52-Week Low Club (December 28, 2007)

Some of these stocks hit 52-week lows and recovered off of lows so they won’t have a low close.  But these did all touch or breach the 52-week lows.  At the end we also broke out retail stocks, financial stocks, airlines & transports, and hotels.  A separate report could have been compiled for REIT’s as well, but many of those were left off because of room or volume. There were enough 52-week lows today that you might even wonder if there had been a mini-crash in the markets.  Here are the 52-week lows for December 28, 2007:

• Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)… imagine if the company got Hector Ruiz to leave.
• American Greetings (NYSE: AM)…again.
• AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN)… new entrant.
• Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ:CKEC)
• ChipMOS (NASDAQ:IMOS)
• Corp. Office Property (NYSE: OFC)
• Cryptologic (NASDAQ: CRYP)
• Diebold (NYSE:DBD)
• Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO)
• Group 1 Auto (NYSE: GPI)
• Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN)
• Introgen (NASDAQ:INGN)
• Japan Smaller Cap Fund (NYSE: JOF)
• Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ: LAMR)
• Legget & Platt (NYSE: LEG)
• Martha Stewart (NYSE: MSO)
• Marvell Tech (NASDAQ:MRVL)
• Mattel (NYSE:MAT)
• McClatchy (NYSE:MNI)
• Micron Tech (NYSE:MU)
• NGAS Resources (NASDAQ:NGAS)
• Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT)
• Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)
• Omnicare (NYSE:OCR)
• Prestige Brand (NYSE: PBH)
• PC-Tel (NASDAQ:PCTI)
• Ruth’s Chris (NASDAQ:RUTH)
• SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK)
• Theravance (NASDAQ:THRX)
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO)
• Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN)
• World Fuel Services (NYSE:INT)
• U-Store-It (NYSE:YSI)

Retail Stocks on 52-week lows: Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG), Borders Group (NYSE:BGP), Bon Ton Stores (NASDAQ:BONT), Chico’s FAS (NYSE:CHS), Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL), Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Office Max (NYSE:OMX), Petsmart (NASDAQ:PETM), Stage Stores (NYSE:SSI)

Financial stocks on 52-week lows: Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Canseco (NYSE: CNO), Discover Financial (NYSE: DFS), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG), MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI), Washington Mutual (NYSE:WM)… urgh!  When does it stop?

Airlines/Transports on 52-week lows:  Airtran Holdings (NYSE: AAI)…again.  Did they launch a Friends Die Free rewards plan?  Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL), Fedex (NYSE:FDX), Mesa Air (NASDAQ:MESA), Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA)… near $100 oil is a real pain.

Hotels Hitting 52-week lows: Host Hotels (NYSE: HST), Lasalle Hotel (NYSE: LHO), Starwood Hotels (NYSE:HOT), Sunstone Hotel (NYSE: SHO), Wydham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN).  Maybe these all wish they could get the private equity buyers back in the sector.  If only they could still borrow.

These CEO’s new year’s resolutions are all the same: "In 2008 I want to keep my stock off the 52-week low lists."

Jon C. Ogg
December 28, 2007