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The Home Depot (HD) top performing Dow stock

Home Depot NYSE: HD logoFor the past few days I have been writing about the fickle nature of our current stock market, which has been bouncing up and down, reversing direction each day. All this meandering about indicates that investors lack conviction, or at least traders lack conviction. Investors are probably doing nothing, or picking up the odd bargain here and there.

Today that bargain must have been The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) because that was the No.1 performing stock among the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU). It was up 1.34% on a day when 5 out of 6 Dow components were down. It went up $0.49 to close at $37.04 in a market when everyone is sitting on the edge of their seat waiting to see what the Fed will do? Bernanke's Fed: Maybe they will and maybe they won't was my closer yesterday.

Continue reading The Home Depot (HD) top performing Dow stock

Cabela's Inc. (CAB) earnings hike stock 16% higher

Starting a business is tough enough, but achieving success in the outdoor industry is a real challenge since business comes and goes with the seasons.

Cabela's Inc. (NYSE: CAB), which makes hunting, fishing and outdoor gear hailed victory during Friday morning's trading, when shares soared $3.23 higher, gaining more than 15%.

Cabela's 52-week high was surpassed during earlier sessions, with shares trading as a high as $28.80. There's no doubt the rise in shares is a result of Cabela's 34% profit jump in the second quarter.

The retailer reported profit of $11.3 million on revenue of $451.2 million, against last year's second-quarter profit of $8.4 million on revenue of $387.3 million.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Cabela's shares were trading at $24.20, $3.46 higher than Thursday's $20.74 close.

The Nebraska-based company strategically opens up shop in areas such as Hazelwood, Missouri, and Greenwood, Indiana, zeroing in on their target customers to bring in revenue. According to Dennis Highby, Cabela's president and chief executive officer, Cabela's is scheduled to open seven new stores by the end of 2007. Sound risky? Never fear -- for the outdoor industry, peak selling season is here.

Major mover: Blount International (BLT) up on earnings

Expectedly strong earnings drove shares of Blount International (NYSE: BLT) as far as 20% higher Thursday.

Thanks in part to strong international conditions, the seller of industrial and outdoor products surprised analysts Thursday with earnings of 23 cents per share, 5 cents higher than analysts expected. Low expectations were perhaps due to BLT 's poor first-quarter report, which reflected weak demand for timber products and a decline in housing starts.

Sales grew 3 percent to $170.4 million, compared with the same quarter last year. Earnings increased nearly 19 percent to $11.1 million from $9.4 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago.

All else being equal, a continued good international market and stronger growth in the timber market could keep BLT on a positive path through to the fourth quarter. The boost to its second-quarter earnings is in part thanks to its foreign sales. Internationally, its outdoor products segment saw a 17% increase over last year's second quarter while its industrial and power equipment segment saw an increase of 15%.

Blount closed at $13.50 on Thursday, gaining $1.83, or 15.68%.

Major mover: Pharmion (PHRM) jumps by half

Positive test results for Pharmion Corporation (NASDAQ: PHRM)'s drug Vidaza shot the global pharmaceutical firm's shares more than 50% higher in morning trading Thursday. Pharmion is currently the biggest percentage gainer on the NASDAQ.

Vidaza is said to significantly extend the life of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. In a late-stage study, results showed that taking Vidaza extends the median survival of 15 months for those on conventional treatments to 24.4 months. Shortly before 1:30 p.m., Pharmion shares were trading at $37.60, up 52% from Wednesday's $24.64 close.

Major mover: ACA Capital Holdings (ACA)

Battered financier and derivatives firm ACA Capital Holdings (NYSE: ACA) took a sharp turn for the better Wednesday, climbing 21.4% to $7.10 from its opening $5.85 as it reported a second-quarter loss of $2.55 per diluted share. The gain of $1.25 boosted ACA shares back over halfway under $13, the price of its initial public offering last November 9.

Trading volume was more than double its average, with 1,806,300 shares swapping hands.

As elsewhere in the lending industry, ACA Capital shares have been sacked by the deteriorating subprime mortgage market, dropping from a high of $16.55, posted on February 22.

ACA Capital manages assets for participants in the global credit derivatives markets, structured finance capital markets and public finance capital markets. Learn more at www.aca.com.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.6910,464.40
NASDAQ+6.872,176.05
S&P 500+4.981,110.63

Last updated: November 27, 2009: 06:09 AM

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