Russell bounces back from yesterday; PKG, TIER, and WBD lead gainers
Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, bolstered by an oversold bounce after Tuesday’s jolting losses. Additional upside momentum was tied to solid earnings from tech bellwether IBM. The market will now dissect various earnings numbers today and look for details on the Obama stimulus plan for trading direction. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG), Tier Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:TIER) and Wimm-bill-Dann Foods (NYSE:WBD).
Other Market Watch highlights today included:
• From a money flow standpoint, Treasury prices were taking a hit today, raising yields on bonds and notes, suggesting money moving into equities.
• The Architecture Billings Index rose to 36.4 in December, up from 34.7 the previous month.
• Johnson-Redbook Retail Sales came in down 2.3% for last week, yet another gloomy picture of the spending mentality in play right now.
• This week’s action is basically devoid of economic indicators, which will put extra attention on various earnings reports, political news and world events.
• Bank stocks have been hammered mercilessly in recent days and paced the declines again during Tuesday’s rout.
Small Cap Gainers:
• Packaging Corporation of America rallied 19%, getting a lift after reporting quarterly results after the close Tuesday. See (NYSE:PKG).
• Tier Technologies Inc. was up 14% following news that the firm will buy ePayments Solutions and also will implement a stock repurchase program. See (Nasdaq:TIER).
• Wimm-bill-Dann Foods was up almost 13% as Russia’s big diary company tries to mount a bounce after several days of heavy losses. See (NYSE:WBD).
• UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) reported results ahead of the opening today, with a big loss (but not as bad as the Street had feared), and an erosion on fuel hedges hurting results. UAUA was up almost 3% shortly after the open. See (Nasdaq:UAUA).
Small Cap Loser:
• Omnicell updates 2008 year-end guidance and announces company reorganization; shares plummet nearly 40% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:OMCL).
