DryShips, Pier 1 Rise; Goldman Sachs, eBay Fall

Mayank Mehta
13 Oct, 2009
New York City

The drybulk carrier DryShips advances after it signs loan term waivers with two banks totaling $183 million. CIT Group is teetering towards bankruptcy filing. AIG sells its Taiwan life insurance division. DryShips surges on bank loans covenant renegotiations.

[R]12:05 PM New York – The drybulk carrier DryShips advances after it signs loan term waivers with two banks totaling $183 million. CIT Group is teetering towards bankruptcy filing. AIG sells its Taiwan life insurance division. DryShips surges on bank loans covenant renegotiations.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 112 increased, 376 declined and 12 were unchanged.

Supervalu Inc led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 4.6% followed by losses in Genworth Financial, Inc of 3.7%, in Lincoln National Corporation of 3.3%, in Memc Electronic Materials Inc of 3.1% and in Nabors Industries Limited of 2.6%.

Zions Bancorporation led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 2.5% followed by gains in eBay Inc 2.1%, in Newmont Mining Corporation of 1.8% and in Akamai Technologies, Inc of 1.5%.

Other Movers

American International Group ((AIG)) increased 11 cents to $44.51 after it agreed to sell its Taiwan life insurance subsidiary for $2.15 billion. The troubled insurance company has been disposing assets to repay the loans from the U.S.

Bank of America Corp ((BAC)) declined 1.2% to $17.82 after it agreed to hand over documents related to Merrill Lynch acquisition and subsequent bonus payment to executives.

CIT Group Inc ((CIT)) dropped 14% to 90 cents after the company said it chief executive Jeffrey Peek plans to resign at the end of the year and company is likely to file bankruptcy protection as bondholders resist the company plan to swap debt for equity.

Domino’s Pizza, Inc ((DPZ)) declined 0.5% or 5 cents to $9.32 after the pizza delivery company reported third quarter revenues fell 6.5% to $302.7 million from $323.6 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 76% to $17.8 million or 31 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $10.1 million or 17 cents per share a year ago.

DryShips Inc increased 8.1% to $7.32 after it signed with loan covenant waivers with Nord LB and West LB for $116 million and $67 million of debt. The company is still negotiating with other banks for its loans of $187.5 million.

eBay Inc ((EBAY)) the operator of online marketplaces increased 1.1% or 29 cents to $25.07.

Genworth Financial, Inc ((GNW)) the financial security company fell 4.9% or 58 cents to $11.21.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc ((GS)) declined 2% to $186.34 after independent researcher Meredith Whitney lowered her only ‘buy’ rating to ‘neutral.’

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc ((GAP)) dropped 9.6% or 99 cents to $9.30 after the owner of the A&P supermarket chain was downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” by the independent research service Pali International.

Johnson & Johnson ((JNJ)) decreased 2.3% or $1.49 to $61.04 after the healthcare company reported third quarter sales fell 5% to $15.1 billion from $15.9 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 1.2% to $3.35 billion or $1.20 per diluted share compared to net income of $3.31 billion or $1.17 per share a year ago.

Lincoln National Corporation ((LNC)) the insurance diversified financial services provider fell 3.8% or $1.05 to $26.06.

Newmont Mining Corporation ((NEM)) the gold miner added 1.7% or 83 cents to $47.30 after the gold prices surged to a new intra-day high. Platinum, palladium and silver also gained.

Pier 1 Imports Inc ((PIER)) surged 18.4% to $5.22 after it reported same store sales at locations open at least for a year increased 9.9% from a year ago in September.

Polypore International, Inc ((PPO)) fell 9.1% or $1.28 to $12.74 after the maker of filters used in medical devices was downgraded to “neutral” from “outperform” at Robert Baird.

Starent Networks Corp ((STAR)) surged 17.1% to $34 after it agreed to be acquired by Cisco Systems for $35 a share of $2.9 billion. The mobile data network infrastructure manager was valued at 20.6% premium from the yesterday’s close.

Supervalu Inc ((SVU)) the grocery chain operator fell 3.6% or 58 cents to $15.49.

Vistaprint N.V ((VPRT)) fell 4.4% or $2.24 to $47.72 after the online provider of printing services was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at Goldman Sachs.

Zions Bancorporation ((ZION)) added 1.0% or 18 cents to $17.18.