Did Goldman Take The Steam Out of a RIMM Rally?
Stocks managed to close out a third week of gains, on track to cap off their best month in more than seven years, as a few glimmers of hope in economic reports signaled the economy may be turning a corner. Investors will be watching to see if the rally can continue this week with a few key economic reports expected to shape trading. The unemployment report is expected Friday and economists expect the rate to rise to 8.4% in March from 8.1% the prior month. The economy is also expected to have lost 650,000 jobs in March, little changed from February’s loss of 651,000.
Research In Motion
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PowerRating) is due with its fourth-quarter results after the bell Thursday and is expected to report earnings of $0.84 per share, up 16.7% from a year ago, on revenue of $3.4 billion, according to Reuters Estimates. Investors may want to be wary going into earnings, especially after the recent run it made following comments from Goldman Sachs. On Thursday, the analyst recommended investors buy the stock ahead of the company’s quarterly report, sending shares higher by 5 percent.
If investors do want to go long, they should know that RIMM has made gains in after-hours trading in eight of the past 20 quarters that MidnightTrader.com has tracked. In four of those events, the stock moved more aggressively to the upside the next day.
Micron Technology
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PowerRating) is slated to report fourth-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The chip maker is expected to report a loss of $0.64 per share, down 56% from a loss a year ago, on sales of $1.14 billion.
Shorts should be wary of trading this stock as Micron has a tendency to reverse its evening declines the next day. The stock recorded a downside move 12 times in the last 20 quarters, and in seven of those negative trades, shares followed that action by narrowing or reversing its negative trade in the next day’s bell-to-bell action. In the most recent quarter, Micron slid 14.4% in after-hours trading and reversed its move the following regular session, ending up 9.7%.
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Cassie Slane is a Senior Editor at www.MidnightTrader.com.