Metals, Earnings Tagged: ABX, KGC, NEM, RGLD