The start of a new trading week saw a pair of big-name tech stocks charge at
the onset, but only one finished the day on the ups. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX )
clawed out an almost 14% gain Monday, the day it launched its services in
Britain and Ireland, causing an immediate response from Amazon 's (NASDAQ:
AMZN ) subsidiary in the area, Lovefilm. While Netflix's primary competition
in the area is BSkyB's premium services, Lovefilm announced the launch of
Lovefilm Instant a streaming-only program for about 1 British pound per month
less than Netflix. However, both offerings are far cheaper than BSkyB Movies,
which is an add-on that also requires a basic TV package, set-top box and
connection to a satellite dish. Also providing momentum for Netflix was a CNBC
interview with hedge fund manager Whtiney Tilson, in which he said NFLX could
expand its business at a rate of 30% to 40%, and if that happened, the stock
"should go crazy to the upside." Tilson also said he was positive about
Netflix because of the European expansion and that NFLX also is an attractive
buyout candidate. NFLX shares finished Monday at $98.18, their highest point in
almost three months, and have gained more than 40% so far in 2012. Apple
(NASDAQ: AAPL ) also came out of the gates running Monday, reaching an all-time
intraday high of more than $427.61. However, by noon, AAPL shares' momentum
completely bottomed out, and the stock finished the day down about 0.2% at
$421.73. The last time Apple challenged the $420s was in mid-October. The
traditional kickoff for earnings season also passed Monday afternoon when Alcoa
(NYSE: AA ) reported a loss of $193 million, or 18 cents per share, down from
the previous quarter in 2010, after the company was forced to take a one-time
charge . On an adjusted basis, however, Alcoa reported a loss of 3 cents per
share that was on par with Wall Street estimates. Still, Alcoa which suffered
from an 18% drop in the price of aluminum last year was up almost 3% on the day
leading into its earnings report and is up more than 9% since the new year .
Three Up Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDIX ): Up 37% ($2.61) to $9.66.
Dendreon (NASDASQ: DNDN ): Up 7.8% (96 cents) to $13.31. Green Mountain (NASDAQ:
GMCR ): Up 7.2% ($3.09) to $46.26. Three Down Perfect World (NASDAQ: PWRD ):
Down 26.6% ($3.19) to $8.81. CareFusion (NYSE: CFN ): Down 8.6% ($2.20) to
$23.28. Health Management (NYSE: HMA ): Down 7.1% (53 cents) to $6.96. As of
this writing, Kyle Woodley did not own a position in any of the aforementioned
stocks.
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