Jim Cramer Blog

Here are 7 options to watch for today.
Most Under-Priced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. This stock comes from today's list and is among the most under-priced individual calls.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Dec 160 Calls (NYSE:CMG - News). CMG's PowerRating (for Traders) is 3.
Most Under-Priced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. This stock comes from today's list and is among the most under-priced individual puts.
Ericsson Nov 30 Puts (NasdaqGS:ERIC - News). ERIC's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. This stock comes from today's list and is among the most overpriced individual calls.
DryShips Nov 130 Calls (NYSE:DRYS - News). DRYS's PowerRating (for Traders) is 6.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. This stock comes from today's list and is among the most overpriced individual puts.
Fluor Nov 145 Puts (NYSE:FLR - News). FLR's PowerRating (for Traders) is 7.
Stocks with Abnormal Call Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual call option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Call Volume Alerts list suggests a possible takeover, extraordinarily good earnings report, or other news which may favorably affect the stock.
Canon (NYSE:CAJ - News). CAJ's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Stocks with Abnormal Put Volume: These are stocks which showed unusual put option volume not easily explained by arbitrage operations. The appearance of a stock on the Put Volume Alerts list suggests an extraordinarily negative earnings report, or other news which may negatively affect the stock.
SanminaSCI (NasdaqGS:SANM - News). SANM's PowerRating (for Traders) is 4.
Abnormal Put/Call $ Volume: These stocks have the highest dollar put volume in relation to their call volume. These high ratios are indicative of extreme bearish sentiment in the underlying stock.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S - News). S's PowerRating (for Traders) is 5.
Published By TradingMarkets.com

Labels: CAJ, CMG, DRYS, ERIC, FLR, S, SANM, stock options

Intel (INTC) reported strong quarterly earnings and traded up after hours on the robust numbers. Macke likes Intel's margins and revenue estimate bump, and Adami suggests buying Intel above $27 with a stop at $26.50. Their CFO, Andy Bryant, joined the show to discuss their numbers. Bryant says the company saw the highest quarter-to-quarter revenue growth in 10 years. Adami favors Dell (DELL) off this worldwide demand. Macke suggests getting into Microsoft (MSFT). Najarian thinks the trade off of Intel is Apple (AAPL). Yahoo (YHOO) also traded higher after hours. Adami says IBM (IBM) fell short a bit on gross margins and hardware revenue in other tech earnings.
Word on the Street
Tuesday the Dow dropped 71 points and oil hit another high above $88 a barrel on geopolitical concerns that Turkey might attack Iraq. The crew offered up their trades based on these events. In the health care sector, Bristol-Myers (BMY) received Food and Drug Administration approval for breast cancer treatment Ixempra. Najarian likes Bristol. Adami likes Pfizer (PFE) into earnings. Finerman bought some Biogen Idec (BIIB). Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) reported a drop in profits off of poor heart stent sales. In regards to oil Adami likes Apache (APA) and he believes it'll go to $105. Adami doesn't think the $80-to-$90 move in oil is a good thing for the overall stock market. Finerman still likes ConocoPhillips (COP) for a play on rising oil prices.
Banking: Najarian noticed some unusual options activity in some regional banks on Tuesday. He saw heavy trading in PNC Bank (PNC) options.
CSX Corp (CSX) reported strong third-quarter earnings after the bell. Macke says the railroad stocks have pulled back and could offer a decent entry here. Adami believes CSX is a buy. Finerman has been looking at FreightCar America (RAIL).
AT&T (T) has hired Goldman Sachs to look into buying EchoStar (DISH).
Ericsson (ERIC) crashed 24% after issuing an earnings warning.
Dennis Gartman, author of The Gartman Letter, joined the show to discuss his take on crude oil. He doesn't believe we will get $100 oil, but if it does move that high it won't last long. He would play natural gas with United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG), San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (SJT) and Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH).
eBay (EBAY) is set to report earnings on Wednesday after the bell.
Kraft (KFT): Wall Street whale and activist shareholder Nelson Peltz could be ready to make some noise at Kraft.
Pops & Drops
Pops: Supervalu (SVU) traded up 6% on a strong profits report.
Bear Stearns (BSC) traded up 2% after a Chinese investment firm expressed interest in acquiring a stake in the brokerage.
Marriott (MAR) traded up 4% on rumors of a takeover.
E.W. Scripps (SSP) traded up 9% after the company announced plans to split into two companies. Macke advises selling the pop.
Saks (SKS) traded up 5% on takeover speculation. Finerman isn't buying the rumors.
Robbins & Myers (RBN) exploded up 18% on strong fourth-quarter profits. Finerman believes this is a great earnings story.
Drops: Amylin (AMLN) fell 5% after the FDA said diabetes drug Byetta might cause pancreatitis. Najarian says this is negative news.
Domino's Pizza (DPZ) crashed 14% after taking a hit on profits from the rising costs of cheese and declining customer visits. Macke advises getting long beer stocks shorting pizza stocks.
Final Trade
Macke recommends Microsoft.
Adami suggests buying Intel.
Finerman favors Kraft.
Najarian says the options activity in EchoStar has him bullish on the satellite firm.

Labels: AAPL, ATT. T, BIIB, BMY, CNBC, COP, DELL, ERIC, Fast Money, Fast Money Recap, IBM, INTC, MSFT, pfe, RAIL, YHOO

U.S.-traded shares of LM Ericsson followed their European counterparts down in premarket trading Tuesday after the Swedish cell phone maker warned of a disappointing third quarter.
Ericsson cut its outlook for sales, operating income and cash flow to below analyst expectations, blaming slow sales across several regions.
JPMorgan Securities analyst Ehud A. Gelblum said sales in "China and/or Australia appear to be a large part of the problem," since Ericsson said sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew 3 percent year-over-year, but would have been 17 percent higher without those two countries included.
"This suggests significant weakness in one or both of those regions and we believe that revenues for both China and Australia are high margin due to heavy upgrade activity," Gelblum said. Meanwhile, North America was "slower to pick up than Ericsson had anticipated."

Labels: ERIC, LM Ericsson Telephone Co.

CEO Interview: Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - News)
"The stocks are saying there's going to be a slowdown, so it would be wise for you to prepare for it," said Cramer, and while he isn't urging people to sell all their cyclicals yet, he suggests its time to take some profits. He invited Pepsi CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi onto the show to discuss the company's great performance which she said was due to the company's diverse portfolio and stellar management. Nooyi added, in terms of financial resources, Pepsi is not constrained, and in terms of people-resources, North America is growing and the company's international business is "exploding." Cramer mentioned a Wall Street Journal story that Nestle turned down a merger with Pepsi because it considers the latter company junk-food laden. Nooyi pointed out Pepsi's expansion into non-carbonated beverages and healthy snacks and its production process which conserves energy and water. Cramer remarked Pepsi delivered better than expected numbers and is a the right stock to buy.
Remember the AlaMobile: Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News), Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News), Ericsson (NasdaqGS: ERIC - News), Sony (NYSE: SNE - News), Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI - News), National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM - News)
With back -to-school tech gadgets in production, Cramer discussed TXN which was hit by a selloff; "I don't care about the quarter," he said. "I care about the future, because that is where we're going to make our money." He would use the decline as a buying opportunity, and thinks its mobile business will energize TXN. He added NOK, ERIC, SNE, ADI and NSM are also doing well. Returning to TXN, Cramer predicts the next quarter will be excellent and adds the company has a "massive rest-of-world" exposure.

Go Cisco (NasdaqGS: CSCO - News)! with Juniper Networks (NasdaqGS: JNPR - News), and Ciena (NasdaqGS: CIEN - News)
Cramer discussed a Financial Times interview during which Cisco CEO John Chambers says he's more enthusiastic about the company than he has been in a decade and the internet is entering a second phase which should last 10 to 15 years. Since Cisco provides the "backbone" for many types of communcation, Cramer doubts Chambers is just trying to sell his company, and notes Cisco rivals are delivering but have less upside than Cisco. Cramer noted Cisco is not expensive, is below its 52-week high, has $22 billion in cash and is protected from the ailing economy with its big international exposure.
Mad Mail: Six Flags (NYSE: SIX - News), Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW - News)
Cramer told one viewer not to touch financial stocks. He said he doesn't like SIX's balance sheet, and added the stock will do badly if the weather is not good. He told another mailer he doesn't like Men's Warehouse.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: ADI, CIEN, CSCO, ERIC, Jim Cramer, JNPR, Mad Money, MW, NOK, NSM, PEP, SIX, SNE, TXN

Stocks traded aimlessly again today as investors waited for the start of earnings season, which traditionally kicks off with an announcement from aluminum producer Alcoa (NYSE: AA - News). The major market averages all managed to post modest gains. Oil prices were also higher, as was the 10-year Treasury note, which saw its yield drop to 4.72%.
Housing was once again in the spotlight as homebuilder D.R Horton (NYSE: DHI - News) announced that is Q2 sales orders fell 37% overall, paced by even steeper declines in the formerly booming California and the Southwest markets. The company's net orders totaled 9,983 homes, down from 15,771 homes last year. Horton's Q2 ended March 31st. The stock closed -1.5% lower.
In corporate news, Swedish telecom equipment maker LM Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC - News) signed a deal to manage a portion of the European network of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD - News). Ericsson's shares added 3.6% on the news. Citigroup (NYSE: C - News) was up 1.6% as investors waited for the results of its long-anticipated cost review. Generic drugmaker Mylan Laboratories (NYSE: MYL - News) rose 2.8% after it raised its 2007 profit forecast to a range of $1.60 to $1.63 a share, up from its previous guidance of $1.50 to $1.55 per share. Mylan cited strength in its generics business, including new product launches, for its upbeat forecast.
The flip side of the drug business was exemplified by biopharmaceutical company Adolor (Nasdaq: ADLR - News), which saw its shares plunge -58.7% after it announced that it stopped a study of a new drug to treat opioid-induced (OIC) constipation over safety concerns. The drug, Entereg, was being developed in association with British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK - News). Several analysts swiftly issued downgrades for Adolor, while Brean Murray Carret reiterated its "sell" recommendation. Progenics Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PGNX - News), which submitted its own OIC compound for FDA approval last Friday along with partner Wyeth (NYSE: WYE - News), added 1.5% today.
Shares of ImClone Systems (Nasdaq: IMCL - News) also slid -6.4% on poor trial results. The company said a late-stage trial of its cancer drug Erbitux failed to extend survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Erbitux is already approved for treatment of colorectal cancer, and head and neck cancer.
In M&A news, Biosite (Nasdaq: BSTE - News) said it will enter merger talks with Inverness Medical Innovations (NYSE: IMA - News), which last week offered $90 a share for the maker of medical diagnostic tests. IMA's bid topped an earlier offer from Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC - News) of $85. All three companies are in the business of making medical test products.

Labels: AA, ADLR, BEC, BSTE, C, DHI, ERIC, GSK, IMA, IMCL, MYL, PGNX, VOD, WYE

Shares of Arris Group (NasdaqGS:ARRS - News) tumbled 9% Monday after the company's bid to acquire Norway's Tandberg Television was trumped by Ericsson (NasdaqGS:ERIC - News), which made a SEK9.8 billion ($1.4 billion) cash offer Tandberg in an effort to position itself to capitalize on the rise of demand for television over the Internet.
Shares of Cytori Therapeutics (NasdaqGM:CYTX - News) slid 6.5% after the company said it's raised roughly $21.5 million through a direct stock offering. The San Diego-based biotechnology company said it's agreed to sell 3.75 million common shares for $5.74 per share. The deal also includes five-year warrants covering the purchase of up to an additional 1.87 million common shares for $6.25 each. Cytori plans to use the funds for clinical trials of its Celution Systems for cardiovascular disease and breast reconstruction post lumpectomy as well as general working capital and other purposes.
Instituform Technologies (NasdaqGS:INSU - News) shares fell 8.9% after the company was downgraded to hold from buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Moody's Corp. (NYSE:MCO - News) shares slipped 3.1% after the company was downgraded to underperform from neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm also lowered its price target on the stock to $64 from $79, citing concerns about fallout from weakness in the subprime mortgage market.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS - News) shares dipped 2.6% after the Food and Drug Administration said it wants the company to conduct another study about a key diabetes drug. The company said the FDA is seeking further study of Galvus, designed to treat Type 2 diabetes, in specific patient groups with kidney problems.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: ARRS, CYTX, ERIC, INSU, MCO, NVS

Summary: Activist investor Carl Icahn recently disclosed a 1.4% stake in Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - News) and set out to force the company to buy back its shares at what he sees as cheap prices. Combined with recent buyouts of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL - News) and Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG - News), astute investors are eyeing telecom and chip companies with similar cash reserves, which may soon find themselves under the radar of impatient shareholders or buyout firms. Zhiping Zhao of CreditSights: "Both events represent... pressure from shareholders for these companies to return excess cash, as well as optimize capital structure and create shareholder value." Cash represents 19.1% of semiconductor companies' market cap, vs. only 6.1% and 4.9% for consumer and industrial companies -- and chip/telecom equipment companies have little or no debt. He thinks companies like Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI - News), Linear Technology Corp. (NasdaqGS: LLTC), Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NasdaqGS: MXIM), Altera Corp. (NasdaqGM: ALTR) Xilinx Inc. (NasdaqGS: XLNX), and Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX - News) are potential buyout targets. Companies that could face shareholder pressure to optimize balance sheets and unlock value include Ericsson (NasdaqGS: ERIC), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - News), Sycamore Networks Inc. (NasdaqGM: SCMR) and Tellabs Inc. (NasdaqGS: TLAB).
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: ADI, ALTR, ERIC, FSL, IFX, LLTC, MOT, MXIM, NOK, PHG, SCMR, TLAB, XLNX

Skepticism was running high ahead of quarterly results from Swedish telecommunications giant Telefon AB LM Ericsson. The company reported a 14% rise in fourth quarter profits driven by growth in both its mobile phone and network units. But forecasts for lower growth ahead sliced nearly 7% off its shares in European trading - one of the biggest declines in eight months.
While Ericsson did not provide any company-specific profit or sales guidance, it did lower growth estimates for the market in 2007. The world's largest supplier of mobile networks reduced forecasts for mobile systems growth from "moderate" to "mid-single digit" growth. In dollar terms, this means that ERIC cut the top end of its expectations from 4-9% growth down to 6%. Most industry analysts were expecting a tough year ahead, forecasting growth in the mid to single digits. ERIC's guidance only confirmed the worst fears.
However, Ericsson chief executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said he remained upbeat and that the lowered guidance was more to do with a weaker-than-expected performance by rivals. He stressed the company continues to take market share faster than expected in a new conference. Alcatel/Lucent, Ericsson, and Nokia/Siemens now control the vast majority of market share in the wireless networks, wireline networks, and service markets. Slower growth may spark further consolidation within the space of lesser-tiered players.
ERIC reported fourth quarter net profits of 9.7 bln kronor ($1.39 bln) or 0.61 kronor per share, from 8.54 bln or 54 kronor per share in the year prior. Growth was driven by operators building out mobile broadband networks. Its acquisition of Britain's Marconi enabled them to increasingly help mobile operators to manage networks.
Pretax profits came in on target with expectations of 12.2 bln kronor. Total revenues swelled by 18% to 53.7 bln kronor. The bulk of growth came from its mobile-phone joint venture with Sony (SNE) where profits nearly tripled to 447 mln euros or $581.2 mln. Revenue jumped 64% to 3.78 bln kronor as ASPs didn't fall as much as expected. The stock trades at 18.2x forward earnings, compared to Nokia (NOK) at 14.8x.
--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

Labels: ERIC, LM Ericsson Telephone Co.

Active Power (NasdaqGM:ACPW - News), in a preliminary report due to an ongoing stock option grant review, said fourth-quarter revenue rose 60% to $8.3 million. Prior to any impact from the review of the Company's historical option-granting procedures, the gross margin percentage was below the guidance provided at the commencement of the quarter and was approximately break-even for the quarter, it said. First-quarter revenue is seen between $6 million and $7 million, and it expects to lose 8 cents to 10 cents a share, excluding any stock option impact. The power supply company intends to issue full results for the quarter and year and to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K as soon as practicable after completion of the option review.
Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN - News) reported its profit dropped by half, even while sales rose 34%, as the company lost the benefit of a large tax gain it had a year ago and saw its operating margin narrow.
Amtech Systems Inc. (NasdaqGM:ASYS - News) agreed to sell 2.6 million shares in a public offering at $7.05 a share. The firm, which manufactures equipment for the semiconductor industry, said it expects to generate net proceeds of around $16.5 million, or $19.3 million if over-allotment options are exercised. Amtech added it intends to use the proceeds for working capital or possible acquisitions connected to the planned expansion of its solar and semiconductor business. The offer is expected to close Feb. 6.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC - News) agreed to sell its interests in certain natural gas properties in Oklahoma and Texas to Exco Resources Inc. (NYSE:XCO - News) for $860 million. The company said the sale is effective Jan. 1, 2007, and that it anticipates the deal will close during the second quarter. Anadarko said about 155 fields were included in the sale, producing about 103 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas per day from more than 1,300 wells as of the end of the year.
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS:ANPI - News) narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to $11.7 million, or 6 cents a share, from $51.3 million, or 50 cents a share. Excluding one-time items such as restructuring costs, the company earned 14 cents a share, compared with 16 cents a share from a year ago. Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 15 cents a share, according to a survey taken by Thomson Financial. Revenue rose to $93.3 million from $43.8 million a year ago. The company expects first-quarter adjusted earnings of 4 to 5 cents a share and 2007 earnings of 40 to 50 cents a share. Analysts expect earnings of 14 cents a share in the quarter and 68 cents a share for the year.
Apache Corp. (NYSE:APA - News) was downgraded to hold from buy at Citigroup.
Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI - News) swung to a fourth-quarter profit, boosted by a larger percentage of metallurgical coal sales and the roll-off of lower priced sales contracts. The St. Louis coal mining and transportation company had fourth-quarter net income available to common shareholders of $79.5 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.04 million, or 1 cents a share, a year earlier. Arch said revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31, fell 0.2% to $618.4 million from $619.8 million a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $649 million. In addition, Arch said it expects 2007 earnings of $1.25 to $2 a share, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $530 million to $650 million.
Avid Technologies (NasdaqGS:AVID - News) was downgraded to underweight at J.P. Morgan.
Baldor Electric Co. (NYSE:BEZ - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $12.2 million, or 37 cents a share, compared with $13.1 million, or 39 cents a share, in the same period last year, as expenses rose.
Bookham Inc. (NasdaqGM:BKHM - News) reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of $21.3 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $11.9 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $56.3 million from $60.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting a per-share loss of 16 cents on revenue of $57.8 million. The company expects fiscal third-quarter revenue of $44 million to $48 million.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.77 billion, or $1.74 a share, down from a year-ago profit of $4.14 billion, or $1.86 a share. The San Ramon, Calif., oil and gas giant said a sharp decline in U.S. natural gas prices in the latest quarter compared to last year offset improved operating performance from its oil and gas fields and refineries, especially in the U.S. Total revenue and other income fell to $47.75 billion in the latest three months from $53.79 billion in the same period a year earlier. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of $1.73 a share in the December period. The company attributed most of the sales decline in the latest quarter to the impact of an accounting rule change that requires certain purchase and sale contracts with the same counterparty to be netted for reporting.
Digene Corp. (NasdaqGS:DIGE - News) said second-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $6.1 million, or 25 cents a share, from $3 million, or 14 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 27 cents from 23 cents.
Ericsson (NasdaqGS:ERIC - News), the world's largest maker of wireless networks, on Friday said fourth-quarter net profit rose 14% to 9.73 billion Swedish kronor ($1.4 billion), or 0.61 krona a share, from 8.54 billion kronor, or 0.54 krona a share, a year earlier. Sales climbed 18% to 53.7 billion kronor. Consensus analyst forecasts were for earnings of 0.55 krona a share on sales of 53.8 billion kronor, according to a survey by SME Direkt. Operating margin for the quarter was flat from the year-ago period at 22.7%. Ericsson's board proposed a dividend of 0.50 krona a share for 2006.
Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS - News) named Marka Hansen, a 20-year veteran of the company who heads its Banana Republic unit, to lead the largest and most important division, the Gap stores.
GMX Resources Inc. (NasdaqGM:GMXR - News), the Oklahoma City natural-gas producer, is offering 2 million shares at $34.82. GMX shares closed on Thursday at $36.83. The company said in a statement that it would use what it expects to be about $65.5 million of net proceeds from the deal to fund its drilling program and for general purposes. Subject to conditions, the deal is set to close around Feb. 7, GMX said.
Illumina Inc. (NasdaqGM:ILMN - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $17.1 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $326,000, or a penny a share, in the same period last year, as product revenue almost tripled. Excluding non-cash stock-based compensation, the San Diego-based maker of tools for genetic analysis posted per-share earnings of 42 cents. Total revenue rose to $60.4 million from $23 million. The company sees 2007 per-share earnings of about 86 cents, excluding items, on revenue of $295 million to $315 million. For the first quarter, Illumina expects per-share earnings of about 16 cents, excluding items, on revenue between $64 million and $68 million.
IMS Health Inc. (NYSE:RX - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $65.5 million, or 32 cents a share, down 27% from $89.4 million, or 38 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue totaled $543.5 million in the latest quarter compared with $477.7 million last year.
InfoSpace Inc. (NasdaqGS:INSP - News) reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $30 million, or 91 cents a share, compared with $37.9 million, or $1.13 a share, in the same period last year, as expenses rose.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: ACI, ACPW, AMZN, ANPI, APA, APC, ASYS, AVID, BEZ, BKHM, CVX, DIGE, ERIC, GMXR, GPS, ILMN, INSP, RX, XCO

Wall Street advanced on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials pushing past its record close as Asian markets recovered from a selloff and investors sifted through a barrage of corporate profit reports.
Investors breathed a bit easier after Asian markets staged a recovery overnight, soothing concerns the region was in jeopardy of slipping into an economic crisis. The Thai government on Tuesday backed off a plan to impose capital controls on foreign investors.
Investors viewed a strong report from automobile dealership chain CarMax Inc. as a boost to the automotive industry. However, transports were lower after FedEx Corp. forecast third-quarter earnings that trailed Wall Street projections.
The advance comes a day after investors overcame lackluster figures on inflation to send the Dow to its 21st record close since the start of October.

Labels: ERIC, FDX, KMX, KOSN, PANC, pfe, RBAK, SBH, TCO

Redback Networks Inc., which makes routers used to direct data over broadband networks, said late Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by Swedish mobile phone equipment maker LM Ericsson for $2.1 billion in cash.
Analysts said the deal reflects a growing need among service providers to upgrade their networks to accommodate bandwidth-devouring downloads for consumers and increasingly deliver that content to mobile devices.
Redback makes so-called "edge" routers, which are used to connect computers to the Internet and are increasingly being used to simultaneously handle the data, voice, and video downloads demanded by consumers. Stockholm-based Ericsson is the world's largest maker of mobile phone networks.
Redback Chief Executive Officer Kevin DeNuccio said the deal will allow both companies to capitalize on the need of Internet providers and telecom companies to upgrade their networks to handle the massive bandwidth requirements of those services.

Labels: ERIC, LM Ericsson Telephone Co., RBAK, Redback Networks Inc.