TradingMarkets 7 Stocks You Need To Know About For Tuesday

After a brief move higher at the start of trading the major averages settled into a narrow range for most of the day, before resuming last week's slide in the afternoon. With the bond market closed for Columbus Day, no economic news and a number of markets closing early, equities were left to themselves to find direction. It took traders most of the day but they eventually determined that direction was down.

Earnings season commenced after the closing bell today...

Alcoa (AA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported Q3 EPS of $0.33, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 (Full Report). AA, which hit a new 52-week low today is currently trading +0.42 higher on 56K shares after the close on Inet.

Genetech (DNA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported Q3 non-GAAP earnings of $0.35, compared to $0.24 in the corresponding quarter last year (Full Report).

PayPal, a unit of eBay (EBAY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), has agreed to acquire VeriSign's (VRSN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) payment gateway business for $370 million (Full Story). VRSN is now up 1.11 on 292K shares after the bell on Inet.

Mattel (MAT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced consolidation of its Mattel Brands and Fisher-Price into one division called "Brands."

Harrah's Entertainment (HET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said the FTC has granted the company's request for the early termination of the related to its pending acquisition of the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas (Full Story).

The Navigators Group (NAVG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), an insurance holding company, announced that its estimated after-tax net loss from Hurricane Rita would approximate $9.0 million or $0.70 per share in the 2005 third quarter. NAVG shares are in freefall on Inet, currently down more than 51% (Full Report).

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) said that it now expects Q4 revenues of about $190 million, which is at low end of its prior guidance of $194 million (Full Story).

Click here for more Breaking News and Upgrades/Downgrades.

Ashton Dorkins
ashtond@tradingmarkets.com