How many times has this happened to you lately? You carefully research and buy a stock. The company announces unexpectedly good financial results. But the stock’s price plummets, caught up in one of the market’s now-frequent downdrafts. You curse high-frequency traders. Your sleep suffers as the market… Read More

What a week. The market gyrations are likely triggering strong demand for heartburn medicine right now. Stocks of all stripes took it on the chin, and many are now down for the year. Whiles investors focused on the daunting headlines, they may have overlooked some important news coming out of… Read More

Investors tend to buy stocks when the market is on the upswing and avoid them when the market is flashing red. But if you focus simply on value, then you should be buying at lows. And right now, a whole host of stocks are trading at lows for the year,… Read More

Here’s the most important number you need to know today: $8 billion. That’s the amount of cash that BP (NYSE: BP) is likely to generate, year-in and year-out, assuming energy prices stay where they are right now. And that number should be kept in mind as investors tally up all… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Friday’s early trading are Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK), Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK) and Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD). Top Percentage Gainers — Friday, June 4, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK) $22.39 +16.3%… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Friday’s early trading are Blyth (NYSE: BTH), athenahealth (Nasdaq: ATHN) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (NYSE: BBVA). Top Percentage Losers — Friday, June 4, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Blyth (NYSE: BTH) $40.96 -17.5% $59.93 $25.91… Read More

Investors have been parsing retail sales data for May, but if they want to know the real direction for the group, they’ll need to check out the monthly snapshot of employment trends, which will be released Friday morning. The U.S. economy has begun adding… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE), Pier One (NYSE: PIR) and Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) $5.25 +23.0% $8.87 $3.03 Pier One (NYSE: PIR) $8.35 +12.7% $9.81 $1.65 Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG) $54.40 +3.7% $65.93 $30.19 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest winners in Thursday’s early trading are Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE), Pier One (NYSE: PIR) and Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG). Top Percentage Gainers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Gain 52-Week High 52-Week Low Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) $5.25 +23.0% $8.87 $3.03 Pier One (NYSE: PIR) $8.35 +12.7% $9.81 $1.65 Joy Global (Nasdaq: JOYG) $54.40 +3.7% $65.93 $30.19 *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 11:32AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Exide Moves on From Wal-Mart Back in early February, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) notified Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) that it would no longer carry Exide’s line of automotive batteries. That news caused Exide’s shares to plunge -30% in one day to around $5, and they had been falling ever since, touching $4 in recent sessions. That’s what happens when you lose your largest… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR), Parexel (Nasdaq: PRXL) and Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) $5.24 -11.8% $9.20 $4.14 Parexel (Nasdaq: PRXL) $21.44 -9.0% $25.64 $11.04 Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) $71.20 -4.8% $99.45 $29.02 *Table includes companies with minimum market capitalizations of $200 million and three month trading volumes of at least 100,000… Read More

Among the biggest losers in Thursday’s early trading are Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR), Parexel (Nasdaq: PRXL) and Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT). Top Percentage Losers — Thursday, June 3, 2010 Company Name (Ticker) Intra-Day Price Intra-Day % Loss 52-Week High 52-Week Low Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) $5.24 -11.8% $9.20 $4.14 Parexel (Nasdaq: PRXL) $21.44 -9.0% $25.64 $11.04 Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) $71.20 -4.8% $99.45 $29.02 *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 10:53AM Eastern Standard Time. Click on ticker symbols for up-to-the-minute price quotes and percentage gain data. Retail: Excuses to Sell Executives at Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) would like you to notice that the women’s apparel vendor posted a surprise first-quarter profit. But investors are focusing on the fact that the fiscal second quarter is off to a slow start, which will force the retailer into markdowns. That will crimp profit margins and lead to… Read More

After plunging steadily in recent weeks, share prices in the oil and gas exploration appear to have finally found a floor. Some stocks such as Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) sharply rose on Wednesday after falling close to their 52-week lows, while other stocks such as Diamond Offshore… Read More