GE Plunges to Decade Low; Intel, Microsoft Fall

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

General Electric fell sharply on the worries that its financial service unit may need more capital and the company may need to trim dividend, which the company denied. GE dropped to 12-year low. Retailers and financials fell sharply as Treasury Secretary Paulson keeps changing his focus.

[R]12:45PM New York – U.S. stocks drop sharply on the worries that Treasury Secretary Paulson may have misled the U.S. Congress. Secretary Paulson bailout plan focus keeps changing every week and credit remains tight for most people.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 251 declined, 246 rose and 2 were unchanged. Dr Pepper Snapple led the decliners with a loss of 13.3% followed by losses of 12.6% in MBIA, in Prudential Financial of 11% and in Lennar Corp of 9.7%.

CB Richard Ellis, Sprint and Prologis were the leading gainers in the S&P 500 index.

AgFeed Industries, Inc ((FEED)) dropped 42.7% or $1.35 to $1.81 after it reported third quarter earnings below market estimates and lowered its full year profit outlook. The company lowered annual earnings to between 55 cents and 65 cents a share from previous estimate of $1.10 and $1.20 a share.

American Express ((AXP)) declined 13% or $2.57 to $17.50 as investors worry that company may be forced to raise capital in public offering if the Treasury does not provide enough capital to fund credit card lending.

CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc ((CBG)) gained 25.4% or 97 cents to $4.70 after it priced 50 million shares at $3.77 a share and raised $180 million through a syndicate led by Credit Suisse. If underwriters sell additional allotted shares of 7.5 million, the offering size will increase to $207.1 million.

CBS Corp ((CBS)) dropped to a record low after it lost 1 cent to $6.06.

Crocs, Inc ((CROX)) lost 50.5% or 96 cents to 94 cents after the maker of colorful plastic clogs reported third quarter loss of $148 million or $1.79 a share compared to net income of $56.5 million or 66 cents a share. Revenues declined nearly third to $174.2 million compared to $256.3 million a year ago.

CIT Group Inc ((CIT)) gained 14.5% or 49 cents to $3.86 after the largest independent U.S. commercial lender applied to become a bank holding company to seek financial assistance from the U.S. Treasury.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc ((DPS)) declined 9.6% or $2.01 to $18.88 after third quarter revenues fell 2% to $1.51 billion from $1.54 billion a year ago. Net income fell 31% to $106 million or 41 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $154 million or 61 cents per share, a year ago.

General Electric ((GE)) dropped to $14.66 as investors look for better insights in the financial services unit. The stock dropped to the lowest level last seen on September 1, 1996.

Global Sources Ltd ((GSOL)) surged 14.6% or 85 cents to $6.78 after it reported third quarter earnings per share of $0.05, higher than estimated by the analysts.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc ((KLIC)) dropped 7.2% or 15 cents to $1.91 after the company issued weak outlook for the current quarter. Fourth quarter revenues fell 60% to $61.2 million from $152 million a year ago. Net income was $30.3 million or 47 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $4.6 million or 9 cents per share, a year ago.

Intel Corporation ((INTC)) dropped 31 cents to $13.22, the price last seen on October 1, 1996.

Las Vegas Sands Corp ((LVS)) surged 7.2% or 37 cents to $5.47. Separately the casino company may lay-off more than 6,000 people and halt construction at its Macau, China casino.

Microsoft Corp ((MSFT)) declined $1.04 to $19.28, the price last seen on February 1, 98.

Nordstrom Inc ((JWN)) dropped $1.07 to $11.55 as retailers declined in the morning trading. Nordstrom dropped to five year low. Dillard’s Inc ((DDS)) dropped record low in 24 years to 33 cents to $3.27. Macy’s ((M)) fell to 16-year low and JC Penney declined to seven years low.

Office Depot, Inc ((ODP)) added 5.5% or 10 cents to $1.90.

NetApp, Inc ((NTAP)) climbed 10.2% or $1.06 to $11.45 after the company reported better than expected revenue and earnings.

Wal-Mart Stores ((WMT)) 70 cents after reporting third quarter revenue rise of 7.5% and net income gain of 10%.