Stocks Rebound In Early Action (JCP, CIGX, EBAY, COGO, GT)

U.S. stocks jumped in early session on Wednesday driven by stronger-than-anticipated results on U.S. industrial production and the housing industry.Earlier, Stock-index futures had been under pressure on reports of new round of election in Greece, which threaten the country’s ability to remain in the euro zone. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande reportedly said they were open to moves to bolster the Greek economy so long as the country retained its commitment to austerity.The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 23.84 (0.19%) to 12,655.84, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell gained 2.72 (0.20%) at 1,333.38. The Nasdaq Composite added 2.58 (0.09%) at 2,896.34.

Housing starts rose 2.6% to an annual rate of 717,000 last month, compared to March’s sharply revised figure of 699,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Housing starts in March were originally reported at 654,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast housing starts in April to total 690,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.


J.C. Penney Company, Inc.(NYSE:JCP) slumped 17% as the company late Tuesday swung to first quarter loss and experienced a disappointing same store sales, which came below analysts’ forecast. The company reported same-store sales fell 18.90% during the quarter, well below analysts’ estimates of a fall of 12.20%. Total sales plunged 20.1% to $3.15 billion, missing the $3.41 billion Wall Street was expecting. The company reported net loss of f $163 million, or 75 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 28, reversing a year ago profit of $64 million, or 28 cents per share, a year ago. The company announced to suspend its 20-cent-per-share quarterly dividend and that it would use the resulting $175 million in savings to help fund the company’s turnaround.
Star Scientific, Inc.(NASDAQ:CIGX) added 6.60% to $3.23 after the company announces that it landed a new patent for an improved process for synthesizing anatabine utilizing larger-scale commercial production.
Cogo Group Inc(NASDAQ:COGO) soared 11.34% after the company posted a first quarter profit of $1.3 million, or $0.03 a share, down from $4.1 million, or $0.11 a share, a year earlier. Adjusted per-share earnings fell to $0.13. Revenue rose 62% to $169.3 million. Analysts had projected a profit of $0.06 a share and revenue of $152 million. Gross margin narrowed to 6.8% from 14.2% as input costs jumped 76%.
eBay Inc(NASDAQ:EBAY) will unveil new retail partners for its bricks-and-mortar payment solutions at a media event next week. PayPal has already struck deals with Home Depot and Office Depot for a solution that allows customers to pay either by swiping a PayPal card, or typing in their phone number and a PIN.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company(NYSE:GT) added 6.50% on news of an investment for SAC Capital higher. The hedge fund manager purchased more than 4.7M shares of GT in Q1 as shares stumbled along on global economic woes and warm weather trends.