MARKET CURRENTS
real-time news and commentary for investors
MARKET CURRENTS
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Today - Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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4:22 AM European shares (FEZ) mostly fall as investors adjust their positions ahead of the Fed, although there does seem to be increasing confidence that the FOMC won't signal the end of its QE program today. "There is a lot of slack in the economy and there is no inflation pressure," says Standard Chartered's Ned Rumpeltin. EU Stoxx 50 -0.1%, London -0.7%, Paris -0.6%, Frankfurt -0.7%, Madrid +0.5%, Milan flat. Comment!
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4:11 AM Japanese stocks (DXJ) buck the trend in Asia and rise 1.8% after exports jump a better-than-expected 10.1%, with Sony and SoftBank rising on corporate news (I, II). Equities elsewhere in the region fall as investors stay cautious ahead of the FOMC monetary policy announcement later. Hong Kong -1.1%, China -0.7%, India -0.3%. Comment!
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Tuesday, June 18, 2013
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7:36 PM Pool Corp. (POOL) lowers its FY13 earnings guidance as the wholesale distributor said cooler and unusually wet weather in its seasonal markets in North America and Europe led to later-than-usual pool openings and lower-than- expected sales. The company cut its 2013 per-share earnings view by a dime, now expecting to earn between $2.03 to $2.13. Shares -6.3% AH. 1 Comment
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6:44 PM More on China Cord Blood (CO): FQ4 easily beats estimates across the board on a 33% jump in total sales. Accumulated subscriber base rose by 30.1% Y/Y. Gross margin also rose to 79.8%, from 76.6%. Shares +3.4% AH. Comment!
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6:07 PM Red Hat (RHT +2.1%) rallied ahead of tomorrow's FQ1 report after SA Pro contributor/former hedge fund analyst Josh Burwick offered a bull case, and Piper made cautiously optimistic remarks. Burwick argues fears about the impact of Amazon Web Services on Red Hat are overblown, that slowing billings growth is offset by major growth in unbilled revenue, and that newly-announced OpenStack cloud infrastructure and app platform offerings should fare well. Piper says checks indicate FQ1 billings could be light, but adds Red Hat will make up for it in FQ2, and sees shares bottoming in the $40s. Comment!
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6:03 PM Biodel (BIOD) is trading lower in the post session after announcing a public offering to sell an undisclosed number of shares with a 30-day option on an additional 15% to cover overallotments, if any. Shares -8.2% AH. Comment!
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5:24 PM Long-term care provider AdCare Health Systems (ADK) says the NYSE has approved its plan to regain compliance with the exchange's continued listing standards was accepted. The NYSE granted until July 16, an extension for the company to regain compliance with respect to the Annual Report, and until August 15 for its 10-Q. Shares +1.7% AH. Comment!
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5:00 PM PetroLogistics (PDH) says it's successfully completed repairs to its propane dehydrogenation facility and the facility has resumed propylene production. The facility was closed earlier this month for repairs on two of the eight reactors at the plant. Total costs for all completed repairs are expected to be less than $2.5M. Shares +0.7% AH. Comment!
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4:53 PM Today's 14% jump caps a five-day 60% advance in Zion Oil & Gas (ZN) on no apparent news, but this isn't the first time ZN shares have seen such wild swings. Evan Buck urges extreme caution in the company that's "definitely not a kosher investment," highlighting Delek US Holdings (DK) and Noble Energy (NBL) as far wiser plays on Israel's natural gas finds. 2 Comments
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4:35 PM More on Adobe: FQ3 guidance is for revenue of $975M-$1.025B and EPS of $0.29-$0.35, vs. consensus of $1.01B and $0.35. FY13 guidance is for revenue of $4.1B and EPS of $1.45 vs. consensus of $4.11B and $1.44. Paid Creative Cloud subs +221K Q/Q to 700K in FQ2, better than FQ1's +153K. CC annual recurring revenue +$123M Q/Q to $356M (rose $80M in FQ1), 81% of subs use full suite. Digital Media revenue -18% Y/Y to $670M (shift to subscriptions), Digital Marketing (Omniture, AdLens) revenue +11% to $285M. ADBE +3.9% AH, CC at 5PM ET (webcast). (slides) (datasheet) (prepared remarks) (PR) Comment!
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3:53 PM Traders place bullish bets in the options market on Infinity Pharmaceuticals (INFI +13.5%). Notably, 2K July $16 strike puts were sold today and volume in the $17.50 strike far exceeds open interest as the stock rallies double-digits. Comment!
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3:50 PM Is a bidding war breaking out for Kabel Deutschland? Bloomberg reports Vodafone (VOD +0.4%) has raised its preliminary bid for the German cable giant to €7.5B ($10B), or €85/share, matching an offer recently made by Liberty Global (LBTYA -0.1%). Vodafone is said to be studying Kabel's books "before it presents an official offer in the coming weeks." Kabel closed at €85.51 in Frankfurt, up 3.7%. (previous) Comment!
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3:50 PM Orchard Supply (OSH -18%) gets a burst of heavy volume late in the day on reports that the company is permitted to seek bids for store closing sales. Comment!
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3:32 PM Shares of World Acceptance (WRLD -1.1%) "stumble" after Herb Greenberg reminds investors via Twitter that the company filed an incomplete 10-K due to "additional review and analysis needed to support the allowance for loan losses." 1 Comment
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3:30 PM Huntington Ingalls (HII +1.6%) ticks up today, despite Stifel Nicolaus initiating the shares with a tepid Hold rating. The company says the stock is fairly valued at current levels, but the outlook could become more favorable should progress on achieving 9%-plus margins by 2015 continue and its return of cash to shareholders fall more in line with its defense industry peer group. Comment!
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3:29 PM Prospect Global Resources (PGRX +51.2%) terminates the rights offering which was scheduled to expire yesterday, obtains an extension of its obligation to raise $7M until June 24, and says its ongoing engineering optimization work and analyses will result in release of a pre-feasibility study in July. Comment!
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