24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, ARMH, QCOM, ZNGA, HALO, CWTR, FTK, HOTT, KFY, AONE, ACHN, FSYS, JKS, NAV, NGSX, SFD, SMRT, STP, VRS, STLY, MWA, SSH, ZLTQ)

Investing

Published: March 8, 2012 4:05 pm

Last Updated: March 18, 2020 6:51 pm

The three major US equities indexes opened higher this morning on the news from Europe that the Greek debt swap deal would be a success. That prediction turned out to be solid, as about 80% of Greek bondholders agreed to the swap, taking pressure of the Greeks at least for the time being. The US new jobless claims number came in a bit higher than expected this morning, but traders hardly noticed. Tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls report is the one everyone’s waiting for, with a consensus estimate of 210,000 new jobs. The dollar opened weaker today, and has continued to trickle down with the dollar index down -0.74% at 79.123. Crude oil was higher today, with WTI crude settling up 0.4% at $106.58/barrel and Brent crude up 1.17% at $125.57/barrel. Gold settled higher by 0.9% at $1,698.70/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 70 points to 12,907.87 (0.55%), the NASDAQ rose more than 34 points (1.18%) to 2,970.42, and the S&P 500 rose 0.98% or more than 13 points to 1,365.91.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated as ‘buy’ with target price raised from $600 to $660 at Goldman Sachs; ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $72 target price at Argus; Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) started as ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity; and Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) started as ‘overweight’ at Barclays.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR) is up 0.9% at $1.02; Flotek Industries Inc. (NYSE: FTK) is up 9.7% at $12.11; Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) is up 13.4% at $9.97 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.11; Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) is up 0.3% at $15.33; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is down -2.5% at $1.56; Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) is up 5.2% at $10.76; Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: FSYS) is down -2.2% at $25.74; JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is down -6.9% at $5.54 (more coverage here); Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is down -2% at $39.25 (more coverage here); NeurogesX Inc. (NASDAQ: NGSX) is down -20% at $0.53 (more coverage here); Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is down -2.2% at $22.31 (more coverage here); Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) is down -8.6% at $6.38 (more coverage here); and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -1.4% at $2.89.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE: VRS) is up 77% at $2.16. The paper maker will issue new debt of $345 in senior secured notes and has issued a tender offer for $315 million in 11.5% senior unsecured notes outstanding.

Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: STLY) is up about 20% at $4.29. The wood furniture maker has announced that it expects to receive a payment of about $40 million as a result of an anti-dumping ruling against Chinese furniture makers.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) is up more than 21% at $3.46. The maker of water transmission, distribution, and measurement products is selling its pipe and foundry business for about $100 million in cash and other considerations. More coverage here.

Sunshine Heart Inc. (NASDAQ: SSH) is down more than -8% at $11.00. The medical device maker came public on February 16th, and is nearing the dreaded busted IPO line.

Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) is down more than -13% at $5.65 after posting a new 52-week low of $5.60 earlier. The medical technology company posted a dismal fourth-quarter earnings report earlier this week and has just set its second record-low of the week as well.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Non-farm employment report
8:30 a.m. – International trade report
10.00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report

Paul Ausick

Cash Back Credit Cards Have Never Been This Good

Credit card companies are at war, handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers. A good cash back card can be worth thousands of dollars a year in free money, not to mention other perks like travel, insurance, and access to fancy lounges. See our top picks for the best credit cards today. You won’t want to miss some of these offers.

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.