Archive for March, 2011

AMIE a delight, BAC in talks, ABAT misses boat

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Ambassadors International (Nasdaq: AMIE) leaped 50.4% in price early Wednesday to $1.76. Volume for the stock was 436,841 shares, or more than 12 times its normal volume.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reassumed its role atop the volume board Wednesday, trading in 72.9 million shares, compared to its daily average of 170.4 million. Prices increased 1% to $13.48, amid talk the bank was joining with Wells Fargo and Chase on negotiating with the states on foreclosure practices.

Advanced Battery Technologies (Nasdaq: ABAT) skidded 41% in price Wednesday to $2.05. Volume was a towering 18.7 million, compared to a daily average of less than one million.

Google (GOOG) settles with FTC over Buzz

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Google, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) shares surged as much as .65 percent to $585.50 in morning trading Wednesday, after the internet giant announced it had settled privacy charges with the Federal Trade Commission over Google Buzz. Despite the news, volume for the company was a modest 727,237 after lunch Wednesday, compared to a daily average over 2.5 million.

Per the agreement reached, the Mountain View, California-based Google has agreed to establish a “comprehensive privacy program”, while not admitting to any wrong-doing. This settlement resolves allegations that last year’s launch of Google Buzz, a venture into social networking by the Web giant, initially shared more information than users reasonably expected. The privacy program established includes regular reports on its privacy practices prepared by an independent professional for the next 20 years.

On the Official Google blog, the company stated, “The launch of Google Buzz fell short of our usual standards for transparency and user control—letting our users and Google down. While we worked quickly to make improvements, regulators—including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission—unsurprisingly wanted more detail about what went wrong and how we could prevent it from happening again. Today, we’ve reached an agreement with the FTC to address their concerns. We’ll receive an independent review of our privacy procedures once every two years, and we’ll ask users to give us affirmative consent before we change how we share their personal information.”

The settlement, approved 5-0 by the commissioners, is subject to public comment and final approval.

Jon Leibowitz, the Democratic chairman of the FTC, commented, “When companies make privacy pledges, they need to honor them. This is a tough settlement that ensures that Google will honor its commitments to consumers and build strong privacy protections into all of its operations.”

OXM soars, INTC does business, UTA sinks

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Oxford Industries Inc. (NYSE: OXM) shares climbed 28.8% to $32.21. Volume for the clothing brand manager topped 981,000, towering over an average of 121,151, after it reported late Tuesday fourth-quarter earnings that beat consensus estimates.

Intel Inc. (Nasdaq: INTC) traded in 22.9 million shares Wednesday, compared to a daily average of 58.7 million. Shares listed lower 0.2% to $20.24.

Universal Travel Group (NYSE: UTA) U.S.-listed shares fell 20% to $4.31, on volume of more than a million shares, compared to an average of 339,000. This, after the Chinese travel-services provider delayed its fiscal 2010 conference call and the release of its financial statements from Wednesday to an unspecified date.

CEPH, VRX could be a match, C clicks, ZZ bottoms

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Cephalon Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) shares surged 28.3% to $75.37, on volume of 25.2 million shares, towering over an average of 1.1 million, after Canadian drug manufacturer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) said it made an unsolicited offer valued at about $5.7 billion in cash to acquire the U.S. drug maker. Valeant’s shares climbed 8.9% to $48.27.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was a volume leader early Wednesday, trading in 60.2 million shares, compared to a daily average of 487.3 million. C shares nipped up 0.7% to $4.48

Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) shares declined 4.3% to $2.66, on volume of 315,582 shares, closing in a daily average of 320,276, a day after the mattress maker unexpectedly reported a first-quarter loss.

SPEC takes flight, T tilting, GT punctured

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Spectrum Control Inc. (Nasdaq: SPEC) shares rallied 39.9% to $19.60. Volume was an incredible 3.2 million, given its usual volume around 73,000. This, after API Technologies Corp. said it would pay $20 a share for the electronic-products maker.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) traded in 41.6 million shares, compared to an average of 27.9 million. Shares of T gained 1.8% to $29.38, as Sprint Nextel criticized T’s proposed takeover of rival T-Mobile USA.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) shares shed 5.6% to $14.58, on volume of 13.2 million – double its usual daily volume — after the tire maker said it is making a public offering of $435 million of mandatory convertible preferred stock.