Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers 7/15: FHN, AAI, EPEX, WM Higher; VRAZ, FRE, FNM, SAH Lower

July 15, 2008 11:45 AM EDT

StreetInsider.com Unusual 11 Mid-Day Movers:

First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) 31.4% HIGHER; reports Q2 loss of $0.11 per share, below the consensus of an $0.08 loss. Revenues came in at $637.9 million, versus the consensus of $542.1 million. First Horizon also annonced its succession plan for Jerry Baker, president and chief executive officer.

Veraz Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRAZ) 26.6% LOWER; today reported preliminary Q2 sales in the range of $15-$17 million, versus the consensus of $30.82 million.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) 24% LOWER; Continued fears about the equity. Hedge fund manager Ackman said he was short the common stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ackman also laid out a plan to reorganize the GSEs.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) 22.4% LOWER; Continued fears about the equity. Hedge fund manager Ackman said he was short the common stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Ackman also laid out a plan to reorganize the GSEs.

AirTran Holdings (NYSE: AAI) 20.3% HIGHER; prior to today, shares of AirTran were down more than 30% from the beginning of last week. The stock began trading down today, but as oil began falling, finally slowing its decline at down more than $9, AirTran spiked. From 10:50 ET, to 11:30 ET, the stock surged from about $1.30 to just under $1.70.

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH) 19% LOWER; now expects that its diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the year will be in the range of $1.65 to $1.85, below the consensus of $2.19. Sees June EPS fo $0.48-$0.50, below the consensus of $0.55.

Edge Petroleum Corporation (Nasdaq: EPEX) 17.9% HIGHER; and Chaparral Energy jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that provides for Chaparral to acquire Edge in an all-stock transaction. Through the merger, Chaparral will become a publicly traded company.

Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE: WM) 17.6% HIGHER; issued a comment after the market close yesterday, responding to market activities: The company said, "Washington Mutual recently raised $7.2 billion in capital and its tangible equity to total tangible assets ratio was 7.8% as of June 30. The company significantly exceeds all regulatory 'well-capitalized' minimums for depository institutions. In addition, WaMu has current excess liquidity of more than $40 billion and a national franchise with approximately $150 billion in retail deposits."

CSG Systems International, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGS) 15.4% HIGHER; following yesterday's announcement that it had entered into a multi-year Master Subscriber Management System Agreement with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), CSG was upgraded at Citi from Hold to Buy, with a $18.50 price target, and also at Brean Murray from Hold to Buy with a $16 price target.

FCStone Group (Nasdaq: FCSX) 11.6% HIGHER; announced that its Board has authorized the repurchase of up to $20 million of its outstanding common stock from time to time during the next 90 days in open market purchases and private transactions as permitted by securities laws and other legal requirements and subject to factors such as market price, the Company's operating results and available cash, general economic and market conditions, and other considerations the company deems prudent.

Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) 6.3% LOWER; Oppenheiner analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded Wachovia from Perform to Underperform, saying the earnings outlook has dramatically diminished and prospects for stockholders are "bleak".

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• Brean Murray Carret & Co.
• Citi
• Wachovia
• Meredith Whitney

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