Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Tuesday's stock market move was a relatively quiet one, with the Dow falling fewer than 10 points as investors expect a more volatile day on Wednesday after the Fed's next decision on monetary policy. Even with uncertainty about quantitative easing's future, company-specific news helped boost shares of Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE), Nuverra Environmental Solutions (NESC), and Frontier Communications (FTR).
Yingli Green Energy jumped almost 12% on two pieces of news. The Chinese solar company was awarded photovoltaic contracts totaling 233 megawatts in Algeria. Yingli's consortium won three of four projects that Algeria had offered for bid. In addition, Yingli also issued a statement saying that its modules will be exempt from duties under the EU Commission's anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rules. Although Yingli had to boost its export prices above an EU-imposed floor in order to avoid the duties, the move should increase Yingli's margins, albeit potentially at the expense of volume growth.
Nuverra Environmental Solutions soared more than 12%, bouncing back from losses earlier in the month following the energy industry environmental specialist's 1-for-10 reverse split. Nuverra's long-term prospects seem favorable, especially with its partnership with Halliburton (HAL 1.60%) giving it a solid base for its water recycling business. Nuverra is also looking at expansion toward solid-waste disposal, with a new landfill raising hopes that the company's bad fortune will turn around in the near future. Yet technology that could reduce water use in drilling operations could pose a threat to Nuverra's business model in the future.
Frontier Communications rose 9% after announcing a deal with AT&T (T 1.30%) to acquire the wireless giant's Connecticut-based landline, broadband, and video business. The move adds to Frontier's bet on making the most of older-technology customers and trying to encourage their transition to higher-margin services, while it gives AT&T cash to reinvest in its wireless business. Best of all for shareholders, Frontier looks committed to using debt to finance the $2 billion deal rather than doing a dilutive secondary stock offering.
