Gapping up
M&A news: FSCI +19.4% (receives unsolicited proposal from Huntingdon Real Estate Investment Trust; concludes not in best interest of shareholders), BP +1.9% and RDS.A +1.0% (UK Mail report that RDS.A considered takeover and may still have interest in the company), RDS.A +0.9%.
Select financial related names showing strength: ING +2.8%, DB +2.7%, HBAN +2.4%, BCS +1.9%, STD +1.8%, CS +1.6%, LYG +1.5%, RBS +1.8% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Exane), PUK +1.2%, BBVA +1.1%.
Select rare earth related names trading higher: MCP + 6.3%, AVL + 6.0%, REE + 2.9%,
Select oil/gas related names showing strength: LNG +2.8%, CBEH +2.7% (announces 25% increase in petroleum contract with existing wholesale distribution customer; expected to Add $36 mln in revenue for 2011), E +1.7%, RIG +1.5%, REP +1.1%, SWN +1.0%, DO +1.0%.
Other news: VGZ +14.0% (Vista Gold announces results of a new preliminary feasibility study at the Batman Deposit; doubles estimated proven and probable reserves to 4.1 million contained gold ounces), AMRI +11.5% (announces research and licensing agreement with Genentech ), ATPG +5.2% (higher following reports out prior to close that the Dept of the Interior will allow for 10 cos to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico without an additional environmental review), XOMA +4.9% (light volume; hosting a conference call at 8:30am ET to provide a business update), AA +3.8% (Cramer makes positive comments on MadMoney), DRYS +3.1% (takes delivery of its first newbuilding drillship and signs two drilling contracts for the Ocean Rig Corcovado and the Leiv Eiriksson totalling $237 mln), RCL +1.6% (up in sympathy with CCL following upgrade), NFLX +1.0% (announces development effort to place Netflix-branded one-click buttons on remotes that operate Internet connected TVs, Blu-ray disc players and other devices).
Analyst comments: WAG +2.1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman; also added to Conviction Buy List), CCL +2.0% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank), POT +1.0% (initiated with a Outperform at Boenning & Scattergood), AMZN +1.0% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Th Benchmark Company), MON +0.9% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Soleil), AAPL +0.7% (added to short-term buy list at Deutsche Bank).