STOCKS NEWS US-Saks' surge may have enticed some bears

Real-time equity news

U.S. stock market report


1310 ET 1Sept2010
Saks' surge may have enticed some bears

Short interest in Saks Inc ticked up on Tuesday even as the stock price surged nearly 20 percent, suggesting some investors saw the three-week high as a bearish opportunity.

Saks shares shot up 19.5 percent at $7.89 after a report that a group of private equity firms may soon launch a bid for the luxury department store operator. During the day, it climbed more than 26 percent. For details, see

While some of the gains were likely due to short investors that cashed out, overall short interest in the stock edged up to 28 percent of shares outstanding on Tuesday from 27.4 percent on Monday, according to data specialist Data Explorers.

Short investors seek to profit from a falling stock price by borrowing shares and then selling them in the hopes of buying them back at a lower price, pocketing the difference. However, shorts can be squeezed out if the price rises instead.

'Time will tell, but we will possibly see that people saw this as a good opportunity to short closer to $8 a share, whereas the day before or today, they're shorting it closer to $7. So they're increasing their return if it continues to fall,' said Will Duff Gordon, senior researcher at Data Explorers.

Saks was down 6.1 percent at $7.41 in midday trading.

Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]


1245 ET 1Sept2010
Options volume on Burger King soars

Options volume on Burger King Holdings Inc soared on Wednesday, about seven times the daily average average, after a news report that the second-biggest U.S. hamburger chain was in advanced talks to sell itself to an investment firm. For details, see

Speculative call buying drove a lot of action in Sept and Oct $20 calls, said Fred Ruffy, options strategist at WhatsTrading.com. The stock's implied rose 23 percent to 53, he said.

Burger King shares were up 14.7 percent at $18.87.

Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]

1233 ET 1Sept2010
Credit Suisse downgrades semiconductor sector

Credit Suisse on Wednesday downgraded the semiconductor sector to 'market weight' from 'overweight. In a note to clients, the firm cited 'a clear weakening of orders for computers and electronic products in data for June and July.'

Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]


1218 ET 1Sept2010
US crude stockpiles rise in latest week: EIA

U.S. crude oil stocks rose more than expected last week and oil product inventories fell as refiners processed less crude.

U.S. crude stocks rose 3.43 million barrels to 361.7 million barrels in the week to Aug. 27 as refineries cut their utilization rates, according to a weekly report from the Energy Information Administration.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 1.1 million-barrel rise in crude stocks.

For details, see

October crude futures advanced 2.9 percent to $74.02 per barrel on Wednesday.

Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]


1143 ET 1Sept2010
Wells Fargo, Visa to test phone payments

Wells Fargo & Co and Visa Inc plan to begin a test program that lets customers use smartphones to pay for purchases in stores, a Visa executive told Reuters on Wednesday.

The program is another step in efforts by Visa, the world's largest transaction processing network, and major U.S. banks to create a 'digital wallet,' with a host of financial capabilities built into the latest, most sophisticated mobile phones.

For details, see

Shares of Wells rose 4 percent to $24.50 while Visa was up 2 percent at $70.35.

Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS

COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.