Discounting The Jury
A lawyer for Philip Morris said
Friday’s monster-sized tobacco verdict would have no ”practical impact” on the
company. The stock seems to be listening to him.
Anyone who had paid any attention to
the class-action case in Miami should have been ready for whopper judgment
against the defendant tobacco companies. The market certainly paid attention.
The proof shows up in the share price
of Philip Morris
(
MO |
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PowerRating) and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings
(
RJR |
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PowerRating). Both
stocks discounted the bad news ahead of Friday’s verdict. Result: A lot of
volatility, but little net price change when the smoke cleared.
When news hit of the $145 billion
punitive damage award, both stocks headed south on heavy volume but rapidly
recovered to close near their opening prices. RJR finished off just 15/16 to 26
3/16. Philip Morris, a Dow component, gave up 3/8 to 24 1/2. Institutions
obviously took advantage of the sell-off to load up on shares.
NiSource
(
NI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) shot out of a
triangle-shaped consolidation area, formed above a recent correction recover
pattern. Your pivot point would have been the July 5 high of 19 3/8 (see Point
A in the chart). Columbia Energy Group
(
CG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), a natural gas company
being acquired by NiSource, reported Q2 earnings of 59 cents vs. 32 cents a year
ago and analyst estimates averaging 40 cents, according to First Call/Thomson
Financial.
