Jones Apparel, GM Shine; eTelecare Plunges

Mayank Mehta
26 Dec, 2008
New York City

Retailers edged lower after weaker than expected holiday sales. Jones Apparel surged after it revised its credit facility. Crude oil price rise lifted oil complex stocks. Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 299 increased, 188 declined and 13 were unchanged.

[R]3:40PM New York - Retailers edged lower after weaker than expected holiday sales. Jones Apparel surged after it revised its credit facility. Crude oil price rise lifted oil complex stocks.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 299 increased, 188 declined and 13 were unchanged.

Wynn Resorts led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 3.9% followed by losses in Kimco Realty of 3.6%, in Nvidia Corp of 3.5%, in Discover Financial of 3.5% and in Huntington Banc of 3.2%.

Jones Apparel led gainers in S&P 500 index with a rise of 44% followed by gains in General Motors of 13%, in Advanced Micro Devices of 10%, in Peabody Energy of 8.6% and in Ford Motor Company of 8%.

Other Movers

Amazon.com, Inc ((AMZN)) climbed 2.1% or $1.10 to $52.52 after the world’s largest Internet retailer reported its best holiday sales in 14 years of history. The company received orders for 6.3 million items on December 15 and shipped 5.6 million on the busiest day for the year.

Apple Inc ((AAPL)) added 1.0% or 91 cents to $85.96 after Wal-Mart Stores announced it will begin selling Apple’s iPhone on Sunday, offering the 8-gigabyte model for $197 and the 16 GB model for $297.

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc ((AHT)) surged 10.4% or 13 cents to $1.37 after the real estate investment trust announced that it has negotiated an amendment with the 11 banks for its $300 million credit facility. The revised lending covenant reduces the fixed charge coverage ratio to 1.25 times effective immediately until March 31, 2011.

Convergys Corporation ((CVG)) slid 2.1% or 13 cents to $6.01 on weaker than normal volume. The human resources consulting company stock has declined from its peak of $16.65 in September.

Capstone Turbine Corporation ((CPST)) fell 18.0% or 21 cents to $0.910 after the turbine maker filed shelf registration for the offering of $150 million with the SEC. The company said it has no plans to use proceeds for “any specific financing.”

CBS Corporation ((CBS)) gained 2.5% or 20 cents to $7.71. Warner Bros studio sued broadcaster CBS Corporation over top-rated television sitcom ''Two and a Half Men,'' claiming the TV network owes the studio $49 million in production costs and fees. The suit claims additional $20 million now that the hit show has entered in its sixth broadcasting season.


eTelecare Global Solutions, Inc plunged 30% or $2.10 to $4.96 after it proposed to delist its ADR from Nasdaq. The Philippine based company offers business out sourcing services including inbound telemarketing services.

General Motors Corporation ((GM)) rose 21.8% or 71 cents to $3.96 after the largest automakers lending arm GMAC was approved as a bank by the Federal Reserve. The bank status will allow the lender to sell its debt to the Fed and increase lending to auto buyers.

Integral Systems, Inc ((ISYS)) added 17.9% or $1.56 to $10.23 after the builder of ground command and control systems for satellite missions reported fourth quarter earnings per share of 28 cents compared to consensus estimate of 20 cents. Revenues in the quarter increased 27.5% to $46.3 million from a year ago.

Jones Apparel Group, Inc ((JNY)) surged 39.3% or $1.53 to $5.42 after the wholesaler of branded apparel announced that it has completed an amendment to its existing $1.25 billion revolving credit facilities. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. led the creditor syndicate.

Under the revised terms, $750 million debt facility that matures in 2010 was lowered to $600 million and $500 million debt that matures in 2009 was terminated. The company will pay higher fees and charges for the debt revision and will grant certain security for borrowing to lenders.

Kimco Realty Corporation ((KIM)) fell 2.3% or 44 cents to $18.56. Two weeks ago, the operator of neighborhood and community shopping centers declared quarterly dividends for the company’s preferred shares. Series F depository shares will receive $0.415625 of quarterly dividend and series G shares will receive $0.484375 per share on January 15, 2009.

Quiksilver, Inc ((ZQK)) rose 3.1% or 5 cents to $1.63 after Walt Disney Co.''s ESPN network settled a lawsuit by clothing maker Quiksilver Inc. The surfing and snowboarding gear maker successfully alleged that cable channel had developed its logo that was “inspired” by its own logo that had been in use two years prior to the launch of X games on the channel in 1996.

The New York Times Company ((NYT)) added 6.3% or 29 cents to $6.29 after the newspaper publisher reportedly is shopping its 17.5% stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park and a controlling stake in the regional sports network. The Wall Street Journal did not name any source but reported that the company may be also Boston Globe daily newspaper.

Sunoco, Inc ((SUN)) gained 1.2% or 50 cents to $42.65 after the petroleum refiner and marketer and chemicals manufacturer after crude oil prices rebounded 7% to $37.67 a barrel.

Teradyne, Inc ((TER)) declined 1.9% or 8 cents to $4.10. The global supplier of automatic test equipment was initiated with coverage at UBS with a “buy” rating.