One Word: Plastics; Steady at GE; WSJ Piece Hits Freddie (at Barron's Online)

Resin maker’s shares stretch One of the biggest gainers on the Nasdaq this afternoon was A. Schulman , a $624 million market-cap manufacturer of resins and other materials used in construction. The shares rose $1.70, or 7.8%, to $23.02 after the Akron, Ohio-based company yesterday announced sales for the fiscal third quarter ended May 31 rosethat topped expectations, rising 9.6%, buoyed by sales overseas. In a research note today, analyst Rob Felice with Gabelli & Co. writes that a 14.6% rise in sales in Europe more than offset at 4.1% decline in the States. Total sales of $512 million were well ahead of his $467 million estimate. Nevertheless, Felice keeps his “Hold” rating at the stock. Despite the cheap multiple of 6.3 times 2009 Ebitda, Felice says the company must show improvements in North America before he’s ready to... [read full story]