From Yahoo InPlay:
8:40AM Excel Maritime Carriers beats by $0.14, beats on revs (EXM) 57.72 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $1.93 per share, $0.14 better than the First Call consensus of $1.79; revenues rose 93.9% year/year to $69.8 mln vs the $61.8 mln consensus. "Post-merger, Excel's combined fleet will be deployed in a more balanced employment approach. We will take advantage of the current strong rate environment to expand our charter coverage for 2009 and beyond to secure consistent cash flows and ongoing profitability to our shareholders, but at the same time we will always leave a part of our fleet to operate under short-term period charters or in the spot market."
Dryships will report after the close today.
From Schaeffers Research:
Option Activity Alert: Short-Term Speculators Climb Aboard Dryships
...Option traders also took note of the stock on Thursday, as DRYS racked up one of the highest single-day call/put ratios on the International Securities Exchange.
Specifically, traders bought 3,743 DRYS calls to open, compared to just 1,503 puts that were bought to open. The stock's call/put ratio was 2.49, with investors displaying a distinct preference for bullishly oriented options.
It's possible that not all of this optimism is being directed toward the upcoming earnings report. Yesterday, the Baltic Dry Index galloped 418 points to close at 11,067, marking its biggest increase ever and tapping its highest level since last November. (The index measures drybulk shipping rates on 40 worldwide routes.) This report was likely taken as a sign of fundamental strength for DRYS and its sector peers. The news has helped DRYS extend its recent uptrend in today's session....MORE
From CNBC:
John Tabacco, chief executive of Locatestock, said the stock that short sellers have been most willing to pay a premium to locate is LDK Solar [LDK 37.22], followed by Blue Nile [NILE 55.08] and Arthrocare [ARTC 45.73].
"The solar names are still being hit, and while there was some covering in SPWR (SunPower [SPWR]), in the last week CSIQ (Canadian Solar [CSIQ 44.9]) continues to be a target," he said. "I think the solars are experiencing a squeeze, but the rug could get pulled out of it if oil comes off these highs in any substantial way."
"One to watch that has been gaining momentum in price and short requests is DRYS (DryShips [DRYS 110.74])," Tabacco said. The stock is in the top 10 of stocks being sought by shorts....
China's Quake Boosts Dry Bulk Rates (DRYS; DSX; EXM)
