Bank of Montreal, Smith & Wesson, STEC: U.S. Equity Preview

By Lynn Thomasson

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The following companies may have unusual price changes in U.S. trading tomorrow. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of 6:30 p.m. in New York, unless otherwise specified.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in March 2009 fell 1.1, or 0.1 percent, to 871.2. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 7 points to 8,574. Nasdaq-100 Index futures dropped 0.2 percent to 1,193.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC US) added 2 cents to $14.13 after the close of regular trading. The biggest seller of U.S.- backed bank debt raised $1.5 billion issuing more of its government-backed 3.125 percent notes due in June 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company sold the debt, guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., at 102.04 cents on the dollar to yield about 2.51 percent, Bloomberg data show.

Bank of Montreal (BMO US) slumped 7 percent to $24.54. Canada’s fourth-biggest bank plans to sell as much as C$1.1 billion ($890 million) in stock to bolster its balance sheet. The sale of more stock can dilute a company’s earnings per share.

ConocoPhillips (COP US): The second-largest U.S. refiner said it won’t announce its capital spending budget for 2009 until January. The company said it’s still evaluating plans in light of “significant uncertainties” regarding the outlook for oil, natural gas and refined product prices. ConocoPhillips shares added 1 percent to $51.90 in regular trading.

Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG US): Chief Executive Officer Jim Ziemer will retire in 2009 after 40 years at the biggest U.S. motorcycle maker. Ziemer will stay on the job until his successor is in place, the company said. Harley-Davidson shares slipped 0.7 percent to $16.20 in regular trading.

Papa John’s International Inc. (PZZA US): The pizza chain said earnings in 2009 could be could be as low as $1.32 a share. Analysts polled by Bloomberg estimated $1.61 on average. The stock dropped 1.9 percent to $16.26 in regular trading.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC US) plunged 18 percent to $2.19. The 156-year-old gunmaker reported second-quarter profit of 1 cent a share. Analysts polled by Bloomberg estimated 4 cents on average.

STEC Inc. (STEC US) tumbled 17 percent to $3.89. The maker of memory chips lowered its fourth-quarter sales forecast to a range between $55 million and $59 million because of canceled orders. The company earlier predicted revenue as high as $72 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.