Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Market Wrap-Up for December 22, 2009
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Ableauctions.com, Inc. (AMEX:AAC), Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHX), and Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:AHD) are three featured story stocks on a day that saw the markets rally.
Featured Story Stocks
- Ableauctions.com, Inc. (AAC) – Shares of the liquidation and merchandizing services provider rose sharply higher after announcing that its board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.55 per share, with December 30, 2009 being the record date for distribution. The transactions comes after the company was trading for just $0.44 per share ahead of its acquisition of Top Favour Limited.
- Athersys, Inc. (ATHX) – Shares of the biopharmaceutical company more than doubled after entering into an agreement with Pfizer Inc. (PFE) to develop and commercialize its MultiStem treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). MultiStem is an investigational stem cell therapy currently in development by Athersys for several other conditions, including bone marrow transplant support.
- Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P. (AHD) – Shares of the midstream energy provider rose sharply higher after being upgraded from a “Sell” to a “Hold” by Citigroup. The analyst cited successful renegotiation of certain debt covenants by the company’s underling master limited partnership, along with an improved outlook for commodity prices, including crude oil produced by the firm’s interests.
Market Summary
U.S. markets ended the day on a higher despite a lackluster GDP number but higher-than-expected home sales data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 50.97, or 0.49%, to 10,464.93, the S&P 500 moved up 3.97, or 0.36%, to 1,118.02, and the Nasdaq moved up 15.01, or 0.67%, to 2,252.67.
Commodities ended the day largely mixed during a volatile session. Crude oil rose $0.68 to $74.40 per barrel and unleaded gas jumped $0.02 to $1.89 per gallon. Meanwhile, precious metals moved lower with gold dropping $9.30 to $1,086.70 per ounce and platinum dropped $25.70 to $1,402.90 per ounce.
Other indices operating during the U.S. session also moved higher during the session. Canada’s TSX Composite index rose 72.10, or 0.62%, to 11,626.82, Mexico’s Bolsa index jumped 441.09, or 1.39%, to 32,240.32, and Brazil’s Bovespa index rose 1,492.74, or 2.26%, to 67,417.93.
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-- Written by David Breen
