Market Currents

• Thursday, May 7, 2009

• 09:03 AM Premarket gainers: VNDA +808%. VG +65%. VICL +33%. COF +18%. CNO +17%. HBAN +17%. GNW +16%. BAC +15%. FITB +14%. C +14%. AIG +14%. KFN +13%. CIT +12%. CDNS +11%. GTE +12%. KNDL +11%. CSUN +11%. DFS +9%. IRE +10%. ANF +10%. UL +10%. LNC +10%. DDR +10%. MFG +9%. HIG +8%. CNB +9%. UCBH +9%. SIG +8%. STT +8%. PRU +8%. CPSL +8%. GCI +7%. ETFC +7%. ONNN +7%. ACAS +7%. ERX +7%. CVC +6%. PRGN +6%. ZION +6%. DRYS +6%. BK +6%. Comment!
• 08:56 AM Unilever (UL): Q1 sales were up 4.8%, better than the 3.1% gain analysts expected. Income fell 45% to €731M, but last year's results included large one-timers. Sales volume fell 1.8%, but prices were up 6.8%. CEO Paul Polman told the FT today he has suspended profit targets indefinitely. (Bloomberg) UL +9.8% premarket. Comment!

• Tuesday, May 5, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ACAD +24%. MGM 16%. LVS +13%. XTXI +12%. AIG +11%. THC +10%. TKLC +9%. GERN +9%. EGLE +8%. ALKS +7%. FIG +6%. DRYS +6%. VRX +6%. AMLN +6%. YGE +6%. KFT +5%. CENX +5%. CTSH +5%. PCX +6%. CSIQ +5%. BZH +5%. NM +4%. EXM +4%. CDE +4%.
  Losers: BZ -21%. HOLX -20%. HLIT -15%. MYGN -14%. LM -11%. NMM -10%. PQ -10%. AXA -9%. PNX -8%. HEP -8%. ADM -7%. CHK -6%. DHI -5%. FITB -4%. RDN -5%. AKS -4%. AIB -4%. UL -4%. IRE -4%. KFN -4%. Comment!

• Friday, February 6, 2009

• 15:39 PM Even Unilever (UL), proprietor of such recession-proof staples as soap, shampoo and mayonnaise, has given up trying to provide earnings guidance. The problem: Its portfolio consists largely of premium brands. Comment!

• Thursday, February 5, 2009

• 03:14 AM Unilever (UL): Q4 profit rose 58% to €1.14B, beating consensus of €876M. Sales rose 4% to €10.5B. "Given the current economic uncertainty I believe it would be inappropriate at this stage to provide an outlook specifically for 2009 or to reaffirm the 2010 targets," CEO Paul Polman says. Shares -5.7% in London. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, February 2, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket losers: ROK -21%. MAT -17%. DRYS -14%. NYX -9%. HAS -8%. ABB -8%. IP -7%. CPO -7%. UBS -7%. HBC -7%. DB -6%. TKS -6%. PALM -6%. SNN -5%. BCS -5%. BSY -5%. C -5%. BAC -4%. DEO -4%. RIO -4%. GERN -4%. LVS -4%. BHP -4%. CS -4%. UL -4%. BP -4%. Comment!

• Thursday, January 22, 2009

• 09:00 AM Premarket losers: ECLP -31%. DRYS -22%. HBAN -17%. DOX -15%. BT -13%. BCS -12%. GNK -12%. AEG -12%. NOK -10%. SNE -10%. STI -10%. EBAY -9%. DSX -8%. PALM -7%. CIT -7%. UL -6%. COF -6%. DEO -5%. ASML -5%. CBY -5%. USB -5%. STM -5%. GGB -5%. Comment!

• Wednesday, November 19, 2008

• 09:05 AM Premarket gainers: BT +3.8%. SGR +3.6%. OSIP +2.7%. NOK +2%. UL +2%. Comment!

• Thursday, October 30, 2008

• 06:39 AM Unilever (UL): Q3 earnings of $0.51 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $13.40B vs. $14.36B. Sees full-year sales growth "well in excess" of its target. Shares +3.4% in London. (PR) Comment!

• Monday, July 28, 2008

• 04:52 AM Unilever (UL) is selling its North American laundry business (All, Snuggle, Wisk, Surf) to Huish Detergents for $1.075B and shares worth another $375M. [PR] Comment!

• Tuesday, June 17, 2008

• 11:54 AM Unilever (UL) selling its detergents to Huish would make it the undisputed #2 player in North American laundry - and a formidable challenger to P&G's (PG) premium-brands. Comment!
• 11:45 AM Sources say Unilever (UL) is in late-stage talks to sell its North American laundry business (All, Snuggle, Wisk, Surf) to Huish Detergents for about $1B. A deal could be done by month-end. Comment!