TradingMarkets Mid-Day Movers

• April 23, 2007
• Darren Wong

The major indices are hovering around the flatline
as traders await tomorrow’s Consumer Confidence and Existing Home
Sales reports.  M&A activity continues to be strong with
Barclay’s Bank
(
BCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) taking over ABN Amro
(
ABN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
in a $91bln merger.

June crude is up 0.8% to $64.65
per barrel as violence in Nigeria over presidential elections
continue.  Traders fear that continuing violence could
threaten supply from Africa’s top crude producing country. 
June gold futures are down 0.2% to 
$694.10 as the U.S. dollar rises in early trading.

Around Asia, Shanghai’s Composite
added 3.5% to 3,710.89, Tokyo’s Nikkei made fractional gains to
close at 17,455.37, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended fractionally
lower to 20,556.57.

Today’s
PowerRatings
Heat
Map
is starting to show a divergence in the Drug sector with several
high PowerRatings stocks as well as several low PowerRatings
stocks.  The best performing high PowerRating drug stock is
Dendreon
(
DNDN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which is up 6.8% this morning. 
The worst performing low PowerRating stock is AtheroGenics

(
AGIX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), which is down 11%. 

Click here for a free trial to our PowerRatings Heat Maps.

Stocks in Motion

Barclays ( BCS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and ABN Amro ( ABN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Agree to $91bln Merger.  BCS and ABN shares both fall 2%. Hasbro ( HAS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Turns To Profit In Q1 On 34% Top Line Growth (full story).  HAS shares jump 7.25%. Beazer ( BZH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Taps Move Inc. Executive As CFO (full story).  BZH shares are fractionally higher in early trading. Kimberly-Clark ( KMB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q1 Profit Rises; Adj. EPS Tops Consensus; Guides Q2, Backs FY07 Adj. EPS Outlook (full story).  KMB shares fall 1.2%. Founder Sweetens Bid For ACS ( ACS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) To $62 Per Share Cash; Shares Up (full story).  ACS shares rise by 3.3%. Rohm And Haas ( ROH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Q1 Profit Drops 7%; EPS From Cont. Opns. Tops Street View; Backs FY07 EPS Forecast; Trims Sales Growth View (full story).  ROH shares fall 1.4%. For more stories as they happen, go to our Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow +1.63 12,963.61 NASDAQ +1.77 2,528.16 S&P 500 +0.38 1,484.73   NYSE NASDAQ Volume 1,067,151,000 901,024,000 Advances 1678 1313 Declines 1396 1586 Up Volume 504 445 Down Volume 453 356 New Highs 252 131 New Lows 9 38

Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors Weakest Sectors Morgan Stanley Healthcare Products Index (RXP) GSTI Semiconductor Index (GSM) GSTI Hardware Index (GHA) Amex Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index (XBD) North American Telecom Index (XTC)

Economic News

No economic reports released today.

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com