Novell, Spark Networks: Early Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were poised to move on above-average volume during Wednesday's session.

Novell (NOVL) rallied by $1.30, or 27.4%, to $6.05 in the premarket session after Elliott Associates, an institutional stockholder of the enterprise software company, offered to purchase Novell for $5.75 per share in cash. The offer implies an enterprise value net of cash of $1 billion The 50-day average daily volume for Novell is 4.83 million, according to the Nasdaq.

Andatee China Marine Fuel Services (AMCF) jumped by $1.38, or 23.3%, to $7.30 in the premarket session after the company swung to a fourth-quarter profit of 28 cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of $836,838. Revenue was up 173% from a year ago to $39 million. The three-month average daily volume for Andatee China is 84,000.

VisionChina Media (VISN) lost $1.36, or 16.6%, to $6.84 in the premarket session after the Chinese advertising company offered disappointing revenue guidance for its first quarter. The view came as VisionChina said it earned 8 cents a share on revenue of $31.8 million in the fourth quarter. The company said it expects first-quarter revenue to be no less than $22 million, which is well below the analyst consensus target of $38.4 million. The 50-day average daily volume for VisionChina is 347,000.

Spark Networks (LOV) was poised to open higher Wednesday after the online personals company said its board of directors has formed a special committee to consider a proposal by Great Hill Partners to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock at $3.10 per share. Spark Networks closed Tuesday at $2.95. The company said the special committee will also look at other possible business combination transactions. The three-month average daily volume for Spark Networks is 17,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Capital Trust (CT) was set to trade sharply lower after the investment management company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $17.41 a share, which was driven by loan loss provisions and impairments of $399.4 million for the quarter. The lone analyst target for a loss of $2.02 a share in the quarter. Capital Trust said that due to its credit reserve activity, it will not have taxable income for 2009 and will likely not be required to pay a dividend. Any dividend payment is subject to the terms of its debt restructuring and would be payable in stock in lieu of cash, the company said. The three-month average daily volume for Capital Trust is 336,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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