Today's most unfortunate soul was
Networks Associates
(NETA)
, which provides network security solutions and issued an earnings warning postclose. The company said it expected a net loss of $130 million for the fourth quarter and announced the resignation of several key executives, including the president and CFO. The stock was crushed in after-hours action, saying goodbye to a double-digit stock price. It lost $5.63 to $6.19 on 177,000
Instinet
shares. The stock traded an additional 35,000 shares on
Island
.
Liquidity is a curious thing. When there's lots of it -- such as in a stock like
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
on the day it releases earnings -- stocks are hard to move around, and even with all the frenzied trading, there's a certain order to the mountainous volumes of trades that move through the market.
On the other hand, there are times when liquidity is at a premium, such as after-hours during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, the quietest week of the year for trading. And a stock with a little bit of news can just explode in your face.
Take
Regis Corp
(RGIS)
, which had the temerity to release its second-quarter outlook after the close today. The company said earnings per share are expected to fall short of the 33-cent estimate, and the stock has gotten squashed on a total of 2,200 shares. The stock was lately down $3.44 to $10.50, a 25% decline, on
Instinet
.
JDS Uniphase
(JDSU)
shook off a
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown
downgrade earlier today and continued to move higher in postclose trading, lately up 63 cents to $42.50 on 54,000 Instinet shares. Over on
Island
ECN, the fiber-optic company's stock gained 69 cents to $42.56 on 105,000 shares.
The big-cap technology stocks were among the most active names on Instinet, including
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
, which gained 6 cents to $40.81 on 177,500 Instinet shares; it was the most active stock on that electronic network.
This information is provided by Instinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters (RTRSY) . For further information, please contact Instinet at www.instinet.com.
Island ECN, owned by Datek Online, offers trading, mainly in Nasdaq-listed stocks, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.
Confused?
TheStreet.com
explains how the rules change when the sun goes down in Investing Basics: Night Owl, a section devoted to after-hours trading.
