Premarket Roundup: Insurers, Chemed

Among the premarket stories for Friday, May 15, from AP Financial News:

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of insurers rose ahead of Friday's market open after the Treasury Department agreed to extend billions in bailout funds to six major life insurers.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chemed Corp. says its Vitas Healthcare business has been subpoenaed for documents by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an investigation into its hospice services.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Blockbuster Inc. tumbled in premarket trading Friday after the movie rental company posted first-quarter revenue well below Wall Street projections.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A recently announced joint venture between Watsco Inc. and Carrier to sell air conditioning and heating equipment will boost revenue and profitability by improving parts distribution and cutting costs, an analyst said Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) — EnerSys Inc. received an upgrade from a Jefferies analyst Friday after shares of the industrial battery maker fell to what the analyst considers an attractive price.

NEW YORK (AP) — The shares of mattress maker Sealy Corp. were downgraded to "Sell" from "Hold" because a planned recapitalization will dilute shareholder value, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst said.