Bernanke in Focus; Investors Hoping for QE3 (STP, NM, KCI, NDN, EXK, CCME)

The market ended the day in positive territory, but stocks gave back most of their early gains after a strong start to the trading day. Overall, it was a pretty light day on the news front, and a lot of the focus is on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is set to speak at the U.S. central bank’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. Traders and investors are hoping for QE3, but we’d expect the Fed Chief to be pretty non-committal, leaving the door open. Expect the market to remain choppy in the interim.

The Canadian Mining Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Endeavour Silver (EXK) with a 10% gain. The Chinese Advertising Stocks Index was the day’s worst performing tickerspy Index, with China MediaExpress Holdin (CCME) down -37%.

Stocks ended the day up, with the Dow rising 37 points to 10,855. The S&P rose fractionally to 1,124, while the Nasdaq closed 4 points higher at 2,345. Oil jumped $1.86 to $84.12 a barrel, while gold continued to climb, up $39.70 to $1,891.90 an ounce.

In earnings news, Suntech Power Holdings (STP) said its second-quarter loss widened to -$259.5 million, or -$1.44 a share, from -$174.9 million, or -97 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company lost -$33.8 million, or -19 cents a share. Revenue climbed 33% to $830.7 million. Analysts were expecting a profit of 16 cents on revenue of $796.6 million. The company forecast third-quarter revenue of $3.2-$3.4 billion versus the $3.28 billion consensus. Shares of Suntech Power fell -0.6%.

Drybulk shipper Navios Maritime Holdings (NM) said its second-quarter profit jumped to $50.9 million, or 46 cents a share from $46.5 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier despite a slight fall in revenue to $165.4 million. Adjusted EPS came in at 12 cents. Analysts were expecting a profit of 14 cents a share on revenue of $144.7 million. Shares of Navios slid -0.6%.

Kinetic Concepts (KCI), the provider of wound-care services, said it received a takeover offer from rival ConvaTec that trumps the offer of about $6.5 billion the company received last month from private equity firm Apax Partners and two Canadian pension funds. The offer to take Kinetic private by Apax was set to be the largest leveraged buyout since 2008. Shares of Kinetic Concepts rose 1.8%. Ten pros counted Kinetic Concepts among their top holdings at the end of Q1 and more than 100 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Shares of discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores (NDN) jumped 8.6% on speculation private equity firm Apollo Management would make an offer for the company. Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners and the Schiffer-Gold family, which founded the retailer, offered to acquire the company in March for $1.3 billion. Nine pros counted 99 Cents Only Stores among their top holdings at the end of Q1 and more than 80 tickerspy members own the stock in their portfolios.

Tags: CCME, EXK, KCI, NDN, NM, STP