STOCKS NEWS US-RTI Metals shares slump on loss, Dreamliner delay

Stocks on the move Real-time Equity news U.S. stock market report 1024 EST 03Nov2009-RTI Metals shares slump on loss, Dreamliner delay ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shares in RTI International Metals Inc slumped 13 percent to $18.27 on Tuesday as the titanium producer swung to a third-quarter loss, hurt by one-time charges, a drop in shipments and lower prices. The fall helped drag the Dow Jones U.S. nonferrous metals index down 0.7 percent. The company said it does not see a pick-up in demand until the end of 2010 and said it continues to be affected by production delays for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, to which it is scheduled to supply titanium seat tracks. For more details see The S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent. 1006 EST 03Nov2009-Royal Caribbean Cruises down as prices squeezed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd fell 5 percent to $20.06 as the world's second largest cruise operator posted a 44 percent drop in net income and projected a slight fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday, citing weak pricing for its cruises in a sign discretionary spending is still weak. For more on this story see Reuters Messaging:rm://[e-mail] 0945 EST 03Nov2009-Markets open lower as European banks weigh ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ U.S. markets opened lower on Tuesday, as concerns over European banks outweighed a deal by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to buy railroad company Burlington Northern. For details, see The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 percent to 9,758.15 while the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent to 1,039.56 and the Nasdaq was off 0.5 percent to 2,039.12. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0905 EST 03Nov2009-Spectrum rises after comments on CMS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc rose in premarket trading on Tuesday, after the company said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a policy ruling to allow reimbursement for the company's cancer drug, Zevalin, effective Jan. 1, 2010. For details, see The stock gained 6.6 percent to $4.55 before the bell. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0834 EST 03Nov2009-BofA-ML upgrades AvalonBay to "neutral" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bank of America-Merrill Lynch on Tuesday upgraded AvalonBay Communities Inc to "neutral" from "underperform," expecting the company to recover faster than other markets when the market picks up. Nearly 60 percent of the apartment builder's revenue exposure is to markets like New York City metro, DC and Boston and these markets will likely recover faster due to job growth, it said. For details, see The stock closed Monday at $68.84. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0824 EST 03Nov2009-Berkshire board approve split of class B stock ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The board of directors of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Tuesday approved a 50-for-1 split of its class B common stock. The investment company's class A shares will not be split. For details, see On very light volume of 30 shares, the class B stock rose 3.2 percent to $3,370.98 in premarket trading. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0758 EST 03Nov2009-J&J to cut 6-7 pct of work force ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Johnson & Johnson Inc on Tuesday said it would cut about 6 percent to 7 percent of its global work force, as it restructures and seeks cost savings. About 7,000 to 8,000 positions will be cut. J&J expects the move to generate pre-tax cost savings of $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion in 2011. For details, see The stock, a Dow component, closed Monday at $59.49. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0754 EST 03Nov2009-Rail firms jump on Berkshire-BNI news ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shares of rail companies rallied in premarket trading on Tuesday, after Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $100 per share in cash and stock. Burlington shares surged 29 percent to $97.78. Among the company's peers, Union Pacific gained 8.1 percent to $59.50, CSX Corp was up 8.5 percent to $46.50 and the iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average ETF climbed 5 percent to $67.50. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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