Stock Market Wrapup June 27th
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
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
posted by Stock Administrator @ 9:44 PM
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