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Friday, October 31, 2008
Market Winners and Losers: MetLife, Electronic Arts
David O'Brien
FOXBusiness
The major market indexes gained about 1.5% each on Friday, Oct. 31. Here’s a list of some stocks that were the biggest winners and losers in the trading session.
Winners
MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG)
Shares traded at $3.87, up $1.46 a change of 60.6%, rebounding after taking a terrible slide on its last day in the S&P 500 index.
Dynegy Inc. (DYN)
The stock closed up 3.56, up 47 cents, a change of 15.2%. As commodities dropped this quarter, the company looks forward to a positive earnings report to be released next week.
International Game Technology (IGT)
Shares were up to $13.81, a gain of $1.80, or nearly 15%. That came after a dismal earnings report, but the company is continuing to make progress in the development of the server-based gaming that is expected to be deployed starting in 2009.
MetLife (MET)
The stock rose 15.6% or $4.72, to $34.92. The insurance giant struggled in the third quarter because of catastrophe claims that came in surrounding multiple hurricanes.
Winstream Corp. (WIN)
Like many of the smaller telecoms have done well in recent weeks; today they were up 14.4% to $7.46 despite earning being down in recent months.
Losers
Cummins Inc. (CMI)
The stock finished the day at $26.09, down nearly 18% despite a great quarter because the company cut guidance for the rest of the year and expectations are down.
Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS)
The company posted wider-than-expected losses, and plans to lay off an additional 6% of the work force drove prices down. The shares ended the day down more than 17% closing at $22.90.
Sun Microsystems (JAVA)
Sun reported a $1.7 billion loss as the company suffered from a technology slowdown. Also, the company reported a devaluing from the recent acquisition of Storage Technology Corp.
Carnival Corp. (CCL)
Stock prices fells sharply as the board of directors suspended the next quarter’s dividend as a result of the volatile market. It finished the day down nearly 12% at $25.29.
Teco Energy Inc. (TE)
Third-quarter profit fell 37% due largely to a decline in the coal business. The electric, natural gas and utility owner watched its stock fall 10.7% to end the day at 11.5%. The company does have a positive outlook for 2009.
FOX Translator
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Some mutual funds want you to pay for the privilege of them (or your investment adviser) taking your money to invest. It's called a load, and it works like a cover charge to get into a nightclub. Luckily, there are such things as no-load funds. As the name implies, shares of these funds are sold without a fee paid to a broker or investment advisor.
The entire amount you invest in no-load funds goes to work for your returns. On the other hand, with load funds, right off the bat you're charged commission (not to mention other fees incurred over the life of the investment). Let's say, for example, you invest $25,000 into a load fund that charges a 5% commission. This costs you $1,250 off the top, bringing your actual investment down to only $23,750.
The often-cited horse race analogy argues against investing in load funds. Here's the logic behind it: Would you place a bet on a horse that had to start a race 200 yards behind the others? Well, maybe you would if you got a tip from a sketchy, trench coat-clad man in a dark alley. However, under most circumstances, it's not smart to put your money on that handicapped horse.
But some argue that at times that man in the trench coat (aka your broker) knows more about the horses than you do, and has a better shot at picking a winner. Also, sometimes these fees are unavoidable because some funds are available only through investment advisers.
Cost-benefit analysis can help determine when a load fund is worth it (in other words, when it will score you a load) and when it is better to "do it yourself" and avoid the fees. Load-fund fees range depending on share class and can cover a variety of costs, such as paper work and fund management.
