A tussle on the Russell
The Russell 2000 and the other major U.S. indices are seesawing on both sides of Wednesday’s closing levels this morning. At 11:19 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was up 0.32 points, or 0.04%, to 836.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 14.39 points, or 0.11%, to 13,503.81.
Shares of NovaMed Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVA) are sagging following news the provider of healthcare services intends to offer $52.5 million worth of senior notes due 2012. As part of the offer, underwriter Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. will be given the option purchase up to $7.5 million additional notes, the Chicago-based company said after Wednesday’s close. NovaMed said it will use part of the proceeds to repay its debt. Shares are down $0.32, or 5%, to $5.59.
SumTotal Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUMT), which provides talent and learning management solutions, has signed a contract to provide performance management software to broadband products maker JDS Uniphase Corp. (Nasdaq: JDSU). The technology, called TotalPerformance, will enable feedback between managers and employees and create a quantitative rating process, Mountain View, Calif.-based SumTotal Systems reported before the opening bell. The financial parameters of the deal were not revealed. The stock has added $0.08, or 1%, to $7.66.
Shares of TLC Vision Corp. (Nasdaq: TLCV) have lost $0.78, or 13%, to $5.12, on news the provider of eye care services will pay $115 million to purchase 20 million of its shares. The stock will be bought at a price of $5.75 per share, the Canadian company said before the start of trading. There will be about $49.2 million shares outstanding when all the transactions are complete.
In economic news, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has fallen to 5.142%, below Wednesday’s close of 5.146%.
Fears that rising bond yields will increase interest rates and slow economic growth spooked investors on Wednesday’ leading to large sell-off on Wall Street.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Labor Department reported before market open that initial jobless claims for the week ended June 16 increased 10,000 to 324,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. That’s the highest level in two months.
