Jim Cramer Blog

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all closed up on the day, as the Fed started a two-day meeting to decide the direction of interest rates. The Commerce Department announced today that durable goods orders had declined -2.8% for the month of May, much lower than the -1% that economists had expected. Non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, seen as an indicator of business development, dropped -3%, its biggest decline since January, when it went down -4.4%.
Musical equipment retailer Guitar Center (Nasdaq: GTRC) announced that it had agreed to be taken private by an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners LLC. Bain Capital will pay $1.9 billion in cash for the company. The company has been part of many takeover rumors ever since it hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to put itself up for auction. Shareholders will be paid $63 per share, and the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Guitar Center was up 19.8% on the news.
People's United Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBCT), Connecticut's third-largest bank by deposits, has agreed to buy Chittenden Corp. (NYSE: CHZ) in a cash and stock deal worth an estimated $1.9 billion. Current Chittenden Corp. shareholders will be offered a choice of taking stock in People's United or cash for their stock. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) announced that it would increase its stock buyback program by $4 billion to $5.5 billion, replacing a previous $1.5 billion program. It also announced that it would increase its quarterly dividend from 10 cents per share to 13 cents per share. Best Buy was up 3.7% on the day.
ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) announced earnings today with a strong profit that seemed only minimally hurt by a recall of Peter Pan peanut butter. ConAgra Foods reported earnings of $192 million, or 39 cents per share, on revenues of $3.33 billion. The earnings represented a 324% increase over last year's $59.2 million. The stock was up 4.5% on the news.
HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI) announced that it would close nine factories and cut 5,300 jobs. The company will shift some of its manufacturing to Asia and Africa in order to cut costs. The company, maker of Hanes underwear, is attempting to increase its operating profit to between 6-8%. The company has already cut 2,000 jobs this year.
By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: BBY, CAG, CHZ, GS, GTRC, HBI, PBCT

Symbol
Name
Last Trade
Change
Volume
Related Info
DDUP
DATA DOMAIN, INC.
23.24 1:57PM ET
8.24 (54.93%)
5,077,721

USEY
US ENERGY SYSTEMS
1.3200 1:55PM ET
0.2900 (28.16%)
1,102,718

SCOR
COMSCORE, INC.
20.82 1:57PM ET
4.32 (26.18%)
4,577,440

CHZ
CHITTENDEN CP
34.99 1:52PM ET
6.75 (23.90%)
2,496,500

SRDX
SURMODICS INC
44.82 1:57PM ET
7.46 (19.97%)
625,528

VRNM
VERENIUM CORPORATION
5.32 1:56PM ET
0.94 (21.56%)
665,183

GTRC
GUITAR CENTER INC
59.94 1:57PM ET
9.88 (19.73%)
5,468,473

SPRD
SPREADTRUM COMMUNICA
16.46 1:58PM ET
2.46 (17.57%)
4,975,385

UNF
UNIFIRST CP
46.94 1:52PM ET
6.44 (15.90%)
279,100

SPEC
SPECTRUM CONTROL I
15.95 1:56PM ET
2.08 (15.00%)
1,072,853

WWWW
WEB.COM INC
6.12 1:54PM ET
0.77 (14.39%)
434,792

COIN
CONVERTED ORGANICS
3.34 12:59PM ET
0.40 (13.50%)
25,477

APOG
APOGEE ENTRPR INC
28.29 1:57PM ET
3.09 (12.26%)
962,791


WRSP
WORLDSPACE INC
5.31 1:55PM ET
0.60 (12.74%)
395,459

PARL
PARLUX FRAGRANCE
4.98 1:56PM ET
0.57 (12.93%)
1,055,432
FUL
FULLER H B CO
30.72 1:52PM ET
3.33 (12.16%)
1,251,900

CPWM
COST PLUS INC (CA)
8.62 1:58PM ET
0.89 (11.51%)
541,239
CBAK
CHINA BAK BATTERY
3.83 1:56PM ET
0.41 (11.99%)
1,094,271

DGSE
DGSE COMPANIES INC
3.61 1:38PM ET
0.31 (9.39%)
53,971

NBF
NOVA BIOSOURCE FUELS
2.80 1:51PM ET
0.33 (13.36%)
1,221,500

Labels: APOG, CBAK, CHZ, COIN, CPWM, DDUP, DGSE, FUL, GTRC, NBF, PARL, SCOR, SPEC, SPRD, SRDX, UNF, USEY, VRNM, WRSP, WWWW

Frontier Oil Corp. (NYSE:FTO - News) said fourth-quarter earnings fell to $52.4 million, or 47 cents a share, from $63 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier. The Houston oil refiner said earnings fell primarily because the gasoline and diesel crack spreads following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 was not repeated in 2006. The results for the quarter ending Dec. 31 include an inventory loss of 22 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting earnings of 55 cents a share, on average. Revenue declined 5.5% to $1.09 billion from last year's $1.15 billion.
Guitar Center Inc. (NasdaqGS:GTRC - News) reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $1.36 a share, including a charge of $2.49 a share to write down goodwill associated with the music and arts division.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - News) plans to dispose of its remaining interest in KBR Inc. (NYSE:KBR - News) through a split-off exchange offer to Halliburton shareholders..
Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:HR - News)intends to sell its senior-living-assets portfolio, expecting a total consideration of about $400 million and a net gain of about $57 million.
Health Care REIT Inc.'s (NYSE:HCN - News) fourth-quarter net income fell 34% as revenue increased 15% to $87.8 million.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ - News) said it would acquire closely held PolyServe Inc. to expand the company's offerings of storage-software applications.
Hansen Natural Corp. (NasdaqCM:HANS - News) said that fourth-quarter gross sales rose 51% to $171.5 million, while net sales increased 54.2% to $151.1 million. Gross profit rose to $80.2 million, from $51.9 million a year ago. The sales increase reflected continued strong sales of energy drinks.
Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE:HOG - News) has taken down its targets for motorcycle shipments and earnings growth as the result of a recently ended three-week strike at its York, Pa., manufacturing plant, the company said Tuesday. While full production is expected to resume over the next week, the strike will eventually result in a loss of approximately one month's production. "A disruption of this magnitude has a significant impact on our business, as well as our suppliers, dealers, employees and our retail customers," said Tom Bergmann, Harley's chief financial officer, in a written release. The company expects to ship 64,000 to 66,000 units in the first quarter, down from a previous goal of 82,000 to 84,000 units, although it hopes to make up 4,000 to 5,000 during the remainder of the year. For the full year, Harley said it now expects "moderate" revenue growth, along with lower margins, and earnings per share growth in the range of 4% to 6%. But it forecast a return to 11% to 17% EPS growth in 2008 and 2009.
Hovnanian (NYSE:HOV - News) expects a first-quarter loss. It delivered 3,266 homes in the first quarter while net contracts declined 23% to 2,570.
Magna International (NYSE:MGA - News) said fourth-quarter net income fell 65% to $29 million, or 26 cents a share, from $83 million, or 75 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company would have earned 99 cents a share. The average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for earnings of $1.17. The company said the difficult automotive environment, particularly in North America, is taking its toll. Sales rose 9% to 6.34 billion, helped by an increase in the company's European and rest of the world production sales. The company declared a quarterly dividend of 19 cents a share. For 2007, Magna expects consolidated sales of $22.9 billion to $24.2 billion. It sees spending for fixed assets in the range of $800 million to $850 million.
NetEase.com's (NasdaqGS:NTES - News) fourth-quarter profit grew 19% as the Beijing Internet company's revenue grew nearly 15% to $69.2 million.
Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN - News) fourth-quarter earnings climbed to 89 cents a share from 69 cents as sales rose 15% to $2.63 billion. Same-store sales increased 8.3%.
NYSE Group Inc. (NYSE:NYX - News) named Duncan Niederauer president and co-chief operating officer, effective April 9. Niederauer is currently managing director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS - News).
Oneok Inc. (NYSE:OKE - News) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 66 cents a share, down from $2.30 a share in the year ago-period. The year-ago quarter included a gain of $1.57 a share from the sale of Texas gathering and processing assets
Oneok Partners L.P. (NYSE:OKS - News) fourth-quarter earnings were 82 cents per unit, up from 72 cents in the year-ago period. There were 82.9 million units outstanding during the latest quarter vs. 46.4 million units a year earlier.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NasdaqGM:PNCL - News) said its fourth-quarter net income more than tripled to $36.8 million, or $1.67 a share, from $10 million, or 45 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The 2006 fourth quarter included a benefit of $26.1 million, or $1.18 per share, associated with a settlement with Northwest Airlines Corp. . The Memphis, Tenn., regional airline said revenue in the three months ended Dec. 31 fell 4% to $204.5 million from $213 million. Three analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings, on average, of 57 cents a share.
Sanderson Farms Inc. (NasdaqGS:SAFM - News) narrowed its fiscal first quarter loss, but the poultry producer said Tuesday it remained firmly in the red on high feed costs and soft, though slowly rising, pricing. Sanderson said it lost $2.8 million, or 14 cents a share for the quarter, compared to a loss of $8.6 million, or 43 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue came in at $292.7 million, up from $236.2 million. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been for the company to lose 11 cents a share on sales of $277 million. Looking out to the rest of the fiscal year, Sanderson said trends in chicken prices are currently "favorable" but it expects feed costs will continue to rise.
Shuffle Master Inc. (NasdaqGS:SHFL - News) shares tumbled after the company said it expects fiscal first-quarter net income and earnings per share to be "significantly lower" than the year-ago quarter. The Las Vegas-based gambling supply company said it's still in the process of finalizing its financial results, and forecast revenue of $35 million to $38 million.
Published By Marketwatch

Labels: FTO, GS, GTRC, HAL, HANS, HCN, HOG, HOV, HPQ, HR, JWN, KBR, MGA, NTES, NYX, OKE, OKS, PNCL, SAFM, SHFL

CHANGE IN RATINGS
Arbitron (ARB - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) upgraded at Bear: ARB was upgraded from Peer Perform to Outperform at Bear Stearns. Company is making progress in its PPM rollout, which should help drive the stock.
CACI International (CAI - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) downgraded at Wachovia: CAI was downgraded to Market Perform at Wachovia. Sudden departure of the CFO increases concern about the company's near-term direction.
Gol Airlines (GOL - commentary - Cramer's Take) coverage resumed at Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley resumes coverage of Gol Airlines with an overweight rating and a $37 price target.
Level 3 (LVLT - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) rated new Outperform at Credit Suisse: Credit Suisse is initiating coverage on LVLT with an Outperform rating. Believes company will continue to see strong demand driven by higher data usage. Sets $7.50 target price.
MetLife (MET - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) upgraded at UBS: MET upgraded to Buy rating from Neutral at UBS. Price target lifts to $71 from $64. 2007 eps estimates bumps to $5.27 from $5.23.
Tidewater (TDW - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) coverage initiated at Goldman Sachs: Goldman is initiating coverage on TDW with a Sell rating. See lower utilization and declining dayrates for company's old fleet. Price target at $43.
United Surgical (USPI - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) downgraded at Deutsche: USPI was downgraded from Buy to Hold at Deutsche Bank. $31 price target. Do not expect the company to receive a better takeover offer before next month.
STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES
Boeing (BA - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) numbers raised at UBS: BA numbers raised at UBS. Price target jumps to $82 from $76. 2007 eps estimates lift to $4.85 from $4.80. Reiterates Reduce rating.
Conoco Phillips (COP - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) price target cut at Goldman: Goldman is cutting its target on COP to $76 from $83 after company reported disappointing year-end reserve data. Believe data supports long-term strength in oil prices, and that Conoco fundamentals remain strong. Maintain Buy rating.
Genentech (DNA - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) price target raised at Goldman: Goldman is upping its target on DNA to $102 from $95 due to strong sales of Lucentis, Rituxan and Avastin. Company guidance was above both Goldman and consensus estimates. Maintained Buy rating.
Guitar Center (GTRC - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) estimates cut at Piper: Piper is cutting its 2007 estimates on GTRC to $2.74 a share due to lower expectations for top-line growth following weak Q4 sales. Maintained Outperform rating.
j2 Global (JCOM - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) numbers lowered: JCOM numbers lowered at Jefferies. Price target drops to $27 from $28. 2007 eps estimates lowered to $1.50 from $1.57. Reiterates Hold rating.
Urban Outfitters (URBN - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) numbers raised at Piper: Piper is raising its target price on URBN from $17 to $28 to reflect improved earnings outlook. Maintained Market Perform rating.
Waters (WAT - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating)numbers raised at UBS: WAT numbers raised at UBS. Price target jumps to $57 from $52. 2007 eps estimates lift to $2.60 from $2.54. Reiterates Neutral rating.
Published by thestreet.com

Labels: ARB, BA, CAI, COP, DNA, GOL, GTRC, JCOM, LVLT, MET, TDW, URBN, USPI, WAT

Active Power Inc. (NASDAQ:ACPW - News) said it's conducting an internal review of the company's historical stock option grants and related procedures and accounting. This review will cover all option grants made since the time of its initial public offering in August 2000 to the present. This review will be supervised by a committee of the company's board. The company also has voluntarily disclosed, or self reported, that it is undertaking this review to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company currently anticipates that this review should be completed before the due date for its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006.
Adaptec (NASDAQ:ADPT - News) shares slumped after the Milpitas, Calif., storage technology products provider forecast a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) loss of 2 to 5 cents a share for the third quarter on revenue of between $60 million and $61 million. The company said the revenue view was lower than expected due to a significant decrease in revenue from IBM (NYSE:IBM - News), its largest original equipment manufacturer customer.
ArthroCare Corp. (NASDAQ:ARTC - News) said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $69.7 million.
Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT - News) was downgraded to underweight from equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Bp Plc (NYSE:BP - News) shares dipped after Bear Stearns lowered its rating on the company to peer perform from outperform.
Brightpoint (NASDAQ:CELL - News) was downgraded to hold at Jefferies & Co. The firm also cut its price target on the stock to $12.50 from $17.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX - News) warned that lower commodity prices and a decline in production and refining margins will hurt fourth-quarter earnings for the nation's No.2 oil company.
E-Z-EM Inc. (NASDAQ:EZEM - News) reported second-quarter net earnings of $1.8 million, or 16 cents a share, up 18% from $1.53 million, or 14 cents a share, during the year-ago period. The manufacturer of contrast agents for gastrointestinal radiology posted revenue of $34.2 million vs. $33.8 million.
Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS - News) announced a series of management changes in its Gap and Old Navy divisions. Denise Johnston, president of Gap Adult, is leaving the company, effective Friday, the company said. Gap Brand North America President Cynthia Harriss will oversee the business until Johnston's successor is named. In addition, Karyn Hillman was named senior vice president of merchandising for Gap Adult. Hillman was previously senior vice president of apparel merchandising for Gap's Banana Republic division. Separately, San Francisco-based Gap said Ivy Ross, Old Navy's executive vice president of product design, will leave the company effective Jan. 17. The design team will report to Old Navy President Dawn Robertson while the company searches for Ross' replacement.
Guitar Center Inc. (NASDAQ:GTRC - News) said it expects fourth-quarter income to be short of its prior outlook for $1.14 to $1.20 a share because of weaker-than-expected sales. Analysts' average estimate stands at $1.16 a share, according to Thomson First Call. For the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, the Westlake Village, Calif., company said net sales rose 11.7% to $628.5 million. In November, Guitar Center forecast sales of $638 million to $650 million. Analysts' average estimate stands at $643 million in sales.
IBM shares slid after A.G. Edwards downgraded the Dow component to hold from buy, citing long-term sales growth potential and valuation. "In particular, we are concerned about IBM's recent lack of growth in bookings in its services business," Analyst David Wong said in a research note to clients.
Investment Technology Group (NYSE:ITG - News) said its December U.S. trading volume was 3.4 billion shares compared to 2.6 billion shares a year ago. Average daily volume in December rose to 171 million shares from 123 million shares in December 2005. The results fell from November 2006, when total volume was 3.7 billion shares and average daily volume was 175 million shares. "We continue to see strong momentum in our trading volumes as we enter 2007. In addition, our European revenues were higher than initially expected for the (fourth) quarter," CFO Howard Naphtali said.
J2 Global Communications (NASDAQ:JCOM - News) shares dropped after the company said in a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects revenue of between $217 million and $229 million for fiscal 2007. The current average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for revenue of $233.4 million for the period.
J. Crew Group (NYSE:JCG - News) filed to sell 7.5 million shares of its stock with a value of $283.3 million based on its Tuesday closing price of $37.77 a share. Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns are underwriters of the offering. None of the proceeds of the deal will go toward the company. TPG Advisors, an entity aligned with private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, will be selling the stock.
Kenexa Corp. (NASDAQ:KNXA - News) said it expects to meet or slightly exceed its previously issued guidance for revenue and non-GAAP operating income in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Kenexa also said it intends to file a prospectus supplement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to an underwritten public offering of 3.75 million shares.
LeCroy (NASDAQ:LCRY - News) shares dropped after the company lowered its outlook for fiscal 2007 to reflect slower than expected order activity in December, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., provider of serial test data products said it now sees revenue of $155 million to $160 million for fiscal 2007, compared to its previous projection for revenue of $170 million to $180 million.
NuCO2 (NASDAQ:NUCO - News) shares fell after the Stuart, Fla.-based company forecast fiscal 2007 earnings of 50 cents to 55 cents a share, down from its previous outlook of 80 cents to 85 cents a share. NuCO2 also forecast fiscal 2007 cash earnings of $1.15 to $1.20 a share and revenue of $130 million to $132 million. For 2008, the company forecast per-share earnings of 85 cents to 90 cents, or cash earnings of $1.65 to $1.70, and revenue growth of 7% to 8%. NuCO2, which supplies bulk CO2 systems and services, said it is putting in place a new strategic growth plan, and the company expects to see material benefits by the quarter ending June 30 and even more significantly in fiscal 2008.
Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE:OXM - News) reported second-quarter net earnings of $12.2 million, or 68 cents a share, compared with $11 million, or 57 cents a share, in the same period last year, as sales rose. The Atlanta-based maker of private label apparel posted revenue of $291 million, up 4.7% from $277.9 million.
Ramtron International Corp. (NASDAQ:RMTR - News) shares tumbled after the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based semiconductor maker late Tuesday cut its fourth-quarter product revenue forecast to a range of $9.1 million to $9.2 million. The company had previously forecast product revenue of $10.2 million and $11.2 million. The company said the reduced forecast was largely due to an earthquake in Taiwan and severe weather in Colorado at the end of December, which impacted product shipments.
Shares of SLM Corp. (NYSE:SLM - News) fell as U.S. lawmakers prepared to introduce bills that would cut interest rates in half on student loans.A House vote is expected as early as Jan. 17. "Such legislation will be moving forward and its $6 billion price tag will be funded by the lenders who participate in the Federal Family Education Loan Program," Stanford Group Company analyst Jaret Seiberg wrote in a note Wednesday. That includes SLM Corp., the former government-sponsored enterprise commonly known as Sallie Mae.
Synnex Corp. (NYSE:SNX - News) said fourth-quarter net income rose, as revenue gained, to $15.6 million, or 48 cents a share, from $12.8 million, or 41 cents a share, during the same period in the prior year. Before items, quarterly per-share income rose to 50 cents from 41 cents in the prior year.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF - News) said worldwide comparable store sales increased 7% during the period from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. U.S. comparable store sales rose 8%. Total net sales increased 15% to $818 million. U.S. retail sales increased 12% to $432.4 million. The New York based jewelry retailer said the results exceeded expectations. The company predicts 2006 earnings of $1.82-$1.85 a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call forecast earnings of $1.82 a share, on average. The company expects 13%-15% growth in earnings per share in 2007 and low double-digit net sales growth.
WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ:WDFC - News) said first-quarter net earnings fell to $5.69 million, or 33 cents a share, from $7.51 million, or 45 cents a share, in the same period last year, as marketing and other expenses rose. The company posted revenue of $72 million, up 7% from $67.2 million last year.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: ACPW, ADPT, ARTC, BP, CELL, CVX, EZEM, GPS, GTRC, IBM, ITG, JCG, JCOM, KNXA, LCRY, NUCO, SLM, SNX, TIF, WDFC

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Monday's session are Harrah's Entertainment Inc., FuelCell Energy Inc., Dell Inc. and Andersons Inc.
Applied Signal Technology (APSG) is expected to report earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 22 cents, according to analysts polled by Thomson First Call.
FuelCell (FCEL) is expected to post a per-share loss of 35 cents for the fourth quarter.
Harrah's Entertainment (HET) is on the verge of being sold to two private- equity firms, Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group, for at least $90 a share, the online edition of The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Joy Global Inc. (JOYG) is expected to report per-share income for the fourth quarter of 66 cents.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) is expected to post second-quarter per-share income of 22 cents.
Piedmont Natural Gas Co. (PNY) is expected to report first-quarter per-share income of 97 cents.
Steelcase Inc. (SCS) is expected to report earnings of 19 cents per share for the third quarter.
After Friday's closing bell, Dell (DELL) said it received a Nasdaq letter on Dec. 15 indicating that the company is not in compliance with continued listing requirements. The computer giant said the letter relates to the company's delayed third-quarter filing.
Also, three top executives at Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) AOL unit plan to quit as part of a reorganization expected to be made public this week, according to several media reports. The execs include: Jim Bankoff, AOL's executive vice president of programming, Joe Redling, chief marketing officer, and John Buckley, a chief public-relations officer.
Watch list
Andersons (ANDE) said it has raised the quarterly cash dividend 5.6% to 4.75 cents per share. The dividend is payable Jan. 22 to shareholders as of Jan. 2.
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) said it is voluntarily recalling certain lots of the Mach 1 guide catheter in the United States. The medical devices maker said some units of the catheter may contain excess resin that could obstruct a blood vessel if detached during a procedure.
Comverse Technology Inc. (CMVT) Chairman Ron Hiram has resigned from the board. Hiram's resignation was tendered in view of the recent appointment of an additional five new independent directors. Also, the company has received an additional Nasdaq delisting notice over the company's delayed Form 10-Q filing for the quarter ended Oct. 31.
Guitar Center Inc. (GTRC) said its Nov. 22 agreement to buy the assets of Dennis Bamber Inc. has been terminated upon bankruptcy court approval of an alternative bidder for the business.
Imax Corp. (IMAX) said it has determined that a sale or merger of the company will not enhance shareholder value. The Toronto-based entertainment company said it will instead focus on the growth of its network and on strategic business initiatives.
King Pharmaceuticals Inc. (KG) said an arbitration panel has decided in favor of Elan Corp. (ELN) in a dispute related to King's Sonata insomnia drug. The panel ordered King to pay Elan about $49.8 million, plus interest, in milestone payments and other research and development expenses.
Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ) said it has approved a new employment contract for President and Chief Executive Robert Greifeld, extending his deal through Dec. 31, 2010.
PetSmart Inc. (PETM) said it has amended its bylaws to adopt a majority voting standard for the election of directors in uncontested elections. The Phoenix- based retailer of pet products and services said that under the new standard a director in an uncontested election must receive more than 50% of the votes cast.
Power Integrations Inc. (POWI) said it has informed the Nasdaq that it will not meet the Listing and Hearing Review Council's Dec. 18 deadline to become current in its filings. The company expects its shares to be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Market as of the start of trading on Dec. 19.
Refco Inc. (RFX) , the derivatives broker that collapsed in scandal last year, said its Chapter 11 plan was confirmed by a New York bankruptcy court, clearing the way for its businesses to be finally shut down and creditors repaid a portion of what they were owed.
Private-equity firms Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. are in talks to acquire Royal Ahold NVU.S. foodservice unit in a leveraged buyout, according to a media report.
Standard & Poor's said it's changing the makeup of the S&P 500 and SmallCap 600 indexes after the close of trading Tuesday. Terex Corp. (TEX) will replace Navistar International Corp. (NAV) in the S&P 500. Mannatech Inc. (MTEX) will replace American Italian Pasta Co. (PLB) in the S&P SmallCap 600.
By Dow Jones

Labels: ANDE, APSG, BSX, CMVT, DELL, FCEL, GTRC, HET, IMAX, JOYG, KG, MTEX, NDAQ, ORCL, PETM, POWI, RFX, SCS, TEX, TWX