Month: August 2012

Next week will be a busy week for IPOs. Performant Financial is expected to raise $150 million in a deal with lead underwriters being Morgan Stanely (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Credit Suisse (CS).

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

In trading on Friday, vehicle manufacturers shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 4.2%. Leading the group were shares of Thor Industries (THO), up about 13% and shares of Navistar International (NAV) up about 6.1% on the day.

In trading on Friday, transportation services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 3.2%. Helping drag down the group were shares of Zipcar (ZIP), down about 33.8% and shares of Bristow Group (BRS) up about 1.1% on the day.

Toyota (TM) announced that profit in the April to June quarter were 290.3 billion yen, or $3.7 billion. Sales increased by 60 percent to 5.5 trillion yen, or $70.5 billion.

Inaction from the European Central Bank weighed on the markets today, as did the latest economic data from the Commerce Department. On the economic front, the Labor Department said that 365,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, up from 357,000 the prior week.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task talks to Dean Baker about raising the minimum wage.

Ralcorp (RAH) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (CS) to outperform from neutral with a price target of $75 as cost cutting measures should help add to the bottom line. Shares are higher by about 2.7 percent.

In trading on Thursday, shipping shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.6%. Leading the group were shares of Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (GNK), up about 31.1% and shares of Diana Shipping (DSX) up about 4.3% on the day.