Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 9/30: SOV, HUN, WB, NCC Higher; ALD, CC, RRI, HIG Lower

September 30, 2008 11:59 AM EDT

Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) 71.7% HIGHER; Bounces after dropping 72% yesterday on fears after the fall of Wachovia. Also, the stock was upgraded at Fox-Pitt to Outperform and at Sandler O'Neill to Hold.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) 60.1% HIGHER; announced the decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery to enter judgment in favor of Huntsman Corporation denying all declarations sought by Apollo Management, L.P. and Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. in their suit requesting that the Chancery Court excuse Hexion from its obligation to consummate the pending transaction.

Wachovia (NYSE: WB) 56.5% HIGHER; today will be Wachovia's first full day of trading since Citigroup (NYSE: C) announced that it would acquire the bank before the close yesterday. As the deal was considered a fire-sale, shares of Wachovia did not open for trading until about 2:30 ET yesterday.

Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) 45.4% LOWER; announced that Ciena Capital LLC, a portfolio company of Allied Capital, voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection today. Ciena has continued to experience significant deterioration in the value of its assets as a result of increasing uncertainty in the financial markets, decreasing bid prices and a reduction in the number of loan buyers. As a result of Ciena's decision to file for bankruptcy protection, Allied Capital's unconditional guaranty of the obligations outstanding under Ciena's revolving credit facility may become due. Allied Capital intends to pay approximately $320 million to the lenders in connection with Ciena's revolving credit facility and will continue to guarantee a remaining balance of approximately $10 million. To fund the payment, Allied Capital intends to use cash resources of approximately $150 million and may borrow approximately $170 million on its unsecured revolving line of credit. Allied's stock initially held its ground, but in the last 20 minutes of trading, shares have plunged from about $11.50 to just over $7.

National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) 37.5% HIGHER; Bounces after dropping 26% yesterday on fears after the fall of Wachovia.

Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXT) 33.7% HIGHER; announced that core operating income and core net income for the fourth quarter will exceed its previous guidance. The company expects fourth fiscal quarter revenues to be within the range provided in July, which was $120 million to $125 million. The consensus is $122.3 million.

Circuit City Stores (NYSE: CC) 30.6% LOWER; the stock was downgraded at RBC Capital this morning, and Bank of America lowered its price target on Circuit City also. Just after the market opened, shares fell under the $1.00 psychological level and since then have absolutely plummeted, currently trading at session lows around $0.75.

Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) 30.6% LOWER; Wachovia downgrades to Market Perform. In addition, Calyon downgrades to Neutral

AIG (NYSE: AIG) 24% HIGHER; shares are rebounding today after falling more than 20% yesterday. With today's gap higher, AIG is now trading at relatively the same level as its close pricing on Friday of last week.

Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) 22.3% LOWER; Credit-rating agency Fitch lowered its outlook on Hartford's issuer-default ratings, senior debt and insurer financial strength ratings from Stable to Negative yesterday. The agency said the move is due to concerns related to the company's financial position in an "extraordinarily challenging credit market environment".

KKR Financial (NYSE: KFN) 18.2% LOWER; shares are seeing downside today on heavy volume, although no news is out directly from the company.

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Related Entities

• Citi
• Wachovia
• Calyon Securities
• Banc of America
• RBC Capital
• Fox-Pitt Kelton
• Apollo Management

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