Gannett, Moody's, Ralph Lauren Rise

Mayank Mehta
29 Sep, 2009
New York City

The financial guarantee provider MBIA Inc led decliners in New York trading. Media companies gained after Gannett estimated higher adjusted earnings. Walgreen Company surged on better than expected earnings. Polo Ralph Lauren gained on a broker recommendation.

[R]11:50 AM New York – The financial guarantee provider MBIA Inc led decliners in New York trading. Media companies gained after Gannett estimated higher adjusted earnings. Walgreen Company surged on better than expected earnings.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 362 increased, 130 declined and 8 were unchanged.

MBIA Inc led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 4.1% followed by losses in ProLogis of 1.8%, in Cardinal Health, Inc of 1.4%, in Aetna Inc of 1.2% and in Celgene Corporation of 1.0%.

Gannett Co., Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 17.4% followed by gains in Walgreen Company 11.7%, in The New York Times Company of 10.1% and in Huntington Bancshares Incorporated of 5.0%.

Other Movers

Astrotech Corp ((ASTC)) the provider of satellite launch preparation services surged 171.5% or $2.07 to $3.27.

Broadcom Corporation ((BRCM)) added 2.2% or 67 cents to $30.52 after the maker of semiconductors for wireless communication and video signal processing was upgraded to “overweight” from “equal-weight” at Barclays Capital.

CVS Caremark Corporation ((CVS)) rose 3.2% or $1.12 to $36.00 after the drugstore chain today announced the expansion of its partnership with Microsoft HealthVault. CVS pharmacy customers will be able to download their prescription histories to their individual HealthVault record.

Ferrellgas Partners, L.P ((FGP)) added 0.6% or 12 cents to $19.80 after the propane distributor reported fourth quarter revenues fell 25.5% to $312.7 million from $419.7 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $34.7 million or 51 cents a diluted share compared to net loss of $38.4 million or 61 cents per share a year ago.

Gannett Co., Inc ((GCI)) jumped 17.7% or $1.76 to $11.74 after the newspaper publisher said expects third quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share to be between 39 cents and 42 cents excluding special charges.

Stocks of other media companies increased. New York Times, McClatchy Co, CBS Corp and Journal Communication advanced but Time Warner declined.

Harman International ((HAR)) increased 7.2% to $33.92.

Lamar Advertising Company ((LAMR)) increased 8.1% or $2.08 to $27.55 after the billboard owner was upgraded to “overweight” from “equal-weight” at Barclays Capital.

MBIA Inc ((MBI)) the financial guarantee provider decreased 5.2% or 43 cents to $7.79 after S&P lowered its rating on counterparty credit rating citing further losses in mortgage and other securitized loans.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc ((MTU)) fell 2.0% or 11 cents to $5.37 after the bank said it will inject $2 billion into Union Bank, its wholly owned subsidiary in California, by the end of this month to boost the struggling local bank''s financial ground.

Moody’s Corp ((MCO)) increased 15.8% to $21.74 and McGraw Hill Co increased 5.9% to $25.76.

Natuzzi S.p.A ((NTZ)) rose 0.8% or 2 cents to $2.35 after the furniture maker reported second quarter sales fell 21 % to €133.6 million from €168.8 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was €3.9 million or €0.07 diluted per share compared to net loss of €2.4 million or €0.04 per share a year ago.

Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation ((RL)) gained 5.4% or $4.02 to $78.25 after the apparel designer was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs.

Sequenom, Inc ((SQNM)) plunged 34.2% or $1.96 to $3.72 after the biotechnology company said the completion of the independent investigation by a special committee of independent directors related to the test data and results for the company''s noninvasive prenatal test for Down syndrome may be delayed by a year. The independent counsel engaged by the special committee interviewed over 40 witnesses and reviewed over 300,000 documents and emails.

Walgreen Company ((WAG)) surged 10.3% or $3.53 to $37.66 after the drugstore operator reported fourth quarter sales rose 7.5% to $15.7 billion from $14.6 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 1.6% to $436 million or 44 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $443 million or 45 cents per share a year ago.

Western Refining, Inc ((WNR)) fell 4.5% or 31 cents to $6.46 after the operator of four refineries was downgraded to “hold” from “buy” at Soleil Group.