Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 6/9: HRH, CPWM, KKD, HEPH Higher; RIMG, SPRD, AEPI, XJT Lower

June 9, 2008 12:36 PM EDT

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Company (NYSE: HRH) 43% HIGHER; Willis Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: WSH) and Hilb Rogal & Hobbs announced plans to combine in a transaction that will double Willis's North America revenues and strengthen its leadership in attractive growth markets. Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Willis will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of HRH for $46.00 per share, 50 percent cash and 50 percent stock, subject to a collar.

Rimage Corporation (Nasdaq: RIMG) 22.7% LOWER; is reducing its financial guidance for the second quarter of 2008 ending June 30 to earnings of $0.09 to $0.12 per diluted share on revenues of $20.0 to $22.0 million. Rimage's previously issued guidance for this period called for earnings of $0.22 to $0.27 per diluted share on revenues of $24 to $26 million. The consensus is $0.23 and $24.9 million.

Cost Plus Inc. (Nasdaq: CPWM) 17.4% HIGHER; Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) offered to acquire the company in a $4 stock deal. CPWM said it is reviewing the proposal.

Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD) 16% LOWER; Roth Capital downgrades Spreadtrum from Buy to Hold.

Krispy Kreme (NYSE: KKD) 15.5% HIGHER; reports Q1 EPS of $0.06, compared to $0.01 in the same quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter were $103.64 million, versus $110.92 million in Q107.

AEP Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: AEPI) 15.3% LOWER; reports Q2 EPS of $0.81, 4 cents better than $0.77 in Q207. Revenues for the quarter were $181.2 million, versus $158.3 million in the same quarter last year.

ExpressJet Holdings (NYSE: XJT) 13.8% LOWER; just after noon on Friday, ExpressJet announced a new capacity purchase agreement with Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), which effectively precluded SkyWest's (Nasdaq: SKYW) continued pursuit of its offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of ExpressJet. As SkyWest will no longer pursue the acquisition of ExpressJet, shares continue to slide today.

Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEPH) 12.9% HIGHER; today announced additional positive interim data from its on-going Phase I/II clinical trial with its investigational oral drug candidate TRIOLEX (HE3286), supporting the potential benefit of a novel anti-inflammatory approach to improving insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes.

First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD) 12% HIGHER; investors may be speculating that First Marblehead could announce a similar move as CIT Group, which today announced that it has entered into a financing facility with Goldmans Sachs. See below.

TASER International, Inc. (Nasdaq: TASR) 11.5% LOWER; announced that a jury verdict in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in the case of Betty Lou Heston, et al. v. City of Salinas, TASER International, Inc., et al. found that the extended duration of a TASER ECD contributed 15% to the death of Robert C. Heston on February 19, 2005. While the jury attributed 85% of the cause of death to the actions of the decedent, the jury awarded $1.021 million in compensatory damages and $5.2 million in punitive damages against TASER International based on alleged negligent failure to warn.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) 11.2% HIGHER; today announced that it has agreed to a $3 billion long-term committed financing facility provided by Goldman Sachs. Under the terms of the facility, which has a 15-year average life, Goldman Sachs will provide CIT with committed access to $3 billion of securities-based financing.

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