Jim Cramer Blog

Stocks were slammed today, as a late-afternoon sell-off was fueled by continued worries surrounding the financial and mortgage sectors. The Dow lost -237 points to close at 12,743 for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and S&P each closed down more than -2% to finish at 2,541 and 1,407, respectively. Light, sweet crude prices were down in trading with oil closing at $97.70 per barrel for January delivery. Treasury prices were higher on the day, while gold prices rose to close at $826.50 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro, but remained relatively unchanged versus the yen.

In corporate news, Europe's largest bank HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC - News) announced today that it will bail out two of its bank-managed funds by transferring approximately $45 billion of the structured investment vehicles' assets onto its balance sheet. HSBC also said it will inject $35 billion into the company-managed funds in order to prevent liquidation of their assets. Shares of HSBC were down -2.6% at the bell.
Shares of SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR - News) traded higher today, prodded by speculation that Congress may look to pass an energy bill favoring renewable resources before Christmas. The solar-panel maker's stock rose more than 5% during trading before pulling back to close up 1.9% on the day. Shares of SunPower's majority shareholder, Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY - News) also climbed higher on the news and posted a small gain for the session.
On the M&A front, Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG - News) said that it will acquire light fixture company Genlyte Group (Nasdaq: GLYT - News) in a deal valued at $2.7 billion. According to details, Philips will pay $95.50 per share for Genlyte, representing a 52% premium over the company's closing price on Friday. Shares of Genlyte soared in trading and closed 50.7% higher on the day. Meanwhile, Philips' stock was off -1.9% at the bell.
Elsewhere, Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD - News) said it is prepared to make a cash tender offer of $6.75 per share to acquire Restoration Hardware (Nasdaq: RSTO - News), according to a SEC filing. Sears' bid trumps a previous offer of $267 million, or $6.70 per share, for the home-furnishings retailer made by an affiliate of private equity firm Catterton Partners. Restoration Hardware's stock was up slightly on the day, while shares of Sears closed down -4.3%.

By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: CY, GLYT, HBC, PHG, RSTO, SHLD, SPWR

Stocks ended the week on a high note, rising on upbeat earnings news. At the close, the Dow Jones ended with a gain of 53 points, while the Nasdaq gained 17. The broader S&P 500 added 7 points on the day. The price of crude eased -16 cents to finish the session at $81.62 a barrel. For the trading week, all the major market indices picked up substantial gains in the face of the Fed's decision to cut both the Fed's funds rate and the discount rate by -50 basis points.
On the banking front, European banking powerhouse HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC - News) notified investors that it will be closing its Decision One subprime mortgage unit in the U.S. The company's HSBC Finance arm will take an $880 million charge, as well as incur a $65 million charge for restructuring costs. Elsewhere, billionaire Wilbur Ross offered to buy American Home Mortgage's services unit for $435 million. In order to complete the purchase, he will have to win a court-sanctioned auction for the unit next month.
A couple of notable earnings were released late Thursday, including from software giant Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - News), which reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $840 million, or 16 cents a share. Excluding items, EPS would have been 22 cents, a penny ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue for the period totaled $4.53 billion, up 26% from year-ago levels. New license revenue for applications surged 65%, while service revenue rose 25%. Looking ahead, the software company run by founder Larry Ellison is forecasting second-quarter earnings of 26-27 cents a share (excluding items). Shares rose 4.4%, setting a new yearly high.
Sneaker and apparel company Nike (NYSE: NKE - News) said fiscal first-quarter profit hit $569.7 million, or $1.12 a share, up from $377.2 million, or 74 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding a 20-cent a share gain from a tax benefit, earnings would have been 92 cents, 5 cents ahead of analyst predictions. Sales rose 11% to $4.66 billion. Nike cited strong international growth, especially in Europe and Asia, for the strong quarter.
In other corporate news, semiconductor maker Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - News) saw its shares rise 2.4% after it announced a further addition of $5 billion to its stock repurchases. The additional amount to its share repurchase programs brings its total to $8.8 billion. In addition, the company also lifted its dividend 25%, which would now equate to 10 cents a share.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has upped his stake in software maker BEA Systems (Nasdaq: BEAS - News) to 9.9%. Icahn has been pressuring the company to put itself up for sale for quite some time. This is now the second time he has upped his stake in as many weeks.
Shares of audio company Harman International (NYSE: HAR - News) plunged -20.9% after The Wall Street Journal reported that its private equity buyers are having second thoughts about taking the company private. The firm later confirmed right before the bell that the deal was a no go.
In other tech news, shares of Internet high-flyer Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - News) reached an all-time, rising 1.3% on the day. Coincidently, three of its executives once again appeared on Forbes' 400 Richest Americans list.
By Mike Conte, BullMarket.com

Labels: BEAS, GOOG, HAR, HBC, NKE, ORCL, TXN

KeyCorp (KEY) could be a good takeout target for a deep-pocketed international player, Jim Cramer said Monday on CNBC's Stop Trading! segment.
Cramer said the Cleveland-based bank is a "well-run" bank that could potentially appeal to big international bankers like ABN (ABN) and HSBC (HBC), despite the unraveling of the U.S. mortgage business.
Cramer still likes seed outfits Monsanto (MON) and Syngenta (SYT).

Labels: ABN, HBC, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, KEY, MON, SYT

Stocks continued to be volatile to start off the week, but not as volatile as the past several weeks have been. Investors weighed and assessed the decision by the Federal Reserve on Friday when it lowered the discount rate by 50 basis points. For most of the session, all three major market averages were lower, but the bulls orchestrated a rally towards the close. At the close, the Dow gained 42 points, with the Nasdaq picking up a modest 4 points. The S&P 500, meanwhile, ended the session fractionally lower. Over in the energy markets, natural gas was the biggest loser as Hurricane Dean appears that it will not head into the energy rich northern Gulf of Mexico. Natural gas lost -98 cents to finish at $6.03.
Jumbo loan company Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA - News) saw its shares decline -10.2% after it announced it sold $20.5 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities at a discount in order to pay down debt it could not refinance. It foresees itself losing $930 million on the transaction, but said it will go ahead and pay its dividend. The company stated it will not give any guidance on further dividends. Rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded its issuer default rating to "CCC" citing concerns of Thornburg's ability to generate and maintain adequate liquidity given the current market environment.
On the earnings front, the nation's second-largest home improvement retailer, Lowes (NYSE: LOW - News), reported that its second-quarter profit rose 9% to $1.02 billion, or 67 cents a share, up from $975 million, or 60 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings to come in at 61 cents a share. Sales rose 5.8% to $14.2 billion. Same-store sales declined -2.6% for the company. For the year, the retailer sees earnings of $1.97-2.01 a share, down slightly from its prior forecast of EPS of $1.99-2.03. Despite the lowered full-year earnings estimates, the stock rose 6.1% on the heels of market share gains as well as a company belief that sales trends were improving.
In other corporate news, Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: NDAQ - News) said it is looking to sell its 31% stake in the London Stock Exchange (LSE). It attempted to buy the exchange last year, but the LSE's shareholders rejected the offer in February. Nasdaq said it would use the proceeds to retire some of its debt and also repurchase its stock. Shares declined -0.7%.
On the international front, the world's third-largest bank HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC - News) is in talks to buy the majority of Korea Exchange Bank, South Korea's sixth-largest bank. HSBC is currently in advanced discussions with Lone Star Funds, which owns a 51% stake worth $4.5 billion in the foreign bank.
By the BullMarket.com Staff

Labels: HBC, LOW, Lowe's Companies Inc., NDAQ, Thornburg Mortgage Inc., TMA

HSBC (NYSE: HBC),Wachovia (NYSE: WB ), Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM), and Countrywide (NYSE: CFC): News Saudi investor Maan Abdulwahed Al-Sanea bought a 3% stake in ailing bank HSBC is a "wake up call" for the bears and a signal to take another look at banks. HSBC had been "the most hobbled of the international banks," with its abundant write-offs, bad loans and the subprime crisis. Cramer likens the scenario to prince Alwaleed's massive purchase of Citi in 1991 before the stock rose to 20 fold. Cramer declared "open season" on similar but better banks such as WB, WM and CFC.
Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), Coach (NYSE: COH): Cramer applauds RL CEO Roger Farah for his superb handling of sluggish overseas licenses. His "class 'em up" strategy could give Coach a run for its money, and applying Coach's multiple of 30 times earnings to RL would make stock jump to $110 to $115 from $96.50.

Labels: CFC, COH, HBC, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, RL, WB, WM

Here are 7 options to watch for today. This list comes directly from the TradingMarkets Options Indicators page. The list is created using OptionVue options analysis software.
Most Under Priced Calls: These are the most under priced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Bear Sterns Apr 165 Calls (NYSE:BSC - News). BSC's PowerRating is 5.
Most Under Priced Puts: These are the most under priced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Explosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are under priced, this list finds the most under priced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely under priced.
Public Storage March 95 Puts (NYSE:PSA - News). PSA's PowerRating is 7.
Most Overpriced Calls: These are the most overpriced calls of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of calls for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual calls. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Accredited Home Lenders Apr 15 Calls (NasdaqGS:LEND - News). LEND's PowerRating is 6.
Most Overpriced Puts: These are the most overpriced puts of all stocks in our database. While the Equities Implosion List finds groups of puts for individual equities that are overpriced, this list finds the most overpriced individual puts. Thus, the options listed here will tend to be more severely overpriced.
Google Inc. Apr 380 (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News). GOOG's PowerRating is 6.
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.
International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT - News). IGT's PowerRating is 6.
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.
HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HBC - News). HBC's PowerRating is 5.
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.
New Century Financial (NYSE:NEW - News). NEW's PowerRating is 7.
PowerRatings are courtesy of TradingMarkets.com

Labels: BSC, GOOG, HBC, IGT, LEND, NEW, PSA, stock options

After a seesaw start to trading, in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a 130 point turnaround in the first hour of trading, stocks closed out the day broadly lower. The drop followed a heavy sell-off overseas, and drove home the point that the jitters that formed last week haven't been eased. The 10-year Treasury finished unchanged, while crude oil declined sharply.
Technology stocks were pressured by a warning from Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - News) that it would not meet its Q1 revenue forecast as its price war with Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - News) drags on. The company would not speculate on when it would return to profitability. Wireless handset maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT - News) was lower after urging shareholders to reject financier Carl Icahn's bid to join its board. On the positive side, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL - News) moved higher on an upgrade from Prudential Securities. Prudential raised its view on Apple to "overweight" from "neutral" based on its outlook for sales of the new iPhone, a wide-screen iPod media player, and the Macintosh computer.
Smart-phone makers Palm (Nasdaq: PALM - News) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM - News) were also lower in today's trading. Palm's stock soared on Friday on speculation that Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News) was close to buying the maker of the Treo handheld. Its shares dropped -10% today, however, after neither company would comment on the rumor. Nokia ended down less than -1%. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported Palm has hired Morgan Stanley to help it explore its options, including a possible sale. RIM shares shed -1% after the company said it will restate its financials from 2004 to the present and probably take a -$250 million charge related to erroneously reported stock-option grants.
Lenders suffered today on continuing fallout from investor concerns about the health of subprime originators. The problems were highlighted by the collapsing share price of the nation's #2 subprime lender, New Century Financial (NYSE: NEW - News), which plunged another -69% today. Part of the company's difficulties are due to a criminal probes into the trading of its securities and its accounting procedures, but the weakness of its loan portfolio was highlighted by a downgrade by JMP Securities today to "market underperform." The firm said it believed New Century was in danger of failure due to "severe liquidity pressure and ... worsening industry conditions." Since closing at $30.16 on February 7th, New Century's stock has lost roughly -85% of its value on its way towards today's close.
While New Century's problems represent the extreme of woes in the lending sector, big banks and other lenders have suffered as well. Since the February 7th date, when HSBC (NYSE: HBC - News) acknowledged weakness in its subprime portfolio by announcing that it was raising its allowance for loan losses, it and other large banks have largely been trending lower. Bank stocks that have weakened in the last three weeks include Citigroup (NYSE: C - News) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), as well as mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC - News). A further look into the subprime lending sector is available to subscribers in today's Bull Market Report.
Published By BullMarket.com Staff
In M&A news, the grocery chain operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea (NYSE: GAP - News), better known as A&P, announced it was buying the smaller Pathmark (Nasdaq: PTMK - News) for $677 million in cash and stock. The combined companies will operate 550 stores in the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia metro areas, and in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Michigan, and Louisiana. The stocks ended 5% and 11% higher, respectively.

Labels: AAPL, AMD, BAC, C, CFC, HBC, INTC, MOT, NEW, NOK, PALM, RIMM

Summary: Last week, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL - News) announced a 33% drop in orders and more land writedown trouble, while HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC - News) and New Century Financial (NYSE: NEW - News) announced high subprime loan defaults. Despite higher bond yields and no imminent interest rate cut, homebuilders have been rallying. Cancellations have slowed slightly, but are still 34% higher than 2005, and inventory overhang is large. Good weather may have contributed to December and January's slight pickup, but a cold spell has likely ended that. Aggressive incentives and discounts along with land writedowns are expected to take a big bite out of homebuilders 2007 bottom line, impacting recent stock price gains. Homebuilders' 20 P/E average is also well above the broad market average of 15. So as capital flows in to the SPDR homebuilders ETF (AMEX: XHB - News), Tom McManus of Banc of America councils caution. Michael Benhamou of Louis Capital Markets projects a pullback risk of about 25%. Homebuilders might have touched bottom, and savvy investors may be getting in early, but only [a long] time will tell.
Published by SeekingAlpha

Labels: HBC, NEW, TOL, XHB

Countrywide (NYSE: CFC - News), HSBC (NYSE: HBC - News), New Century (NYSE: NEW - News), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC - News), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), Citigroup (NYSE: C - News), J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP - News)
Cramer believes that bad news from HBC and NEW is "just the beginning" of a shakeout of weaker performers in the low-end mortgage business. Cramer thinks that many of these companies had poor models and faulted HBC for being desperate enough to lower their standards in their purchase of Household International. However, Cramer said that WFC, BAC and C "have models that show they aren't "going to blow up," and would pick up CFC because it is cheaper than the rest. Cramer says that weakness in subprime lending may lead the Fed to cut interest rates sooner. On another note, he would buy JCP ahead of Valentine's Day, because it is the best-positioned department store.

Labels: BAC, C, CFC, HBC, JCP, Jim Cramer, Jim Cramer's Stop Trading, NEW, WFC

HSBC (NYSE: HBC - News), JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM - News), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), ING (NYSE: ING - News), New Century (NYSE: NEW - News), Accredited Home Lenders (NasdaqGS: LEND), Countrywide (NYSE: CFC - News)
There is a British Invasion of Banks as HSBC moves in and takes business from BAC, JPM and causes concerns about the mortgage market. Cramer contrasted the strategies of ING, which has the "best, most sophisticated online approach" with HSBC which "is trying to buy your business by being the lender of last resort." Cramer adds that HSBC made a big mistake in not buying another major American bank. In addition, there are worries about NEW's 25% yield and that LEND is going to have more defaults than expected. However, Cramer says CFC is "right" but would wait until a bottom in the sector before buying.
J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP - News), Saks (NYSE: SKS - News), Federated Department Stores (NYSE: FD - News), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN - News) and Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL - News)
Cramer says that "the winners keep winning" in retail, except for JCP. He adds that SKS had a "monster month," FD is recovering, and JCP has "a lot of things going for it." Meanwhile, high-end retailers JWN, SKS and RL are "on fire." Although there is a large short position on RL, Cramer says its brands are fantastic, it has great accelerated revenue growth and it is a major momentum stock for 2007.
Published By SeekingAlpha

Labels: BAC, CFC, FD, HBC, ING, JCP, Jim Cramer, JPM, JWN, LEND, NEW, RL, SKS, Wall Street Confidential

Aetna (NYSE:AET - News) said its fourth-quarter profit rose 4% on membership growth and higher premiums, and the health insurer raised its full-year profit forecast.
Air T (NasdaqCM:AIRT - News) shares dropped after the Maiden, N.C., provider of air cargo services posted third-quarter earnings of $304,000, or 11 cents a share, down from a year-ago profit of $675,000, or 25 cents a share. The company attributed the lower earnings to a decrease in international deicer sales and air cargo maintenance revenue.
Amvescap Plc (NYSE:AVZ - News) said preliminary month-end assets under management for January rose to $469 billion from $462.6 billion the previous month. The London-based company said long-term assets increased to $401.4 billion from $398.3 billion at the end of December. Meanwhile, money-market assets rose to $67.6 billion from $64.3 billion.
Beacon Roofing Supply (NasdaqGS:BECN - News) shares fell after the Peabody, Mass.-based company reported fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $8.81 million, or 20 cents a share, down from $12.9 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $380.2 million from $339.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast a per-share profit of 27 cents on revenue of $385.9 million.
Central Garden & Pet Co. (NasdaqGS:CENT - News) reported first-quarter net earnings of $2.97 billion, or 12 cents a share. During the same quarter a year ago, the company posted net earnings of $2.56 million, or 12 cents a share. On a post-dividend basis, the per-share loss was 4 cents, compared with a per-share profit of 4 cents a year ago.
Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE:EK - News) increased its plans for job cuts and related charges, as it seeks to wind down a four-year restructuring program by year-end.
Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. (NasdaqGM:EBHI - News) said shareholders did not approve the company's proposed sale to a firm owned by affiliates of Sun Capital Partners Inc. and Golden Gate Capital for $9.25 a share. As a result, the Redmond, Wash.-based apparel retailer said it will continue to operate as a standalone publicly traded company.
Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO - News) said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose about 0.1% in January. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for same-store sales growth of 2.1%. Total sales for the five weeks ended Feb. 3 climbed 38.2% to $585.3 million compared with $423.4 million for the four week period ended Jan. 28, 2006. But total sales comparing the five weeks to the similar five weeks a year ago rose just 4%. The discount retailer said it now expects February same-store sales to be flat, although it still expects second-quarter earnings of 58 to 64 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson are expecting earnings of 62 cents a share.
Gottschalks Inc. (NYSE:GOT - News) said January same-store sales slipped 1%, while total sales rose 21% to $43.5 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected a 3% same-store sales rise. "January was a clearance month for us as we deepened promotions in some soft line categories and, in particular, focused on selling through inventory in our home division as we continue to reposition our merchandise assortments in that category," the company said.
Gymboree (NasdaqGS:GYMB - News) shares fell after the San Francisco-based retailer said January same-store sales were flat compared with last year, while overall sales rose 24% to $62.5 million in the period. For the fourth-quarter, same-store sales rose 7% while overall sales rose 19% to $238.5 million. Gymboree expects fourth-quarter earnings of 64 to 66 cents a share, or 70 to 72 cents a share, excluding certain items. For 2007, the company forecast per-share earnings of $1.72 to $1.74, or $1.97 to $1.99 excluding items. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial are forecasting fourth-quarter earnings of 76 cents a share.
Hot Topic Inc. (NasdaqGS:HOTT - News) said its January sales at stores open at least a year fell 6.6% vs. a 0.7% fall in the same month last year. Analysts, on average, had expected the teen retailer to post a same-store-sales drop of 6.1%, according to Thomson Financial.
HSBC (NYSE:HBC - News) warned that bad-debt charges are set to exceed forecasts by about $1.76 billion, as higher interest rates and a lack of refinancing options in the slowing U.S. housing market leave customers unable to pay their mortgages.
Imperial Tobacco Group (NYSE:ITY - News) agreed to acquire Commonwealth Brands from closely held Houchens Industries Inc. for $1.9 billion (974 million pounds). Factoring in the net present value of tax benefits from the deal, the net cost is $1.5 billion. Commonwealth Brands, Bowling Green, Ky., is the No. 4 U.S. cigarette producer, with 3.7% of the American market, Imperial said.
Isilon Systems Inc. (NasdaqGM:ISLN - News) shares fell after the Seattle-based developer of clustered storage systems and software late Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $10.4 million, or 72 cents a share, vs. a net loss of $4.08 million, or 78 cents a share, last year. There were 14.55 million shares outstanding in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with 5.25 million a year ago Excluding items, the company posted a loss of $3.3 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4.1 million, or 9 cents a share, last year. Revenue rose to $20.7 million from $8.7 million. Isilon expects first-quarter revenue of $21 million to $23 million. For the full year 2007, the company expects revenue of $115 million to $125 million.
J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE:JCP - News) said its January sales at department stores open at least a year increased 3.6%. Analysts, on average, expected it to post a same-store sales gain of 3.5%, according to Thomson Financial. Total department-store sales for the four weeks ended Jan. 27 rose 5.5%, the Plano, Texas, company said. For February, Penney forecast comparable department-store sales to increase in the low-single digits.
JoS A Bank Clothiers (NasdaqGS:JOSB - News) said annual earnings will be at least $2.25 a share, up 15% from last year, with total sales up 18% to $546 million. January same-store sales dropped 4.7%, while direct marketing sales improved 42%, the company said. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a 1% rise in January same-store sales, and annual earnings of $2.17 a share.
Level 3 Communications (NasdaqGS:LVLT - News) said its fourth-quarter loss widened to $237 million from $169 million a year earlier as it announced that it would reduce headcount in 2007 by about 1,000 employees. The company said the fourth-quarter loss included a loss of $54 million for the extinguishment of debt. Level 3 posted a loss of 20 cents a share for the quarter, compared with a loss of 24 cents a share a year earlier, when the company had fewer shares outstanding. The Broomfield, Colo., telecommunications and information-services company said Thursday that revenue rose to $846 million from $418 million a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected a loss of 14 cents a share on revenue of $831.8 million. Level 3 forecast total communications revenue of $1 billion to $1.05 billion for the first quarter and $4.03 billion to $4.31 billion for the full year. The company also said its financing unit would offer $500 million in senior notes.
Shares of New Century Financial (NYSE:NEW - News) tumbled as much as 30% Thursday, hitting their lowest in nearly four years at one point, as investors punished the mortgage services provider over its warning that loan production for 2007 would fall short of expectations.
New York & Co. (NYSE:NWY - News) said its January sales at stores open at least one year rose 2.3%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to rise 2.9%, according to Thomson Financial. Net sales for the five weeks ended Feb. 3 rose 32.4% to $83.7 million. The retailer backed its fourth-quarter profit forecast of 37 cents to 46 cents a share. The company continues to expect to report an increase in gross margin for the fourth quarter due to improved merchandise margins and also still expects non-recurring litigation expenses of about 2 cents a share, which are included in its outlook.
Published By MarketWatch

Labels: AET, AIRT, AVZ, BECN, CENT, EBHI, EK, FDO, GOT, GYMB, HBC, HOTT, ISLN, ITY, JCP, JOSB, LVLT, NEW, NWY