Here's a look at the latest contest stock action. Mergers and acquisitions played a strong part in the best performers (MedImmune, Baush & Lomb) as well as earnings figures (Angiodynamics). A couple of newer names showed up in the most active list (Ligand and Angiotech) while the widely held stocks stayed the same.
Best performing trades By % gain from Friday's close to Monday's close:
Medimmune Inc. : If you bought on Friday at $48.01 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $56.57, the contestant gained 17.83% on the trade. The announcement came early on Monday that U.K.-based AstraZeneca will pay $15.6 billion in cash for MedImmune, a vaccine maker.
Gentex Corp. : If you bought on Friday at $16.48 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $18.75, the contestant gained 13.77% on the trade. Higher offshore shipments, particularly in Europe, helped Gentex to a 12% increase in Q1 net income. Revenue was up 13% to $157.2M.
Bausch & Lomb : If you bought on Friday at $54.92 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $61.93, the contestant gained 12.76% on the trade. Shares of Bausch & Lomb Inc. hit a 52-week high in midday trading Monday, following rumors that the eye-care products maker may be an acquisition target.
Angiodynamics Inc. : If you bought on Friday at $16.20 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $17.75, the contestant gained 9.57% on the trade. Robinson upgraded the stock to buy, citing increasing confidence in the company's ability to meet fourth-quarter guidance.
Cummins Inc. : If you bought on Friday at $77.42 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $84.76, the contestant gained 9.48% on the trade. Traders are furiously snapping up call options on Cummins, as the stock price jumps. No explanation for the trading yet, but the price of options on this stock has surged, according to Track Data.
Worst performing trades by % loss from Friday's close to Monday's close:Applied Micro Circuits : If you bought on Friday at $3.53 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $2.73, the contestant lost 22.66% on the trade. AMCC cut its fourth-quarter revenue, earnings and margin projections.
Lee Enterprises Inc : If you bought on Friday at $30.70 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $25.82, the contestant lost 15.9% on the trade.The newspaper publisher, which owns the Wisconsin State Journal and Quad-City Times, reported that its second-quarter profit fell 18 percent. The drop was due to softness in print advertising.
Independent Bank Corp. : If you bought on Friday at $19.23 and held/sold on Monday with a close of $16.89, the contestant lost 12.17% on the trade. Reported first-quarter net income of $4.67 million, or 21 cents a share, down from $12.3 million, or 53 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Most actives as of the close on 4/23:
Revlon
Impac Mortgage
CMGI
Sirius Satellite Radio
Applied Micro Circuits
Technical Olympic USA
Vonage
Conexant
Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Angiotech Pharmaceuticals
Widely helds as of the close on 4/23:
CMGI: 3,779,633,845 shares held, down from Friday.
Revlon: 2,680,077,030 shares held, down from Friday.
Conexant: 2,102,945,715 shares held, up from Friday.
Vonage: 1,607,838,957 shares held, down from Friday.
Crystallex International: 1,350,975,002, up from Friday.
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