Hartford Surges 45%, Circuit City Closes Stores

123jump.com Staff
03 Nov, 2008
New York City

Circuit City plans to close 155 stores and lay off staff to preserve capital. The battered electronic retailer same store sales declined for two years in a row. Hartford Financial Services surged 45% after it said that it has $2 billion excess capital.

[R]12:45 p.m. New York – Circuit City Stores to close 155 stores. Sprint Nextel soared 28%.[/R]

AutoZone, Inc ((AZO)) dropped 4.10% or $5.22 to $122.07 on no news.

Administaff, Inc ((ASF)) dropped 12.0% or $2.41 to $17.58 after the provider of human resources services for small and medium-sized businesses reported third quarter revenues rose 10.1% to $421.9 million from $383.3 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 2.45% to $11.9 million or 46 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $12.2 million or 45 cents per share a year ago.

Alvarion Ltd ((ALVR)) climbed 4% or 14 cents to $3.61 after the Tel Aviv producer of WiMax wireless-broadband-networking technology reported third quarter revenues rose 23% to $74.3 million from $60.6 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 29% to $803,000 or 1 cent a diluted share compared to net income of $621,000 or 1 cent per share a year ago.

Bronco Drilling Company, Inc ((BRNC)) lost 6% or 47 cents to $7.25 after the provides contract land drilling and work over services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies reported third quarter revenues fell 4.32% to $73.0 million from $76.3 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $0.9 million or 3 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $11.0 million or 42 cents per share, a year ago.

CME Group Inc ((CME)) surged 5.2% or $14.79 to $297.13 after the market lifted financial services related stocks. IntercontinentalExchange, Inc fell 1.8% or $1.55 to $83.98 and NYSE Euronext dropped 5.1% or $1.54 to $28.64.

DryShips Inc ((DRYS)) surged 14.2% or $2.75 to $22.04 after the global provider of marine transportation services for dry bulk cargoes reported third quarter revenues rose 60% to $239.9 million from $150.0 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter surged 71% to $180 million or $4.21 per diluted share compared to net income of $105.3 million or $2.97 per share, a year ago.

Halliburton Company ((HAL)) dropped 8.5% or $1.68 to $18.11 after Goldman Sachs cut its rating to “neutral” from “buy” according to data on NewRatings.com.

Hartford Financial Services Group ((HIG)) surged 46% or $4.75 to $15.06 after the property and casualty insurance company said that has access to additional capital that it may need and will not require to issue additional shares. The company said that it has excess of $2 billion above the capital required to maintain its AA rating from the rating agency S&P. The excess capital estimate assumes that the S&P 500 index trades near 900. Hartford recently accessed $2.5 billion from German insurance company Allianz SE when the stock was trading around $19.

Principal Financial ((PFG)) surged 18% or $3.30 to $22.29 and Prudential Financial increased 10% or $2.98 to $32.98.

The rating agencies have come under fire for their reckless ratings of mortgage securities and several members of Congress alleged that these companies have compromised their standards to increase their revenues.

Nam Tai Electronics, Inc ((NTE)) fell 3.9% or 30 cents to $7.30 after the electronics manufacturing services provider reported third quarter revenues dropped 21.5% to $160.5 million from $204.4 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter slid 61.3% to $4.9 million or 11 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $12.6 million or 28 cents per share, a year ago.

Retailers were down after Circuit City Stores announced to close 155 stores. Circuit City ((CC)) rose 33% or 9 cents to 34 cents, Office Depot Inc ((ODP)) fell 11% or 40 cents to $3.20, Nordstrom, Inc dropped 8% or $1.46 to $16.60 and Dillard’s, Inc rose 5% or 25 cents to $5.59. Best Buy Company surged 6% or $1.49 to $28.38.

Sprint Nextel Corporation ((S)) surged 29% or 89 cents to $4.02 after it said that it will permit early termination of contracts and lower the fees of termination.