24/7 Wall St. » TOA

The 52-Week Low Club: Merrill Lynch (MER)

247wallst — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:25:54 +0000

The list is very long today, so this will have to be confined to the best of the worst.

Radian Group (RDN) Company provides services to mortgage lenders. Not a good business these days. Down to $13.84 from $67.35.

TOUSA (TOA) Home builder. Unsecured creditors have gotten themselves lawyers. Down to $.63 from 52-week high of $11.37.

Journal Communications (JRN) Newspaper company. Down to $8.54 from $14.

Merrill Lynch (MER) Bullish on America? Not today. Big brokerage hits $65.86 down from 52-week high of $98.68.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (ANPI) Cuts 2007 revenue outlook. Drops to $4.86 from 52-week high of $9.81.

Movie Gallery (MOVI) In Chapter 11. Drops to $.18 from 52-week high of $5.29.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:07:19 +0000

Georgia Gulf (GGC) Chemical producers out of favor. Falls to $12.23 from 52-week high of $28.65.

TOUSA (TOA) Home-builder. Drops to $1.17 from 52-week high of $11.37.

Youbet Com (UBET) Horse-racing gambling Web site disclosed that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has obtained a warrant to search its HQ. Drops to $1.41 from 52-week high of $4.54.

Inphonic (INPC) Online seller of wireless devices recently replaced CEO. Down to $1.86 from 52-week high of $14.49.

Mobile Mini Inc (MINI) Portable storage company has bad day. Down to $21.46 from 52-week high of $33.65.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The 52-Week Low Club

247wallst — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:02:21 +0000

TOUSA (TOA) Home builder hire Lazard to review capital structure. Down to $1.32 from 52-weej high of $11.37.

Edge Petroleum (EPEX) Updates guidance. Off to $8.93 from 52-week high of $20.26.

Childrens Place Retail (PLCE) Down to $20.56 from 52-week high of $71.81.

TranSwitch Corporation (TXCC) Down to $.96 from 52-week high of $2.07.

Douglas A. McInyre

Will One Of The Home Builders Go Bankrupt? (DHI)(HOV)(BZH)(PHM)

247wallst — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 17:52:40 +0000

The housing situation in the US may be getting bad enough so that one or more of the major home builders could face Chapter 11, especially if the downturn goes deep into 2008.

Bloomberg writes that "at least five of the top 15 homebuilders by revenue are burdened with too much debt, Agency Trading’s Barron said. They are Hovnanian (HOV), California-based Standard Pacific(SPF), WCI (WCI), Beazer Homes (BZH), and TOUSA Inc (TOA)."

“We would not be surprised to see one or more of the larger homebuilders become insolvent if current pricing trends persist into 2008,” Mark A. Morgan, senior equity financial analyst with New York-based Rochdale Securities LLC. Some media reports already indicate that several of these companies are in negotiations with their banks to improve payment terms on debt.

But, banks may not be able to help the larger homebuilders, especially in a market where investors are watching the banks themselves. Huge write-offs at Citicorp (C) and other big US financial companies have put pressure on managements at the firms to be more prudent.

If share price fall-off is any indication, Beazer and Standard Pacific are the most likely homebuilders to file for bankruptcy. While shares in most of the larger companies in the sector are off about 40% over the last year, shares in these two firms are down closer to 80%.

If one company files for Chapter 11, does it cause a huge shareholder stampede out of all of the others? Probably. Which means by early 2008 stocks in all of these companies could all be down by 80% from their late 2006 peaks.

Douglas A. McIntyre