Company/EPS Estimate
- (WOR)/.26
- (BKS)/1.72
- (DDS)/.76
- (FDX)/.124
- (CCL)/.28
Bear Stearns Cos. (BSC) rose 3.8 percent to $5.53. Joseph Lewis, the largest shareholder of the securities company, said he may push for alternatives to the $339 million buyout offer from JPMorgan Chase & Co. In a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire investor said he would ``encourage'' Bear Stearns and ``third parties to consider other strategic transactions.''
Borders Group Inc. (BGP) increased 68 percent to $11.90. The second-largest U.S. bookstore chain suspended its dividend and announced the company may sell itself after losing market share to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and online retailers.
CIT Group Inc. (CIT) fell 5.5 percent to $11 after the official close of U.S. exchanges yesterday. The largest independent commercial finance company in the U.S. may need to tap $7.3 billion in backup credit lines because its access to unsecured short-term debt has become ``materially constrained,'' Fitch Ratings said.
Citigroup Inc. (C): The biggest U.S. bank by assets plans to cut more than 5 percent of staff in the securities unit to rein back expenses after U.S. subprime-mortgage related losses. Citigroup fell 1.5 percent to $20.41 yesterday.
Credit Suisse Group (CS) fell 7.4 percent to $46.16. Switzerland's second-largest bank said it is ``unlikely to be profitable in the first quarter.'' The bank said in a press release it is writing down securities that were deliberately mispriced by traders.
General Electric Co. (GE) gained 1.7 percent to $36.20. The world's third-biggest company by market value was raised to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Nike Inc. (NKE) gained 4 percent to $64.30 in extended trading yesterday. The world's largest athletic-shoe maker reported 16 percent more third-quarter profit than analysts estimated, according to Bloomberg data, on higher sales in China and Europe.
