Morning Movers (ARCT, PEGA, JRCC, SHS, TUDO)

The three major US equities indexes opened higher this morning after another (small) drop in new unemployment benefits claims and a good, but smaller-than-expected, rise in personal income and spending data (our coverage here). The lower-than-expected ISM manufacturing data weighed on the rising indexes for a while, but after about 45 minutes of trading, indexes are moving higher again. The DJIA is up about 54 points at around 13,006, the Nasdaq Composite is nearly 12 points at around 2,979, and the S&P 500 is up nearly 6.5 points at around 1,372.

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include the American Realty Trust Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT), Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ: PEGA), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Sauer-Danfoss Inc. (NYSE: SHS), and Tudou Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TUDO).

American Realty is up more than 67% at $10.05. Volume is already nearly 1 million shares traded. The commercial real estate company came public this morning at $6/share, along with a tender auction to purchase up to $220 million worth of shares at a price not higher than $11/share and not less than $10.50/share.

Pegasystems is up nearly 29% at $36.14. Volume is already about 4x the daily average of 241,000 shares traded. The business software maker beat earnings estimates last night.

James River Coal is up more than 15% at $6.61. Volume is already about 1.5x the daily average of around 2.4 million shares traded. The coal miner reported weaker-than-expected results, but forecast higher production for the current year..

Sauer-Danfoss is down more than -12% at $47.42. Volume is already nearly 1.5x the daily average of around 190,000 shares traded. The machinery maker reported lower profits last night.

Tudou is down nearly -13% at $13.98. Volume is already more than 3x the daily average of around 44,000 shares traded. The Chinese online video company reported better-than-expected revenues last night, but soaring costs led to a net loss.

Paul Ausick