The Motley Fool's Market Movers (Heroes)
The Motley Fool - September 04, 1998 19:58
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September 4, 1998/FOOLWIRE/ -- Fire in the hole! Gold mining
stocks of all shapes and sizes struck it rich today, benefiting from several
sources of positive news. First, the price of gold made some of its biggest
gains in recent memory this week, helped in part by the declining value of
the dollar against other currencies. Since gold is priced in dollars, any
slide in the dollar enables foreign buyers to come into the market and get
more gold for their deutsche marks or yen, helping to boost the commodity's
price. Several wire services also reported that short sellers were covering
their gold positions ahead of the holiday weekend, contributing to higher
prices. Among the gainers, Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) added $2 3/4 to $20,
Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) rose $1 1/2 to $16 3/4, Homestake Mining Co.
(NYSE: HM) advanced $15/16 to $12, Placer Dome (NYSE: PDG) climbed $1 1/4 to
$11 5/16, and Getchell Gold (AMEX: GGO) moved up $1 3/4 to $13.
Shares of electronic design automation (EDA) tools developer Avant! (Nasdaq:
AVNT) jumped $2 1/16 to $13 7/8 today on news that rival Cadence Design
Systems (NYSE: CDN) will buy privately held system-on-a-chip design tool
maker Ambit Design Systems for $260 million in cash. The deal throws
Avant!'s name into the ring as the next potential merger target in the
rapidly consolidating EDA sector, which is positioned to take advantage of
the advent of the much-ballyhooed system-on-a-chip. One rumored potential
acquirer is design tools and verification systems maker Synopsys (Nasdaq:
SNPS), which gobbled up former EDA players EPIC Design Technology and
Viewlogic Systems last year and ate privately held Systems Science for
dessert in July. The speculation stole the thunder away from last night's
news out of Cadence, which rose $5/16 to $22 13/16. Synopsys finished the
day down $1/8 to $30 1/2.
PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq: PSFT), the number two provider of enterprise
application software for business, gained $1 3/8 to $30 15/16 after
reiterating its positive outlook for the balance of its fiscal year (and
beyond) in a conference call last night. The company reaffirmed its
expectation that total revenues in the third quarter will grow 60%
year-over-year and that cumulative 1998 results will see top-line growth in
the range of 60-65% compared with 1997. As well, PeopleSoft forecast 1998
operating margins in the company's target range between 18-20%. Nothing new
here -- it seems that PeopleSoft just wanted to clearly articulate its
present business position in the wake of six months worth of inquiries
regarding its operations and the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market
as a whole. Nonetheless, PeopleSoft's keen management of its diverse
businesses may warrant a closer look by investors.
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