Specialty Chemicals

Jefferies has issued a report that Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) may bid on Nalco (NYSE: NLC). According to the report, "According to media reports, Ecolab may be poised to bid around $35/share for Nalco. While such a deal would satisfy several of Ecolab's strategic goals, it has not yet been confirmed. We...

Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC) is up nearly 31% pre-market on the merger agreement with Ecolab (NYSE: ECL). Under the terms of the agreement Nalco's shareholders may elect to receive either 0.7005 share of Ecolab common stock per share of Nalco common stock or $38.80 in cash, without interest, per share...

F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ: FFIV) dipped 2.19% to $116.05 in the pre-market session. FFIV is all set to report its quarterly earnings today. Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) dropped 1.78% to $14.33 in the pre-market trading. Yahoo's search revenue dropped 45% year-over-year to $467 million. St. Jude...

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, after strong earnings from Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL). Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 65 points to 12,572.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 7.40 points to 1,328.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 22.75 points to...

Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC) announced today that the company has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL). Under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Nalco's shareholders may elect to receive either...

Stocks trading at or near 52-week highs and lows provide excellent trading opportunities, as volatility tends to increase at such levels. The following stocks hit new 52-week highs in Tuesday's trading session (listed from highest total volume to lowest): 1) Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL): Shares of Apple...

Flexible Solutions International (NYSE: FSI) announces, A recent news item filed by Anthony Price, Managing Director of Noranth Venture Pte Ltd's division WaterSavr Singapore Pte Ltd neglects to include important information about legal claims made by WSP against Flexible Solutions. WSP sold...

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) announced today the promotion of Luther C. Kissam to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2011.   Mr. Kissam joined Albemarle in September 2003 as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary and served as Senior Vice...

Lonza Group Ltd today announced that an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Lonza, LG Acquisition Corp., has commenced the previously announced offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Arch Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: ARJ) at a price of USD 47.20 per share, net to the seller in...

Jefferies expects companies in the Chemicals sector to report mostly in line results for Q2, according to its report previewing quarterly results in the industry. In the report, Jefferies states, “Q2 (June) earnings are likely to be roughly in line with expectations, but we expect outlooks to...

Innospec Inc. (Nasdaq: IOSP) today announced it was added to the Russell 3000® Index and the Russell 2000® Index when Russell Investments reconstituted its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 24, 2011.

Jefferies is out with its report today on Quaker Chemical (NYSE: KWR), raising estimates. In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "Quaker has purchased the remaining 60% interest in TecniQuimia Mexicana for $10.5m. This deal values the affiliate at an estimated $19.5m, or 5.5x 2010E EBITDA, and...

Below are the top small-cap rubber & plastics stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of dividend yield. A. Schulman Inc (NASDAQ: SHLM) has a dividend yield of 2.60%. SHLM's shares closed at $24.14 yesterday. Myers Industries Inc (NYSE: MYE) has a dividend yield of 2.50%. MYE's shares...

Below are the top general building materials stocks on the NYSE in terms of operating margin. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at LSB Industries Inc (NYSE: LXU) is 13.04%. LXU's PEG ratio is 1.27. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Valspar Corporation (The) (NYSE: VAL) is 11....

Below are the top specialty chemicals stocks on the NYSE in terms of PEG ratio. OMNOVA Solutions Inc (NYSE: OMN) has a PEG ratio of 0.26. OMN's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 102.67%. Chemspec International Limited (NYSE: CPC) has a PEG ratio of 0.34. CPC's trailing-twelve-month operating margin is...