2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

Aeropostale Inc. (ARO: chart) shares climbed 6.6% although its sales at stores open at least one year fell 14%. Net sales for the four-week period ended May 5 dropped 9.8% to $75.4 million. But the company lifted its earnings outlook for its fiscal first-quarter to 24-25 cents per share, up from a previous view of 22 to 23 cents per share.

Entegris (ENTG: chart) said it plans to initiate a tender offer to buy back up to 20.4 million shares of common stock. The company said it will pay up to $250 million to buy the stock, at a price in the range of $11 to $12.25. Shares jumped 10.8%.

Hillenbrand Industries (HB: chart), provider of health-care systems and funeral-service products, said that its fiscal second-quarter was about flat with the year-earlier period on 4.2% higher revenue. For the quarter the company posted earnings of $54.9 million, or 89 cents per share, against $54.5 million, or 89 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased to $516.2 million versus $495.6 million a year ago. Hillenbrand lifted its estimate of full-year net to $2.90 to $3.20 per share from the range of $2.85 of $3.15 it estimated at the end of the fiscal first quarter. It pegged fiscal 2007 revenue at $2.03 billion to $2.1 billion. Shares climbed 9.6%.

Home Solutions of America Inc. (HSOA: chart) shares jumped 8.8% after the restoration and remodeling company said its first-quarter profit soared above its outlook as revenue more than doubled thanks to an acquisition. The company posted an 83% increase in its quarterly profit to $5.7 million, or 12 cents per share, on sales of $39.9 million. For the second quarter, Home Solutions expects earnings of 14 cents to 17 cents per share on revenue of $44 million to $48 million.

Magna International (MGA: chart), automotive supplier, said that its quarterly profit increased to $218 million, or $1.96 per share, compared with $212 million, or $1.91 per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $6.4 billion versus $6 billion last year. Magna expects sales in a range of $23.5 billion to $24.8 billion for the full year. Shares jumped 6%.

Technical Olympic USA Inc. (TOA: chart), home builder, recorded a first-quarter loss of $66 million, or $1.11 per share, compared with net income of $55 million, or 89 cents per share in the year-earlier period. The company said the results included a $78.9 million estimated pre-tax contingency loss related to the potential restructuring of a joint venture, as well as $42 million in charges resulting from inventory and land impairments. Revenue fell 4% to $588.2 million primarily on lower land sales. Shares climbed 6.2%.

Torch Energy Royalty Trust (TRU: chart) shares surged 25.4% after Trust Venture Co. announced that it has launched a tender offer for all the outstanding units of Torch Energy at a price of $8 each.

Brooks Automation Inc. (BRKS: chart) shares fell 5% after the company reported its fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.43 per share, up from 6 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Excluding special items, the company earned 30 cents. Revenue climbed 31% to $194.9 million.

CryptoLogic (CRYP: chart) shares declined 12.6% after the company posted a decline in its first-quarter profit of $1.5 million, or 11 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $7.7 million, or 56 cents per share. Revenue decreased 27.5% to $19.6 million versus $27 million a year earlier.

InfoSonics (IFON: chart), wireless handset distributor, posted a first-quarter loss, on deteriorating margins stemming from weakness in its Central America region. For the quarter the loss totaled $558,132, or 4 cents per share, compared with earnings of $1.2 million, or 8 cents per share in the year-ago period. The company posted first-quarter sales of $58.4 million, compared with $54.1 million in the same quarter last year. Shares fell 14%.

Jaco Electronics (JACO: chart) shares fell 18% after the company posted a third-quarter loss of $747,000, or 12 cents per share, down from a year-ago profit of $84,000, or a penny per share. Sales declined to $49.9 million from $61 million a year earlier.

Whole Foods Markets Inc. (WFMI: chart) shares fell 10.4% after the company an 11% drop in its fiscal second-quarter profit due to costs associated with new store openings. The company said that net income fell to $46 million, or 32 cents per share, down from $51.8 million or 36 cents, earned in the year-ago second quarter. Opening and relocation costs in the latest quarter totaled $15.6 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with $7.3 million or 3 cents, the year before. Revenue rose to $1.46 billion versus $1.31 billion a year ago.

1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks declined, pressured by mining stocks.
European stock markets closed in the red Thursday, dragged down by weakness in the shares of miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Markets showed little reaction to the in-line-with-expectations interest-rate decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

The resource sector came under pressure after mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton fell more than 3% a day after speculation that BHP had launched a bid for Rio. However, real estate company Hammerson rose 6.5% on bid speculation. Friends Provident was another notable gainer, rising 8.4% amid talk that French insurer Axa may be interested in making a bid. Among earnings-related movers, Societe Generale lost 2.1% after its Q1 profit dropped 2% to 1.43 billion euros. The German DAX Xetra 30 slipped 0.8% at 7,415.33, the French CAC-40 dropped 0.6% at 6,012.76, and the U.K. FTSE 100 fell 0.4% at 6,524.10,


11:30AM U.S. stock averages remained in the negative, pressured by economic data.
The three major market averages continued to trade in the negative territory, pressured by disappointing economic report which showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened much more than expected in March. Retailers weighed on market sentiment throughout most of the morning session with lower-than-expected April sales, due largely to higher gasoline prices. Among the numerous companies posting disappointing sales figures were Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: chart), J.C. Penney Co. (JCP: chart) and Federated Department Stores (FD: chart).

However, later in the session, retail and airline stocks posted gains, helping to limit the downside move. The downward move reflected significant weakness among housing, disk drive, and oil stocks. Gold, banks and biotechnology shares also declined. The housing sector was dragged down by Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL: chart) which dropped 2.4% a day after the biggest U.S. luxury homebuilder reported a steep decline in revenue and a shrinking backlog. The company reported Wednesday a 19% drop in revenue to $1.17 billion for its Q2. Toll Bros blamed the stricter lending requirements that have been tough on buyers who want to upgrade but are unable to sell their current residences.

In other corporate news, Rio Tinto (RTP: chart) fell 5.4% a day after the stock rallied amid speculations that BHP Billiton will approach it. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 74.36, or 0.56%, to 13,288.51. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index lost 9.61, or 0.64%, to 1,502.97, and the Nasdaq composite index dipped 20.39, or 0.79%, to 2,555.95.

Import and export prices rose in April.
The Department of Labor released its report on import and export prices in the month of April on Thursday, showing that import prices continued to rise sharply due in large part to a substantial increase in the prices of petroleum imports. The report showed that import prices rose 1.3 percent in April following a revised 1.5 percent increase in March. With the increase, the Labor Department''s index of import prices rose to its highest level since petroleum prices peaked in August of 2006. The increase in import prices was largely due to a 6.5 percent increase in prices of petroleum imports, which followed a revised 8.1 percent increase in the previous month. Excluding petroleum imports, import prices edged up only 0.2 percent.