MARKET CURRENTS
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MARKET CURRENTS
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Monday, May 21
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3:33 PM Shares of Green Dot (GDOT +5.1%) push higher after the company lands a deal with retailer Dollar Tree that will help it expand its network of prepaid banking cards. The company expects to launch its portfolio of products at Dollar Tree stores in H2. Comment!
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3:12 PM Shares of Pursuit Dynamics fell 79% in London trading after Procter & Gamble (PG -0.4%) passed on signing a licensing agreement to use the firm's fluid-processing technologies for mixing products such as toothpaste - effectively ending a development agreement the two companies originally launched in 2010. Comment!
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2:58 PM Much-maligned Best Buy (BBY +0.5%) may have hit on a winning recipe in China with a plan to expand using a store-within-a-store model that avoids the untenable overhead inherent in its U.S. operations. The company will also push its technology services to small businesses - beefed up considerably with the purchase of mindSHIFT last year - as its plan to evolve out of standing chiefly as Amazon's showroom marches forward. Comment!
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2:22 PM Kraft (KFT +0.1%) shareholders get to vote on Wednesday on whether they wish to approve "Mondelez" as the new name for the firm's global snack business after it has been at the receiving end of a number of jokes ever since the proposed name change was announced in March. The company wants to use the name to better represent its global market as it brings Oreos, Fig Newtons, and Cadbury products to new locales. 7 Comments
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2:11 PM Shares of a number of shoe-sellling companies jump higher after Friday's double-dose of positive earnings reports from Foot Locker and Brown Shoe shine a brighter spotlight on the sector. Could troubles at Sears Holdings and J.C. Penney's be partially behind the sudden resurgence of mall-based shoe outlets? Advancers: CROX +5.5%, DECK +4.1%, SHOO +2.6%, SKX +3%, KSWS +5.2%. 1 Comment
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2:02 PM Shares of Coffee Holding (JVA +11.5%) bounce back off of recent 52-week lows as investors show the biggest boost of confidence in the name since Green Mountain Cofee Roaster's Q1 debacle sparked a major selloff. Comment!
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1:36 PM Shares of Hastings Entertainment (HAST) run up a 17.8% gain after the firm reports a profit in FQ1 after analysts were calling for a small loss. Though revenue and same-store sales tailed off on a Y/Y comparison, the company showed strong double-digit growth in its Electronics and Trends segment for the period. Comment!
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1:28 PM Macy's (M +0.1%) expects that 292 of its department stores will serve an additional function as a fulfillment center for online orders in time for the 2012 holiday shopping season. The initiative could help the company improve margins as it moves extra inventory to online customers - instead of selling it in stores at a deep discount. 1 Comment
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1:09 PM Sirius XM (SIRI +2.4%) announces a deal with Audi (VLKAY.PK) that gives customers who purchase a 2013 model year vehicle a 4-year subscription to SiriusXM Traffic. The promotion is in addition to an existing perk where Audi buyers in North America receive a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM's basic service. Comment!
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1:00 PM Barclays reiterates an Overweight rating on DirecTV (DTV +1.4%) to go along with its price target of $56 as analysts with the firm keep the faith that the digital TV giant still has three pillars to stand on - namely robust Latin American revenue, healthy U.S. cash flow, and aggressive capital returns. Comment!
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12:32 PM A group of soft drink sellers including Coca-Cola (KO +0.5%) and PepsiCo (PEP -0.5%) step up efforts to stem a rising tide of concerns over the health effects of drinking soda drinks including diet versions. An industry-sponsored ad ran in the NYT last week to promote calorie-cutting measures. In order to avoid the possibility of being required to put health warnings on cans, Coca-Cola has even modified its recipe - although the company claims consumers won't taste any difference. 10 Comments
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11:58 AM Hulu continues to add to its arsenal of original content (previous). The latest additions include movie-review show Spoilers, travel series Up to Speed, and U.K.-based comedy Rev. Netflix (NFLX) has been investing in plenty of original content of its own. Comment!
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11:53 AM Just one month after the reporting of the Mexican bribery story, Wal-Mart (WMT +0.7%) hits its highest price since the final days of 1999. (last week's earnings) 5 Comments
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11:06 AM Hasbro (HAS -0.2%) takes a hit after the cinematic version of its board game Battleship flops in its opening weekend at theaters. It's not so much that Hasbro was on the hook for the development of the movie, it's the stinger of not seeing increased sales on the game and possibly losing out on the future licensing of the film versions of Candyland, Ouija, Clue and Monopoly that the company has been bandying about. 1 Comment
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10:58 AM Blackstone (BX +0.8%), BC Partners and PAI are the three left standing in the bidding for Iglo Group, Europe's biggest frozen food company, in a deal the could reach €2.9B, Reuters reports. While Iglo increased sales and profit in 2011, it operates in a low-growth sector as consumers shift to fresh and chilled products. Comment!
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10:48 AM Airline companies including Delta Air Lines (DAL +2.5%) and US Airways (LCC +4.1%) are raising fares to take advantage of peak summer demand, according to data compiled by an industry-watching group. Things could be looking up for the sector with key metrics such as revenue per seat mile tipping toward a more productive summer for carriers just as aviation fuel prices start to fall back and capacity is trimmed to profitable levels. Comment!
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9:53 AM Archer Consulting sees the premium that arabica coffee commands over robusta beans falling by 50% to its lowest level since 2009. While packaged sellers Kraft and J.M. Smucker have dropped prices already (I, II), mum is the word so far from Starbucks (SBUX +0.5%), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR -1.8%), and Peet's Coffee & Tea (PEET -0.3%). Comment!
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9:44 AM McDonald's (MCD +0.4%) starts its biggest recruiting plan ever in China as it looks to hire 70K workers and open 220-225 new stores in the nation. While the company's food prices in China remain elevated, workers will earn in some cases less than 10 yuan ($1.58) an hour. 7 Comments
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9:12 AM Death by Amazon: Historic book publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt files for bankruptcy in order to try to eliminate a whopping $3B in debt. The company made a late bid to jump into the electronic books market with an Amazon (AMZN) publishing deal, but couldn't make headway with the debt it piled up while hardcover book sales plummeted due in large part to the influence of its newfound partner. Comment!
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9:02 AM Goldman Sachs takes a shine to Ralph Lauren (RL) and Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) after sizing up the recent weakness in shares as a buying opportunity. Both global names got swept under the rug when a gloomy earnings report from Fossil drove luxury stocks out of favor on concerns about sales in Europe. Premarket: RL +0.2%, PVH idle. Comment!
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8:45 AM Shares of Sturm Ruger (RGR) jump 2.2% premarket after peer Smith & Wesson (SWHC) reports strong sales in its most recent quarter along with a growing backlog of orders. SWHC +13.2% premarket. 5 Comments
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8:41 AM Boeing (BA) +1.3% premarket after Argus upgrades shares to Buy from Hold with an $85 target price. The firm cites favorable trends helping BA: commercial flight demand continues to recover, airlines are eager to replace aging aircraft with more fuel-efficient planes, and BA's strong international and commercial market sales help insulate it from cuts in U.S. defense spending. Comment!
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8:40 AM Cable giants Bright House Networks, Cablevision (CVC), Cox Communications, Comcast (CMCSA), and Time Warner Cable (TWC) announce that they will allow high-speed Internet customers to share each other's Wi-Fi networks in metropolitan areas as a value-added service. The 50K hotspots under the new CableWiFi banner will attempt to carve out market share from wireless carriers. Comment!
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8:31 AM Analysts at Stephens upgrade Sonic (SONC) to Overweight from Equal Weight on a valuation call tied to sales momentum building up at the restaurant operator. Shares +0.9% premarket. Comment!
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8:21 AM Google (GOOG) says it disagrees with the EU that it may have abused its dominant position but expresses willingness to "discuss any concerns they might have." Which is good, because Google probably doesn't really have a choice, does it. Comment!
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8:13 AM Guns are selling like hotcakes: Smith & Wesson (SWHC) announces preliminary results for FQ4, saying sales were up 28% Y/Y to $129M - higher than the firm's guidance calling for $113M-$118M. Preliminary firearm order backlog increased 135% Y/Y and 121% Q/Q to approximately $439M. Shares +5.2% premarket. 4 Comments
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8:05 AM Shares of Campbell Soup (CPB) trail off 1.8% premarket after the company says in its FQ3 report that it didn't execute well in some categories and only reconfirms FY12 EPS of $2.35-$2.42 on the strength of a favorable tax rate. The company saw flat revenue Y/Y, impacted positively 3% from price and sales allowances, while promotional spending clipped 2%. Comment!
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7:55 AM Shares of Avon Products (AVP) fall 5.1% premarket as analysts highlight the mounting challenges CEO Sheri McCoy has in front of her. Stifel Nicolaus' Mark Astrachan doesn't see a quick fix for the company, noting the company needs to do a biting top-to-bottom assessment of its markets. Comment!
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7:53 AM EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia offers Google (GOOG) the opportunity to suggest remedies that would address the EC's antitrust concerns. If the proposals prove acceptable following a market trial, the EU will drop its investigation, which it started following complaints from Microsoft (MSFT) and several others. 2 Comments
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7:49 AM More on Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) Q1: Same-store sales +2.1% Y/Y. Domestic franchise revenue +11% to $2.63B. Increased customer traffic and price increases added 1.1% and 2.6%, respectively, to revenue - offset in part by promotional pricing which reduced the average guest check. Expects FY13 EPS of $0.21-$0.24. (PR) Comment!
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7:21 AM Shares of Lowe's (LOW) slip 3.1% in premarket trading after the company's tepid guidance overrides its Q1 earnings beat. CEO Robert Niblock says that although mild weather drove sales higher, demand for seasonal products trended slower near the end of the quarter. Comment!
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7:06 AM Are competitors pouncing on General Motors' (GM) nervousness over the high costs of advertising? While last week Ford said it will remain a friend of Facebook after GM bailed out, now Hyundai (HYMLF.PK) announces that it will be an advertiser for the 2013 Super Bowl - a mega event that GM is curiously passing on. Comment!
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6:56 AM Analysts warn that a disappointing opening weekend from Universal Picture's Battleship may dent the profits at parent Comcast (CMCSA). The film only brought in $23.4M in ticket sales, well-below the $55.1M Disney's (DIS) The Avengers raked in for its third weekend on screens and a far cry from its projected opening weekend break-even mark of +$50M in sales. Comment!
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6:46 AM Formula One's $2.5B IPO is set to be priced before the end of June. The motor racing company - majority owned by CVC Capital Partners - will list on the Singapore stock exchange. Comment!
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6:44 AM More on Lowe's (LOW) Q1: Comparable store sales +2.6%, with U.S. comparable store sales +2.7%. Gross margin slipped to 34.70%, from 35.44% a year ago. Plans to open 10 stores in FY12. Total sales expected to increase 1%-2% in FY12 and EPS forecast to fall in a range of $1.73 to $1.83. (PR) Comment!
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