Wednesday: WSJ Shakes Up Its Utility Average
Compiled by
John J. Edwards III
Staff Reporter
The equity rally's battery ran low on juice Wednesday, but maybe it can pick up some power from one of the companies in our first post-close item:
Editors of
The Wall Street Journal
changed six of the 15 stocks in the
Dow Jones Utilities Average
, saying the new companies will revitalize the index by increasing representation from the Sun Belt. Removed from the measure were
Houston Industries
(HOU)
,
Niagara Mohawk
(NMK)
,
DTE Energy
(DTE) - Get Report
,
Centerior Energy
(CX) - Get Report
,
PanEnergy
(PEL)
and
Peoples Energy
(PGL)
. Added were
Southern
(SO) - Get Report
,
Duke Power
(DUK) - Get Report
,
Texas Utilities
(TXU)
,
Enron
(ENE)
,
Williams
(WMB) - Get Report
and
Columbia Gas System
(CG) - Get Report
.
CNBC
reported that the settlement talks between state attorneys general and tobacco companies may have hit a snag. The Connecticut attorney general told the network that the issue of limiting the tobacconists' liability is a major sticking point and "could be a deal-breaker." The parties are negotiating a $300 billion settlement of the states' reimbursement claims for smoking-related health-care costs.
Unitrin
(UNIT) - Get Report
agreed in principle to acquire
Reliable Life Insurance
(RLIFA)
in a stock and cash deal.
Bankrupt comic-book publisher
Marvel
(MRV)
and
Toy Biz
(TBZ)
filed a joint plan of reorganization for Marvel with the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court
in Delaware. A group of Marvel's equity holders Tuesday endorsed a rival reorganization plan by Marvel's bondholders.
Network Appliance
(NTAP) - Get Report
reported fourth-quarter operating earnings of 22 cents per share, beating the
First Call
expectation of 21 cents. The company earned 17 cents a year ago.
(As originally published, this story incorrectly said the company's net loss of 33 cents per share, which included a charge, fell short of the First Call estimate, which excluded the charge.)
Telco Communications
(TCGX)
reported first-quarter earnings of 20 cents per share, 2 cents better than the First Call consensus estimate and up from the year-ago 12 cents.
Upscale fashion house
Donna Karan
(DK) - Get Report
earned just 4 cents per share in the first quarter, way short of the First Call view of 23 cents and the year-ago pro-forma 29 cents. The company said it expects its bottom line to improve in the second half.
Foodmaker
(FM) - Get Report
, a franchiser of
Jack in the Box
fast-food restaurants, reported second-quarter earnings of 17 cents per share, beating the First Call estimate of 14 cents and the year-ago 10 cents.
The Street
discussed Foodmaker's turnaround in a
March 24 story.
