U.S. markets were on edge today as they awaited the latest word from the stalemated Greece-Euro zone negotiations. An emergency summit has been scheduled for Monday, as all talks thus far have failed, and Greeks have been taking out large sums of money from their banks this week in anticipation of a possible default.
Without further aid, the Greek government says it will not be able to pay its $1.7 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund at the end of June.
Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite had its worst weekly performance since 2008, falling 6.4%, as property and bank stocks were under tremendous pressure.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.6%, while the S&P 500 was lower by 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3%. Sectors were mixed, with only consumer goods showing much strength at all.
Some stocks, such as Twitter Inc (TWTR), ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG) and KB Home (KBH), were able to buck the trend, and those were three of today’s best stocks.
Twitter Inc (TWTR)
TWTR stock was 3.5% higher today after Buzzfeed reported about a new top-secret feature called “Project Lightning,” that would allow Twitter editors to send out a summation of the best tweets on Twitter to mass users on news, sports, and pop culture events at any time.
Twitter’s mobile application will have a new button that will allow users to see a selection of events around the world. Investors applauded this new feature today, as TWTR stock had fallen recently from $52 to $35.
ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG)
CAG stock gave investors a delicious surprise, rising the most in six years after hedge fund Jana Partners was said to be targeting the company and wanting to replace three of the board members. Jana disclosed an active stake of 7.2% in CAG on Thursday. It has also already pressured the board to postpone a June 21 deadline for board nominations to July 8.
Jana’s gripe against the board stems from CAG’s $6.7 billion purchase of Ralcorp in 2013, a deal that has had mostly negative results thus far. However, CAG stock has climbed from $27 in early 2014 to near $39 before today’s gains.
CAG stock was up 10.9% today.
KB Home (KBH)
KBH shareholders were right at home with the stock’s 9.4% gain following its second-quarter earnings announcement of 10 cents a share on revenue of $623 million, beating the analysts’ estimates of 8 cents a share on $619 million.
In addition, KBH net orders, which offer a glimpse into future earnings, was up 38% from the previous year. The average sales price for its new construction was 6% higher as well.
The KBH news sent the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) higher, and other builder stocks rallied in sympathy. KBH stock had slumped badly over the past two years, losing about 40% of its 2013 value.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
