TradingMarkets Mid-Day Movers
After a brief move higher at the open
of trading stocks have settled into a narrow trading range, slightly lower on
the session. With the bond market closed for Columbus Day, no
economic news and a number of markets closing early, the likelihood of a large
directional move is slim today. That said, a number of stocks in the news today
have experienced large moves.
The biggest story of the day is that an internal review at
Refco
(
RFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) revealed the company CEO and Chairman of the Board Phillip R.
Bennett owed the company $430 million. Mr. Bennett repaid the amount in full,
including interest but has been forced to take a “leave of absence” amid a major
shake up of the management structure. The company’s auditor’s revealed that
Refco’s financial statements since February 2002 should not be relied upon. The
stock is currently trading lower by more than 30% (read
more).
Stocks On The Move
GM
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is the worst performing Dow component, dropping by
4.5% on Delphi’s
(
DPH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) bankruptcy. The stock, which has been drifting lower
since early August, is at its lowest level since the start of May. Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
bounced back on Friday after substantial profit taking in the first four
sessions of the week. The stock is reversing much of its rebound early in
Monday’s trading, dropping by 1.8%.
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped sharply late in Friday’s session on concerns about the
company’s VIOXX trial in New Jersey. The stock is coming back a bit early in
Monday’s trading, putting in the best performance among the Dow components with
a 2.3% advance. Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) are notable gainers on
positive comments from analysts. Wal-Mart is up 1.7% on an encouraging report
from Barron’s, while IBM is higher by 1.6% on an upgrade from Citigroup.
Micro Therapeutics
(
MTIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is one of the biggest
percentage gainers in the early going on news that its largest shareholder has
made a formal offer to acquire the rest of its outstanding common stock. MTIX is
currently up 25%.
Refco
(
RFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is one of the most notable movers to the downside, currently
down more than 30%.
| Dow |
-9.69 | 10,282.62 |
| NASDAQ |
-6.93 | 2083.42 |
| S&P 500 |
-5.53 | 1190.37 |
| NYSE | NASDAQ | |
| Volume |
850,653,000 | 602,750,000 |
| Advances |
1113 | 1089 |
| Declines |
1888 | 1654 |
| Up Volume |
206 | 211 |
| Down Volume |
545 | 343 |
| New Hi’s |
38 | 36 |
| New Lo’s |
94 | 65 |
Â
|
|
Weakest Sectors |
| Disk Drive ( DDX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Semiconductor ( SOX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Healthcare ( HMO | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Natural Gas ( XNG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
| Retail ( RLX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Oil Index ( XOI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
Ashton Dorkins