Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are AdvanceAuto (NYSE: AAP), CitiTrends (Nasdaq: CTRN) and Perry Ellis (Nasdaq: PERY). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, May 20, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Advance Auto (NYSE: AAP) $49.37 +7.1% $50.21 $36.11 CitiTrends (Nasdaq: CTRN) $32.47 +6.5% $37.57 $20.92 Perry Ellis (Nasdaq: PERY) $22.68 +0.9% $26.87 $5.63 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are AdvanceAuto (NYSE: AAP), CitiTrends (Nasdaq: CTRN) and Perry Ellis (Nasdaq: PERY). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, May 20, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Advance Auto (NYSE: AAP) $49.37 +7.1% $50.21 $36.11 CitiTrends (Nasdaq: CTRN) $32.47 +6.5% $37.57 $20.92 Perry Ellis (Nasdaq: PERY) $22.68 +0.9% $26.87 $5.63 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 12:14PM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Market Grinds Lower Except for a modest gain on Monday, the market has been under pressure since last Thursday. The S&P 500 has shed nearly -8% since during the past week. A correction can be quite healthy in the context of a long-term bull market, but if the selling continues for a few more sessions, it could really feed on itself and set the stage for an extended downward move. For now, many are still… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: SMI). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, May 20, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: SMI) $3.49 -12.3% $6.74 $2.29 Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT) $5.86 -10.3% $9.96 $5.25 Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON) $9.15 -10.2% $17.99 $0.04 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: SMI). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, May 20, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: SMI) $3.49 -12.3% $6.74 $2.29 Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT) $5.86 -10.3% $9.96 $5.25 Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON) $9.15 -10.2% $17.99 $0.04 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 10:40AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Westwood One Continues Its Losing Streak With the advent of satellite radio companies like Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI) and the time-sucking phenomena known as YouTube and Facebook, a number of national radio chains saw declining audiences and were forced into bankruptcy in recent years. One of the last publicly-traded radio operators, Westwood One (Nasdaq: WWON), looks headed for a similar fate. #-ad_banner-#The company managed to stem a long-standing decline in ad sales in… Read More

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has notched another loss this morning, a triple-digit decline as I write this, with some wondering if the blue-chip index can remain above the 10,000 mark. All sectors are in the red. What… Read More

I’m not a pack rat, but I saved the October 6, 2008 issue of The New Yorker magazine. Only weeks earlier, the investment bank Lehman Brothers had failed and the markets were spiraling downward. As always, the magazine had its signature… Read More

When I first heard about this company, my first thought was, “Well, it sure ain’t sexy.” My second thought was: “It doesn’t have to be.” Today, I’d like to introduce you to a Chicago-based company in the health-care arena that has, frankly, a remarkably… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Wednesdays’s early trading are Pactiv (NYSE: PTV), Advance America (NYSE: AEA), Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA).  Top Percentage Gainers –Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Pactive (NYSE: PTV) $29.46 +5.6% $29.71 $19.64 Advance America (NYSE: AEA) $6.20 +5.7% $7.45 $3.48 Visa (NYSE: V) $6.20 +4.1% $97.19 $58.00 MasterCard (NYSE: MA) $2.84 +2.1% $269.88 $155.51 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. Read More

Among the biggest winners in Wednesdays’s early trading are Pactiv (NYSE: PTV), Advance America (NYSE: AEA), Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA).  Top Percentage Gainers –Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Pactive (NYSE: PTV) $29.46 +5.6% $29.71 $19.64 Advance America (NYSE: AEA) $6.20 +5.7% $7.45 $3.48 Visa (NYSE: V) $6.20 +4.1% $97.19 $58.00 MasterCard (NYSE: MA) $2.84 +2.1% $269.88 $155.51 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 11:00AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Signs of Continued Consumer Distress are Pushing these Stocks Higher Advance America (NYSE: AEA) and BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE: BJS) are both up nearly +5% in Wednesday trading, highlighting the fact that consumers remain under duress. Advance America offers cash advances to credit-constrained consumers, and often sees business spike when the economy is in a funk. BJ’s, like other discounters, is posting solid results with its no-frills low-prices… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Wednesday’s early trading are Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS), Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) and Cost Plus (Nasdaq: CPWM).    Top Percentage Losers — Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS) $12.21 +13.7% $16.57 $7.46 Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) $6.08 +9.8% $10.78 $4.48 Cost Plus (NYSE: CPWM) $4.80 +10.7% $5.98 $0.95 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Wednesday’s early trading are Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS), Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) and Cost Plus (Nasdaq: CPWM).    Top Percentage Losers — Wednesday, May 19, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS) $12.21 +13.7% $16.57 $7.46 Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) $6.08 +9.8% $10.78 $4.48 Cost Plus (NYSE: CPWM) $4.80 +10.7% $5.98 $0.95 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000 shares. All percentage returns are listed as of 10:30AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Retailers’ Slump Presents Opportunity for Chico’s Investors often get spoiled. Once they see a company repeatedly blow past estimates, they expect more of the same. So when Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS) simply met first quarter profit forecasts on Wednesday, shares were dumped to the tune of -8%. Investors had only recently chased up shares of retailers on expectations of sustained sales and profit growth. But that retail trade has evaporated: shares of Chico’s, in particular,… Read More

Throughout the recent economic slump, investors began to wonder if the world’s oldest billion-dollar corporation would even survive. Think about that. A hallmark of American industry on the brink. . . Sound familiar? So what was this ‘mystery’ company? General Electric (NYSE: GE)? Nope. General Motors? Not… Read More

The Greek debt crisis sent the world’s financial markets reeling, particularly across the so-called “PIIGS” nations in Europe — Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain, five European countries considered to be in the most questionable financial shape. The fear is that… Read More