Nasdaq---Anthony (slow)
>> a little dividend news here, folks, crossing the wires. prudential financial has announced it will declare an annual dividend of 50 cents per share payable december 18 to shareholders of record on the close of business november 25. they paid 40 cents a share last year. no change, really. the same could be said for after hours with no change. the nasdaq fell for a third straight day, biotech stocks the biggest drag. anthony massucci has the details from the nasdaq market site in times square.
>> biotechs were lower today on the nasdaq. in fact, the index losing 3%, the biggest loser among that group, vertex pharmaceuticals. at the end of the day, it was a 36% loss for the stock . the company stopped a test on its arthritis pill, a rheumatoid arthritis pill. animals given the pill had signs of liver damage and the company decided to stop the trial. after the test and consulting with the u.s. food and drug administration, vertex made the decision. analysts made some decisions on the stock today, too, downgrading the shares, j.p. morgan, goldman sachs, legg mason, bear stearns. none say it’s time to sell but underhold, underperform, etc., the stock losing 1/3 of its value today. immunomedics may take back a cancer drug from amgen. the companies formed an agreement back in 2000. they have been unable to agree on terms of an expanded agreement. amgen is the largest biotech company in the world, so without that backing, you see the shareholders taking off a little more than half the value. some other biotechs falling include chiron, genzyme, invitrogen. echostar commune keagses, this stock fell 13%. this is the ticker. the satellite tv service saying third quarter net income came in at seven cents a share. now, that profit was less than analyst estimates of an average of 16 cents. the company also said this morning they’d buy back a billion in stock , not enough, though, to prop the shares higher. dish fell. once again, the nasdaq falling, the biotech stocks down 3%, the nasdaq finishing the day down just about .5%. back to you in the studio.
>> ok. moving along here, singapore networks says its fiscal first quarter net loss narrowed. the company reported a loss of $12.2 million or five cents a share. in the regular session, shares fell 17 cents. in extended-hours trade, they’re down $4.97 a share. so, clearly some disappointment there in the extended hours. shares in the world’s number-two advertising company finished the day higher. interpublic group surprised some analysts with a revenue gain of 2.3%, but the bottom line looked worse. they lost 85 cents a share. the company faced higher costs in connection with firing workers and legal costs arising after the company restated earnings three times, three times since august a year ago. interpublic is famous for the “got milk” advertising campaign. chief executive david bell says it will take as long as three years to turn the company around. the price of crude oil in new york rose to a three-week high today on speculation that the department of energy will report tomorrow that u.s. inventories declined last week. and gold futures rose for a third straight session in new york closing at $388 an ounce. well, shares of cablevision systems closed lower after the cable operator said it will restate its results. they cite $15 million in expenses that were improperly booked in previous years. regulators have been investigating cablevision’s accounting practices since the end of the second quarter. the company’s third quarter net loss widened to $104 million, or 36 cents a share. sales missed some analyst estimates after the company lost about 9,000 subscribers, basic cable tv subscribers, i should say. it blames on delays in rebuilding and reduction in its profit forecast next year. also in the television sector, echostar communications added fewer subscribers, as well, in the third quarter. shares of the satellite tv service plunged almost 13% today. echostar’s dish network added 285,000 customers, but that figure was about 40,000 less than its archrival, direct tv, which it gained, as you see, about 326,000 during the same period. echostar’s chief executive says dish didn’t move quickly enough to introduce new products such as an improved set-top box. the company’s sales increased 19% to almost $1.5 billion. today m.p.t.’s profits rose tenfold. we’ll tell you how the strategy is paying off coming up.
