Jim Cramer Blog

Alcoa Inc., (NYSE:AA - News) and United Auto Workers Local 1050 reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract at Alcoa's Cleveland facility, the company said on Sunday. The union negotiating committee backs the deal and will bring it to members for a vote at meetings on Dec. 27, Alcoa said. A ratified accord would end a seven-week strike and send the plant's 830 employees back to work on Jan. 2, Alcoa said in a statement.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC - News) agreed to sell its Vernon and Ansley fields to Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE:XCO - News) for $1.6 billion. Both fields are located in Jackson Parish, La. Houston-based Anadarko said six drilling rigs and four work-over rigs are currently active in the fields, and that, as of Nov. 1, the fields were producing 192 million cubic feet equivalent per day. The company expects the deal to close in the first quarter.
Applica (NYSE:APN - News) shares jumped after Nacco Industries Inc. (NYSE:NC - News) increased its acquisition offer for the company to $7.50 per share from $7, continuing a battle between Nacco and Harbinger Capital Partners to acquire Applica.
Cerus (NASDAQ:CERS - News) shares rose after the company said it's received a $5 million cash milestone payment from BioOne Corp. Concord, Calif.-based Cerus said the payment was triggered by its receipt of CE mark regulatory approval for the Intercept Blood System for plasma in Europe. Cerus also expects to receive an additional milestone payment of BioOne preferred stock worth $5 million in early 2007.
CPAC Inc. (NASDAQ:CPAK - News) agreed to be acquired by Buckingham Capital Partners II LP for $8.65 a share, or $42.8 million plus the assumption of 6.7 million in debt. CPAC, Leicester, N.Y., said the offer is a 16% premium to the average closing price of its common stock over the past 90 trading days.
EpiCept Corp. (NASDAQ:EPCT - News) shares rose after the company granted Durect Corp. (NASDAQ:DRRX - News) exclusive worldwide rights to certain intellectual property for a transdermal patch containing bupivacaine to treat back pain.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE:GT - News) said it's reached a tentative agreement with the United Steelworkers on a new master contract covering 12,600 employees at 12 tire and engineered products plants in the United States. The USW is expected to schedule ratification votes at all plants in coming days. The prior 3-year labor agreement expired July 22, and the USW members have been on strike since Oct. 5.
GP Strategies (NYSE:GPX - News) shares advanced after the company said it's agreed to acquire certain assets and the business of Sandy Corp., a unit of Automatic Data Processing (NYSE:ADP - News), for $11.7 million, in cash and assumed debt.
Par Pharmaceutical Cos. (NYSE:PRX - News) said it's received final approval for its abbreviated new drug application for ondansetron orally disintegrating tablets in 4 mg and 8 mg strengths from the Food and Drug Administration. Ondansetron ODT is the generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Zofran ODT, used for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, certain radiotherapies, and the prevention of postoperative nausea and/or vomiting. Par said it has been awarded 180 days of marketing exclusivity for the product, which will be marketed by Pliva Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Pliva d.d., which is a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. . Under the terms of an agreement, Barr will have exclusive rights to market, sell and distribute ondansetron ODT in the United States. The product will be manufactured by Par, and the companies will split profits from the sales. Annual U.S. sales of Zofran ODT are about $300 million, according to IMS Health.
QuickLogic Corp. (NASDAQ:QUIK - News) said it completed its internal stock-option review and filed its quarterly report for the second quarter ended July 2. The Sunnyvale, Calif., maker of semiconductor components said its review found errors in the process of accounting for stock options, and QuickLogic identified a total pre-tax stock-based compensation charge of $964,000 that should have been reported in previous financial statements.
Syniverse Holdings (NYSE:SVR - News) said its board has named Robert Marino non-executive chairman, effective Dec. 31. Marino succeeds G. Edward Evans, who is leaving the company at the end of the year as previously disclosed. Marino has been a director with Syniverse since February 2004.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - News) said the 2006 holiday season was its "best ever" and noted that it shipped more than 99% of its orders in time to meet deadlines worldwide. The Seattle-based Internet retailer said Dec. 11 was its busiest day as customer orders exceeded four million items.
-MarketWatch

Labels: AA, ADP, AMZN, APC, APN, CERS, CPAK, DRRX, EPCT, GPX, GT, NC, PRX, QUIK, SVR, XCO

Amtech Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS - News) said that it is planning to offer $15 million of its stock in a public offering. The offer proceeds will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Applica Inc. (NYSE:APN - News) shares rose after Nacco Industries Inc. (NYSE:NC - News) said it has increased its tender offer price for Applica to $7 from $6.50 a share. In October, Applica, a Miramar, Fla.-based home appliance maker, agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Harbinger for $6.50 a share.
Bally Technologies said that it sold around 9,000 gaming devices in the first half of fiscal 2007, up from 6,500 at the same point a year ago. Gross margins are expected to improve in 2007 compared to fiscal 2006. Richard Haddrill, chief executive officer of the technology solutions company, said: "In the first half of our fiscal 2007, we are beginning to see the benefits of our efforts." The company also said that it has filed its form Form 10-Qs for the quarters ended September 30 and December 31, 2005. It expects to file its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 and for the year ended June 30, 2006 before March 15, 2007. It anticipates reporting a net loss per share of between 66 cents and 76 cents for the year to June 30, 2006.
Cabot Corp. (NYSE:CBT - News) shares rose after the chemical company was upgraded to neutral from underweight by J.P. Morgan, which cited improving earnings growth as raw materials costs fall. J.P. Morgan said it expects net gains due to falling raw materials costs and selling price increases to be around $26 million, or 27 cents a share in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX:LNG - News) shares rose after its subsidiary Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $301.9 million in its initial public offering.
El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP - News) said it sold ANR Pipeline Co., its Michigan storage assets and its 50% interest in Great Lakes Gas Transmission to TransCanada Corporation and TC PipeLines LP for $4.14 billion, including $744 million of debt. El Paso said the deal would be neutral to slightly positive for earnings and would result in after-tax proceeds of $3.3 billion.
Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - News) said that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial of its XL880 drug in patients with gastric cancer. As previously announced, a Phase II trial of XL880 in patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma was initiated in June 2006. XL880 is an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor.
Hutchison Telecom International (NYSE:HTX - News) said it's received approaches from multiple parties for its 67% stake in Hutchison Essar, an Indian mobile operator. Vodafone Group (NYSE:VOD - News) said it's interested in buying a controlling stake in the Indian operator.
IMS Health (NYSE:RX - News) said it has approved a buyback of up to 10 million shares under a new stock repurchase program.
Memory chip maker Micron Technology (NYSE:MU - News) tripled its profit on 16% sales growth.
Oncolytics Biotech (NASDAQ:ONCY - News) said it has begun patient enrolment in its U.K. Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of Reolysin in combination with low-dose radiation in patients with advanced cancers.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ:PNCL - News) shares shot up after it announced a deal to fly for Northwest Airlines Corp. (Other OTC:NWACQ.PK - News) through 2017 and analyst upgrades of hte regional carrier. The Amex Airlines Index gained 0.3% to 57.37 points, with Mesa Air Group climbing on a plan to form a regional airline in China with Shenzen Airlines.
Software maker Red Hat (NYSE:RHT - News) reported a stronger-than-forecast 45% sales growth.
Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM - News) reported a 47% profit rise on 49% sales growth.
Resources Connection Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN - News) reported second-quarter net earnings of $14.7 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $16 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period last year. Excluding stock-based compensation expense, among other items, the Costa Mesa, Calif. -based provider of professional services posted per-share earnings of 36 cents. Revenue rose 16% to $182.8 million from $158.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected per-share earnings of 27 cents, on revenue of $177 million.
SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN - News) and Sigma-Tau said that a large phase 2 trial treating patients with stage IV malignant melanoma, showed positive interim survival data. Data from the first four arms of this ongoing five-arm trial showed that the addition of 3.2 mg of ZADAXIN to standard dacarbazine chemotherapy increased the median survival to 10.2 months, the companies said.
Shuffle Master (NASDAQ:SHFL - News) reported fiscal fourth-quarter net earnings of $4.9 million, or 14 cents share, down from $8.2 million and 23 cents a year ago. Revenue rose 39% to $46.1 million. The per-share profit figure includes 7 cents of charges and 3 cents for stock-option expensing; the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been for Shuffle Master to earn 19 cents a share on revenue of $44 million. Shares ended the day down slightly at $26.22 but jumped more than 5% in after-hours action.
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM - News) said it expects 2007 world-wide sales will rise 6% to 9.3 million autos. The company expects world-wide sales of its Toyota brand autos to rise 6% to 8.4 million units. Toyota forecast combined overseas sales for its Toyota, Daihatsu and Hino brands will grow 8% to 6.9 million autos, and combined sales in Japan to rise 1% to 2.4 million units.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG - News) said first-quarter income rose 25% to $432 million, or 43 cents a share, from $346 million, or 34 cents, a year ago. Sales for the three months ended Nov. 30 gained 17% to $12.71 billion from $10.9 billion, while same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 9.7%. Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 41 cents a share on sales of $12.55 billion.
Wet Seal Inc. (NASDAQ:WTSLA - News) said a secondary offering of 16 million Class A common shares was priced $6 each. The Foothill Ranch, Calif., specialty retailer said the shares are being sold by affiliates of Prentice Capital Management LP, Capital Associates LLC and GMM Capital LLC. The offering's underwriters received an over-allotment option to buy up to 2.4 million shares.
-MarketWatch

Labels: APN, ASYS, CBT, EP, EXEL, HTX, KAR, LNG, MU, NC, PNCL, RHT, RIMM, SCLN, SHFL, TM, VOD, WAG

Amtech Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS - News) said that it is planning to offer $15 million of its stock in a public offering. The offer proceeds will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Applica Inc. (NYSE:APN - News) shares rose after Nacco Industries Inc. (NYSE:NC - News) said it has increased its tender offer price for Applica to $7 from $6.50 a share. In October, Applica, a Miramar, Fla.-based home appliance maker, agreed to be acquired by affiliates of Harbinger for $6.50 a share.
Bally Technologies said that it sold around 9,000 gaming devices in the first half of fiscal 2007, up from 6,500 at the same point a year ago. Gross margins are expected to improve in 2007 compared to fiscal 2006. Richard Haddrill, chief executive officer of the technology solutions company, said: "In the first half of our fiscal 2007, we are beginning to see the benefits of our efforts." The company also said that it has filed its form Form 10-Qs for the quarters ended September 30 and December 31, 2005. It expects to file its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 and for the year ended June 30, 2006 before March 15, 2007. It anticipates reporting a net loss per share of between 66 cents and 76 cents for the year to June 30, 2006.
Cabot Corp. (NYSE:CBT - News) shares rose after the chemical company was upgraded to neutral from underweight by J.P. Morgan, which cited improving earnings growth as raw materials costs fall. J.P. Morgan said it expects net gains due to falling raw materials costs and selling price increases to be around $26 million, or 27 cents a share in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.
Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX:LNG - News) shares rose after its subsidiary Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $301.9 million in its initial public offering.
El Paso Corp. (NYSE:EP - News) said it sold ANR Pipeline Co., its Michigan storage assets and its 50% interest in Great Lakes Gas Transmission to TransCanada Corporation and TC PipeLines LP for $4.14 billion, including $744 million of debt. El Paso said the deal would be neutral to slightly positive for earnings and would result in after-tax proceeds of $3.3 billion.
Exelixis Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL - News) said that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial of its XL880 drug in patients with gastric cancer. As previously announced, a Phase II trial of XL880 in patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma was initiated in June 2006. XL880 is an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor.
Hutchison Telecom International (NYSE:HTX - News) said it's received approaches from multiple parties for its 67% stake in Hutchison Essar, an Indian mobile operator. Vodafone Group (NYSE:VOD - News) said it's interested in buying a controlling stake in the Indian operator.
IMS Health (NYSE:RX - News) said it has approved a buyback of up to 10 million shares under a new stock repurchase program.
Memory chip maker Micron Technology (NYSE:MU - News) tripled its profit on 16% sales growth.
Oncolytics Biotech (NASDAQ:ONCY - News) said it has begun patient enrolment in its U.K. Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the anti-tumor effects of Reolysin in combination with low-dose radiation in patients with advanced cancers.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ:PNCL - News) shares shot up after it announced a deal to fly for Northwest Airlines Corp. (Other OTC:NWACQ.PK - News) through 2017 and analyst upgrades of hte regional carrier. The Amex Airlines Index gained 0.3% to 57.37 points, with Mesa Air Group climbing on a plan to form a regional airline in China with Shenzen Airlines.
Software maker Red Hat (NYSE:RHT - News) reported a stronger-than-forecast 45% sales growth.
Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM - News) reported a 47% profit rise on 49% sales growth.
Resources Connection Inc. (NASDAQ:RECN - News) reported second-quarter net earnings of $14.7 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with $16 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period last year. Excluding stock-based compensation expense, among other items, the Costa Mesa, Calif. -based provider of professional services posted per-share earnings of 36 cents. Revenue rose 16% to $182.8 million from $158.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected per-share earnings of 27 cents, on revenue of $177 million.
SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SCLN - News) and Sigma-Tau said that a large phase 2 trial treating patients with stage IV malignant melanoma, showed positive interim survival data. Data from the first four arms of this ongoing five-arm trial showed that the addition of 3.2 mg of ZADAXIN to standard dacarbazine chemotherapy increased the median survival to 10.2 months, the companies said.
Shuffle Master (NASDAQ:SHFL - News) reported fiscal fourth-quarter net earnings of $4.9 million, or 14 cents share, down from $8.2 million and 23 cents a year ago. Revenue rose 39% to $46.1 million. The per-share profit figure includes 7 cents of charges and 3 cents for stock-option expensing; the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been for Shuffle Master to earn 19 cents a share on revenue of $44 million. Shares ended the day down slightly at $26.22 but jumped more than 5% in after-hours action.
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM - News) said it expects 2007 world-wide sales will rise 6% to 9.3 million autos. The company expects world-wide sales of its Toyota brand autos to rise 6% to 8.4 million units. Toyota forecast combined overseas sales for its Toyota, Daihatsu and Hino brands will grow 8% to 6.9 million autos, and combined sales in Japan to rise 1% to 2.4 million units.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG - News) said first-quarter income rose 25% to $432 million, or 43 cents a share, from $346 million, or 34 cents, a year ago. Sales for the three months ended Nov. 30 gained 17% to $12.71 billion from $10.9 billion, while same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 9.7%. Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 41 cents a share on sales of $12.55 billion.
Wet Seal Inc. (NASDAQ:WTSLA - News) said a secondary offering of 16 million Class A common shares was priced $6 each. The Foothill Ranch, Calif., specialty retailer said the shares are being sold by affiliates of Prentice Capital Management LP, Capital Associates LLC and GMM Capital LLC. The offering's underwriters received an over-allotment option to buy up to 2.4 million shares.
-MarketWatch

Labels: APN, ASYS, CBT, EP, EXEL, HTX, KAR, LNG, MU, NC, PNCL, RHT, RIMM, SCLN, SHFL, TM, VOD, WAG

Accredited Home Lenders Holding (NASDAQ:LEND - News) was upgraded to outperform from peer perform at Bear Stearns. The firm set a year-end 2007 price target of $32.
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE - News) reported its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 16%, as an investment gain and higher sales of its business and creative software offset charges related to its acquisition of smaller rival Macromedia.
Applica Inc. (NYSE:APN - News) said it's reached a merger agreement with affiliates of Harbinger Capital Partners. The deal calls for Harbinger to increase its bid to acquire the shares of Applica that it doesn't already own for $6.50 per share. Harbinger currently owns about 40% of Applica's common stock. The higher bid follows Applica's receipt of an unsolicited acquisition offer from NACCO Industries. Shares of Applica, a Miramar, Fla., maker of small household appliances, closed Thursday at $5.76, up 3 cents.
Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE:BSC - News) said it has increased its share buyback program to $2 billion from $1.5 billion.
CalAmp (NASDAQ:CAMP - News) shares rose after the company said its Dataradio unit has received a contract worth about $1.3 million from Michigan's Genesee County E-911 Consortium. The deal calls for Dataradio to replace the Consortium's existing mobile data public safety network for first responders.
ChipMOS Technologies (NASDAQ:IMOS - News) lifted its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter to $176 million to $181 million from a prior projection ranging from $168 million to $172 million. For November, the Taiwan provider of semiconductor testing and assembly services said its revenue totaled $61.5 million, an increase of 1.9% from October and 40% from a year ago. The company also raised its gross margin forecast to 29% to 32% for the fourth quarter from a prior view of 26% to 29%.
Christopher & Banks (NYSE:CBK - News) said it has pushed forward the effective date for Matthew Dillon to become president and chief executive to Jan. 1. Previously, Dillon, who is president and chief merchandising officer, was scheduled to become CEO on March 1.
Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ:CIEN - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
Culp Inc. (NYSE:CFI - News) said it plans to consolidate its U.S. upholstery fabrics manufacturing facilities and outsource its specialty yarn production, resulting in the elimination of 185 jobs. Culp said it will close its weaving plant in Graham, N.C., and its yarn plant in Lincolnton, N.C.
DRS Technologies (NYSE:DRS - News) was upgraded to equal-weight from undereweight at Morgan Stanley.
E-Trade Financial (NYSE:ET - News) said it will move its stock market listing to Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange to save money and more closely align the company with the activities of its trading customers. E-Trade's new listing will be effective on Dec. 27. The new ticker will be "ETFC."
Fibernet Telecom Group (NASDAQ:FTGX - News) was initiated with a buy rating at Merriman Curhan Ford.
GenVec (NASDAQ:GNVC - News) shares jumped after the company reported positive phase I human trials for an HIV vaccine that is based on its proprietary adenovirus vector technology.
ICON Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - News) said it raised its 2006 earnings and revenue forecast to reflect a strong backlog and continued new business awards. The Dublin, Ireland provider of development services to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries said it now expects earnings of $1.28 to $1.30 a share and revenue of $448 million to $452 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had been expecting earnings of $1.29 a share and revenue of $448.5 million, on average. For 2007, the company expects earnings, including stock compensation expenses, to rise to $1.63 to $1.71 a share, and revenue to grow to $530 million to $550 million.
Immunicon Corp. (NASDAQ:IMMC - News) shares soared after the company said Veridex LLC has received Food and Drug Administration clearance for the CellSearch circulating tumor cell kit as an aid in monitoring patients with metastatic breast cancer. Veridex, a unit of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ - News).
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU - News) agreed to acquire Electronic Clearing House Inc. (NASDAQ:ECHO - News) for $142 million. Intuit will pay $18.75 per Electronic Clearing share, including shares issuable upon exercise of options.
Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:LSCC - News) lowered its view for fourth-quarter revenue, and now expects sequential sales to drop 2% to 4%. Previously, the company forecast sequential revenue to range from matching the prior quarter's results to growing 4%.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON - News) shares rose after the company was upgraded to buy at Goldman Sachs.
Natural Resource Partners (NYSE:NRP - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup Investment Research. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $60 from $55.
Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. The firm cited strong global capital market returns in the fourth quarter for the move.
Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE:ZQK - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $65.3 million, or 51 cents a share, from $33.6 million, or 27 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based apparel company said quarterly revenue rose to $778.4 million from $637.4 million.
Safeguard Scientifics Inc. (NYSE:SFE - News) said Christopher Davis has resigned as chief financial officer to pursue other interests. The investment firm said it has named Stephen Zarrilli, co-founder of the Penn Valley Group, as acting CFO.
Servidyne (NASDAQ:SERV - News) shares rallied after the company posted earnings of $355,951, or 10 cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter, up from a year-ago loss of $22,914, or a penny per share. The company also said it's sold a shopping center in Morton, Ill., for $3.55 million. This transaction will result in a gain of $3.1 million to be recorded in the January quarter.
Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL - News) approved the buyback of up to $50 million of its shares. The repurchase authorization is valid through Dec. 31, 2008, the Evansville, Ind.-based footwear and accessories retailer said.
Star Gas Partners (NYSE:SGU - News), a distributor of heating oil, said its fiscal fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to $21.6 million, or 28 cents per limited partner unit, from $46.5 million, or $1.30 cents per unit. Revenue for the quarter rose 0.5% to $151.5 million as the impact of higher selling prices more than offset an 11.9% reduction in home heating oil volume. The company also announced that it would delay filing its 10-K form for the year ended Sept. 30 as it is still assessing its accounting treatment of certain derivatives transactions. Star Gas said it may have to make material adjustments to its historical financial statements if it finds it does not meet the accounting requirements for those derivatives transactions. However, it added it does not expect any restatement to have an effect on its liquidity or business.
State Street (NYSE:STT - News) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Temple-Inland (NYSE:TIN - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank. The firm also lifted its price target on the stock to $55 from $40.
Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY - News) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank with a price target boost to $80 from $65.
-MarketWatch

Labels: ADBE, APN, BSC, CBK, CFI, CIEN, DRS, ECHO, ET, FTGX, GNVC, ICLR, IMMC, IMOS, INTU, JNJ, LEND, LSCC, SERV, SGU