Global Payments Falls; Ford, MetLife Gain

Mayank Mehta
21 Jun, 2010
New York City

Global Payments Inc. led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.7%. Ralcorp Holdings to acquire American Italian Pasta Company. Adidas sees soccer sales of at least $1.9 billion. BP Gulf spill handoff plan on track.

[R]11:00 AM New York - Global Payments Inc. led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.7%. Ralcorp Holdings to acquire American Italian Pasta Company. Adidas sees soccer sales of at least $1.9 billion. BP Gulf spill handoff plan on track.[/R]

Global Payments Inc. led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.7% followed by losses in Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. of 6.0% and in BP Plc of 3.5%, in TreeHouse Foods, Inc. of 2.9% and in ProShares UltraShort DJ-UBS Crude Oil of 3.2%.

American Italian Pasta Company led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 25.9% followed by gains in Biovail Corporation of 12.4%, in E-House (China) Holdings Limited of 12.1% and in Century Aluminum Company of 11.0%.

Other Movers

Amazon.com, Inc. ((AMZN)), the online retailer rose 0.7% or $1.02 to $126.91.

BGC Partners, Inc. ((BGC)), the inter-dealer broker added 1.9% or 11 cents to $5.69.

California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. ((CPKI)), the restaurant chain plunged 9.4% or $1.78 to $17.11.

Ford Motor Company ((F)), the carmaker rose 1.4% or 16 cents to $11.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. ((MRK)) fell 0.06% or 2 cents to $35.65 after the company and GlaxoSmithKline announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved STAXYN™ (vardenafil HCI), an orally disintegrating tablet indicated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

MetLife, Inc. ((MET)), the insurer rose 0.05% or 2 cents to $41.01.

The Pantry, Inc. ((PTRY)), the owner of the Kangaroo Express convenience-store chain rose 1.2% or 18 cents to $14.30.

Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. ((RAH)) fell 5.3% or $3.33 to $58.72 after the producer of Post cereals and American Italian Pasta Company today announced that the board of directors of both companies have unanimously approved a merger agreement under which Ralcorp will acquire all of the outstanding shares of AIPC common stock for $53.00 per share in cash, for a total purchase price of approximately $1.2 billion, net of cash acquired.

Robert Half International Inc. ((RHI)) traded unchanged at $24.72 after the supplier of temporary workers was upgraded to “outperform” from “neutral” at Credit Suisse.

Stifel Financial Corp. ((SF)), the financial holding company fell 0.8% or 38 cents to $44.56.

Time Warner Inc. ((TWX)), the owner of cable networks rose 1.2% or 38 cents to $33.33.

Tongjitang Chinese Medicines Company ((TCM)) rose 4.5% or 18 cents to $4.13 after the company said first quarter revenue increased 25.6% to 113.3 million yuan from 90.2 million yuan a year ago.

The Walt Disney Company ((DIS)) rose 0.9% or 34 cents to $35.49.