SUN, TSO, VLO, FIG, AMZN, CVI, M Popular Stocks
U.S. stocks climbed Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8 points to 10014, the S&P 500 gained 2 points to 1068 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 4 points to 2110.
Sunoco (NYSE:SUN, $28.11, -$3.01, -9.67%) swung to a third-quarter loss on a host of charges and weak demand for oil-based fuels and chemicals, which is expected to continue. “As we consider the outlook for the rest of the year and into 2010, we do not anticipate significant improvement in the refining market,” said Chief Executive Lynn Elsenhans. Howard Weil cut the investment rating on the Philadelphia oil company to market perform from underperform. Tesoro Corp. (NYSE:TSO, $14.12, -$0.59, -3.98%) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO, $17.32, -$0.25, -1.42%) also slipped.
Fortress Investment Group LLC’s (NYSE:FIG, $4.21, -$0.36, -7.88%) third-quarter loss widened slightly on declines in assets under management and management fees, though the firm increased assets compared with last quarter and continues to see success in its hedge funds this year. Fortress’ assets under management fell 6.7% from a year earlier to $32 billion.
Bernstein upgraded online retailer Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN, $126.03, +$5.42, 4.49%) to outperform from market perform and raised its price target to $160 from $125. “We think that online retail in general, and Amazon in particular benefits from the natural selection of consumers with online access–almost by definition those with a job with online access or a home internet connection or both,” the firm wrote.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE:M, $19.14, +$1.12, 6.22%) was raised to overweight from neutral by JPMorgan, which cited improving sequential monthly sales figures and potential for earnings upside, especially in the fourth quarter.
A few days after commodity prices and problems at refineries pushed it to a surprise loss, CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVI, $8.25, -$2.06, -19.98%) fell again as a Goldman Sachs affiliate planned to sell 7.38 million shares of its stake. Goldman, and its J. Aron & Co., own about 36% of CVR now, and after the sale will hold about 28%. The independent refiner said earlier this week it had cancelled last month a longstanding cash-flow swap with J. Aron, which had basically been a hedge on oil trading.
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