New home construction activity in April rose sharply higher, but an
early reading on cosumer sentiment in May fell. The markets remained in
negative territory with the Dow down 9 points to 16,437. Nasdaq fell 6
points to 4,063.
On the upside
Shares
of Verizon (NYSE: VZ) edged higher on news that Warren Buffet’s
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) now owns 11 million shares of the
telecommunications company.
Earthstone Energy (Nasdaq: ESTE) has
acquired privately-held Oak Valley Resources including approximately
$138M of cash, in exchange for approximately 9.1 million shares of
common stock of Earthstone.
Hyperdynamics (NYSE: HDY) reached a
settlement with AGR Well Management Ltd. AGR that involved a drilling
project and will receive net proceeds of $15.6 million.
On the downside
Investors
were dismayed to learn that Darden (NYSE: DRI) has sold its the
struggling Red Lobster for a reported $2.1 billion to private equity
firm Golden Gate Capital.
Kamada (Nasdaq: KMDA) announced positive
preliminary results from the Phase II/III pivotal clinical trial in
Europe and Canada for its treatment of Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
However, Oppenheimer downgraded the stock.
ChinaCache
International Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: CCIH) posted higher quarterly
revenues, but adjusted net income of $0.4 million missed earnings
estimates.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced
advancers by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 2 on
Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 was near breakeven at 1871. Bitcoin
added $1.41 or 0.32% to $444.95.
