Ambac, Goldman Sachs, MBIA, Morgan Stanley: U.S. Equity Preview

By Elizabeth Campbell and Whitney Kisling

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 8:30 a.m. in New York, unless otherwise specified.

Gold producers gained as the precious metal increased 2.8 percent to $888.70 in New York. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) rose 4.8 percent to $9.83. Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD US) jumped 3.8 percent to $41.50. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) gained 5.4 percent to $9.02. Goldcorp Inc. (GG US) added 2.5 percent to $33. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP US) rose 1.8 percent to $63.90.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK US) fell 9.6 percent to $3.50. The firm said it may delay the start of Connie Lee, a new municipal bond insurer, after Moody's Investors Service said it's considering cutting the company's financial-strength rating by several grades.

MBIA Inc. (MBI US), its competitor, fell 8.4 percent to $11.80.


Gardner Denver Inc. (GDI US) fell 3.9 percent to $39. The maker of Oberdorfer pumps and Champion air compressors said its efforts to reduce overhead costs and streamline operations will hurt earnings in the third and fourth quarters.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS US) retreated 2.2 percent to $127. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (MS US), Wall Street's last remaining independent securities firms, got Federal Reserve approval to become banks after concluding there is no future in remaining investment banks now that investors have determined the model is broken.

Lloyds TSB Group Plc (LYG US) fell 6.3 percent to $21.10. The bank that bought U.K. mortgage lender HBOS Plc last week was cut to ``underweight'' from ``neutral'' and had its price estimate cut to 180 pence from 480 pence at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The bank may need to raise 16 billion pounds, the analysts led by Carla Antunes da Silva wrote.

Morgan Stanley (MS US) rose 9.2 percent to $29.70. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU US) agreed to buy up to 20 percent of the company that converted into a bank from a securities firm yesterday. Mitsubishi UFJ American depositary receipts rose 7.2 percent to $8.36 on Sept. 19.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD US) rose 2.6 percent to $53.87 in extended trading Sept. 19. The oil and gas producer and Amphenol Corp. (APH US), a maker of fiber-optic cables, will be added to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, S&P said. Amphenol rose 3.7 percent to $46.57 in late trading Sept. 19.

Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (SOV US) fell 6.6 percent to $9.55. The second-largest U.S. savings and loan was cut to ``underperform'' from ``market perform'' by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst James Abbott.

To contact the reporters on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in New York ecampbell11@bloomberg.net; Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net.