Company/Estimate
- (TIF)/1.21
- (WAG)/.67
- (AMB)/.54
Bank of America Corp. (BAC): The second-biggest U.S. bank by assets may take a record $6.5 billion provision in the first quarter to cover possible future losses in its home equity and mortgage portfolios, Punk Ziegel and Co. analyst Richard Bove wrote. Bank of America gained 8.6 percent to $41.86 on March 20.
Bear Stearns Cos. (BSC) jumped 54 percent to $9.15. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM:US) may quintuple its takeover offer for Bear Stearns to more than $1 billion in an effort to win support from employees and shareholders opposed to the deal, the New York Times said, citing people involved in the negotiations.
Best Buy Co. (BBY): The largest U.S. consumer-electronics retailer may surge 23 percent to $52 in New York trading once investors overcome fears of how the company would fare in a recession, Barron's reported, citing unnamed analysts. Best Buy rose 4.8 percent to $42.41 on March 20.
Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG): The company said it's seeking to delay opening a liquefied natural gas terminal in Texas until April 2012, citing supply limits. Cheniere lost 0.5 percent to $22.50 on March 20.
CIT Group Inc. (CIT): The commercial finance company trying to quell concern it's running short on cash may raise $5 billion to $7 billion from asset sales and said it has enough money to last through 2008. CIT is in talks with an overseas bank to raise funds for its lending business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. CIT lost 17 percent to $9.63 on March 20.
HCP Inc. (HCP) rose 4 percent to $33. The largest U.S. health-care real-estate investment trust will replace Commerce Bancorp Inc. (CBH) in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, S&P said in a statement.
Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) will replace Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC) in the benchmark, according to S&P. Philip Morris slid 1.9 percent to $49.15 in regular trading March 20.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) gained 2.8 percent to $47.29. The fourth-largest U.S. securities firm was downgraded to ``perform'' by Oppenheimer & Co.'s Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc. would cut its dividend this year. A ``protracted challenging capital markets environment'' prompted Whitney to lower her recommendation from ``outperform.''
Media General Inc. (MEG): The publisher of the Tampa Tribune said a decline in sales last month will lead to a first- quarter loss that is bigger than analysts expect. Shares fell 4.8 percent to $15.20 in extended trading.
Synnex Corp. (SNX): The distributor of computer systems and networking products reported 3.2 percent less first-quarter profit than analysts estimated, according to Bloomberg data. Synnex rose 91 cents to $21.78 on March 20.
