24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell -- June 11, 2012 (AKS, DUK, WY, SO, EMC, UEC, AEPI, KORS, FDS, GAME, FNSR, COOL, ES, NOK, CNC)

Investing

Published: June 11, 2012 4:07 pm

Last Updated: March 18, 2020 7:18 pm

The three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as investors reacted positively to the $125 billion bailout of Spain’s banks (more coverage here). Once investors understood that this was yet another of the Eurozone’s wash-rinse-repeat cycles, stocks headed south and spent the rest of the day in negative territory. Weaker economic data out of China also helped keep the market subdued today.

The US dollar index rose slightly today, now up 0.01% at 82.523. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.06% at 582.95, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed down -1.7%% at $82.7/barrel. Brent crude trades down -2% at $97.49/barrel. Natural gas fell about -3.5% today to $2.217/thousand cubic feet. Gold settled up 0.3% today, at $1,596.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 143 points to 12,411.31 (-1.14%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 49 points (-1.7%) to 2,809.73, and the S&P 500 fell -1.26% or nearly 17 points to 1,308.93.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) raised to ‘Conviction Buy’ list at Goldman Sachs; Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) raised to ‘buy’ at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have been scarce, but here are some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC) is down -10.9% at $1.89 after setting a new 52-week low of $1.88 earlier and AEP Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: AEPI) is up 4.2% at $36.36 after posting a new 52-week high of $37.65.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to have earnings from Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS), FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE: FDS), and Shanda Games Ltd. (NASDAQ: GAME). After markets close today we’ll get earnings from Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) and Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

EnergySolutions Inc. (NYSE: ES) is down -55.7% at $1.59 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.55. The nuclear waste management company issued new, lower guidance today. More coverage here.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down -8% at $2.78. Samsung Electronics said bluntly that it was not going to buy the Finnish handset maker. More coverage here.

Centene Corp. (NYSE: CNC) is down -21% at $28.00 after posting a new 52-week low of $24.31 earlier today. The managed health care company revised guidance downward. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have also noted the following event (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – National Federation of Independent Businesses optimism index
8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 3-year note auction
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget

Paul Ausick

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