Among the stocks likely to see active trade on Tuesday following the Civic Holiday long weekend are electronics retailer Best Buy, Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered and Irish drug maker Elan Corp.
*Standard Chartered shares plummeted in European trade Tuesday, following accusations by U.S. regulators the bank helped to hide $250 billion in transactions linked to Iran. The banking giant lost more than $16 billion in marketshare after shares plummeted more than 23 per cent, following a public lashing by New York State Department of Financial Services. The bank is accused of hiding more than 60,000 transactions in order to generate hundreds of millions in fees from Iranian transactions.
*Best Buy Co.'s founder is looking to buy back the shares he doesn't own in a deal that values the chain at up to $8.84 billion, or $24 to$26 a share, as the struggling electronics retailer looks to steady itself by way of going private. The name of the retail game is changing for the bricks and mortar business model and sales at Best Buy have sagged in the last seven of eight quarters presumably due to the competition posed by online retailers selling products at a discount.
*Family Dollar is a U.S.-based discount retail chain and a Fortune 300 company that's been selling name and discount brands at locations across America for 50 years. Though the company's third quarter earnings for 2011 rose by 12 per cent and same-store sales showed only five per cent growth, but don't discount buying into Family Dollar or similar retailers. When consumer spending weakens discount retailers are able to weather it better than more expensive specialty retailers.
*Leap Wireless International Inc., the San Diego, Calif.-based telecommunications company, saw its shares fall by more than 13 per cent in after-hours trading on Monday after the mobile phone provider's second quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Leap lost an estimated $41.6 million, or 54 cents per share, on revenue of $786.8 million.
*Elan Corporation PLC, the Irish drug maker that focuses on researching neuropathology-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, recently saw its fortunes change dramatically as its partners — Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc. — ended plans to co-develop an Alzheimer's drug. Elan suffered a $117.3 million write down this quarter as a result. Elan's stock has fallen by 14 per cent this year to date, and there is talk the company could be up for grabs as it continues to focus on a multiple sclerosis drug it markets with Biogen Idec Inc.