Jim Cramer Blog

Stocks traded modestly higher to record their sixth-straight advance ahead of a three-day weekend. Despite the gains, there was little news to propel a stronger advance. One exception was DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX - News), which gained 5.3% on a report that it had a cash offer on the table for its Chrysler unit. Oil prices declined slightly, and the 10-year Treasury note also closed lower.

The activity in DaimlerChrysler was spurred by a report in The Wall Street Journal that investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. offered to buy Chrysler for $4.5 billion in cash. Kerkorian had been an active investor in Chrysler before it merged with Daimler Benz. He recently sold his 10% stake in General Motors (NYSE: GM - News), which gained 2.8% today.
Tech stocks came under some pressure early in the session after Micron Technology (NYSE: MU - News) posted a fiscal Q2 loss late Wednesday. The flash memory maker posted a loss of -$52 million for the quarter ended March 30th, or -7 cents per share, compared with a profit of $193 million, or 29 cents per share, last year. Wall Street expected the company to lose a penny a share. The stock traded down -4.6%, and Goldman Sachs advised clients to sell the stock.
Business software maker WebMethods (Nasdaq: WEBM - News) jumped 27.2% on news that it agreed to be acquired by Germany's Software AG. Shares of Constellation Brands (STZ, $21.49, 0.67), the world's biggest wine producer, rose 3.2% after the company reported its fiscal Q4 profit rose 21%. The company reported net income in the quarter ended February 28th of $70 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $58 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier. Strong wine sales offset a weak performance in Britain and a drop in beer imports in the U.S.
Shares of data storage maker Rackable Systems (Nasdaq: RACK - News) shed -15.6% to hit a 52-week low after the company issued reduced guidance for Q1. The company is now forecasting a loss. Caris & Co. reiterated a "sell" recommendation for Rackable Systems.
In other news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VRTX - News) rose 3.6% in advance of what are expected to be favorable results from a clinical trial of the biotech company's hepatitis C drug Telaprevir. Medical diagnostic company Biosite (Nasdaq: BSTE - News) jumped 10.5% on news of an unsolicited $90-a-share purchase offer from Inverness Medical Innovations (NYSE: IMA - News). Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC - News), a maker of medical tests, put an $85-a-share offer on the table for Biosite in March. Inverness already owns 4.9% of Biosite's stock.

By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: BEC, BSTE, DCX, GM, IMA, MU, RACK, VRTX, WEBM