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WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's push to develop a $2 billion-plus fleet of armored off-road vehicles for Afghanistan may put pressure on another multibillion dollar competition to replace tens of thousands of military Humvees.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or JLTV program has so far escaped Defense Secretary Robert Gates' sweeping cuts, but analysts and industry executives say the Pentagon is certain to carefully reassess -- and possibly scale back -- the program when it reviews plans for other ground vehicles this summer.
Gates last month canceled the $87 billion manned ground vehicle portion of the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization program, saying it had been developed without taking into accounts lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gates, a big fan of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicle program, was concerned about the lack of a V-shaped hull on manned ground vehicles that were being designed by BAE Systems Plc and General Dynamics Corp as part of the FCS program run by Boeing Co and Science Applications International Corp.
Analysts and executives are beginning to suspect the JLTV program may face a similar fate, given rapid movement forward on a lighter version of MRAP trucks built to protect troops against roadside bombs in Iraq.
Lockheed Martin Corp, General Dynamics Corp and BAE Systems are competing for what could be $40 billion of work to replace the workhorse High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicles, or Humvees, used by U.S. forces in Iraq and elsewhere.
The Pentagon wants a vehicle that is more maneuverable and better protected against roadside bombs than the Humvee, which entered service in 1985. It plans to buy 60,000 JLTV vehicles for the Army, Marine Corps and special operations forces.
But the Marine Corps has already raised concerns about the increasing weight of the vehicles and their rising cost -- another big red flag for Gates.
"It's an absolute certainty that the JLTV program is going to be carefully scrutinized," said Virginia-based defense consultant Jim McAleese, citing Gates' focus on affordability and rapid fielding of weapons for wars being fought today.
He said lawmakers' addition of billions of dollars of extra funding for MRAPs to the fiscal 2009 war spending budget, and signs that the Army could use them for its infantry brigades, could eclipse JLTV, which is not due to be fielded until 2015.
"We're keeping a close eye on it. This program could be in serious jeopardy," agreed one industry executive, who asked not to be named because the competition was still underway.
"MRAP has taken on a life of its own, independent of the original requirements," said John Pike, defense analyst for globalsecurity.org. "MRAP is a hot production line, it's a going concern and it's half a dozen companies, which means you've got a lot of congressional interest. Some of these other programs, like JLTV, are just requirements at this stage."
He said Gates was recently proven to be more supportive of programs that delivered early results to the battlefield -- another factor that could give the MRAP program a boost.
The U.S. Defense Department plans to award a contract around the end of June to just one of four companies bidding to build up to 2,080 lighter, more maneuverable MRAP vehicles.
BAE Systems, Oshkosh Corp, Navistar International Corp and Force Dynamics LLC, a joint venture between Force Protection Inc and General Dynamics, are competing to build the MRAP All Terrain Vehicle.
The number of MRAPs to be ordered could eventually double.
lol well close to it.. 8.45 ties it... come onnnnn baby bust loose!
new 52 wk high!!! woooooooooooo!
good buying above 8. i think we are headed higher here. maybe double digits soon. :))
thanks for the update realest. i have no position here, just sidelined on almost everything. waiting for this sustained financial run to turn and bring the market down some more again...
come on 22'ssssss
looks that way again 7.90's pm! 8's today?
here we go over 21.50! :)
just bought 1k shares here at 21.10. chart looks like it will explode. ill sell at that top bollinger within the next few days. stop loss at 20.79. thoughts?
Upgrades Power Dry Bulk Shippers
The dry bulk shipping sector was up on Tuesday on a slew of upgrades.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
DSX 16.53 +0.75
Chart for DIANA SHIPPING INC.
EGLE 7.38 +0.62
Chart for Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.
EXM 10.28 +0.71
Chart for EXCEL MARITIME CARR
GNK 20.36 +1.52
Chart for GENCO SHIPPING
PRGN 4.48 +0.55
Chart for Paragon Shipping Inc.
{"s" : "dsx,egle,exm,gnk,prgn","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""}
Analyst Dahlman Rose upgraded a number of dry bulk shipper stocks, sending shares higher by as much as 16%. The analyst noted that it had been bearish on the stocks last summer due to declining global steel demand, but the firm now believes that industry dynamics have turned positive and it bumped six companies up to Buy ratings.
As a whole, the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index is ahead by 6.5%. It is now ahead of the S&P 500 by 12% over the last month.
Stocks benefiting from new Buy ratings include Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX - News), Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ: EGLE - News), Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK - News), Paragon Shipping (NASDAQ: PRGN - News), Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB - News), and Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ: SBLK - News). All six are trading higher by more than 6%.
Excel Maritime (NYSE: EXM - News) was also upgraded to Hold from Sell. The stock is up by 7% on the news.
DryShips (NYSE: DRYS - News) was not the recipient of an upgrade from Dahlman Rose. Still, shares are up by 4% today after the company announced an $86 million debt covenant waiver, bringing the company's total waivers to about $1 billion. CEO George Economou suggested that more waivers could be on the way, stating, "We continue to have constructive discussions with the remainder of our banks."
As of this writing, the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index is one of the top-30 performing tickerspy Indexes over the last month with gains of 16.9%.
Investors can follow the Dry Bulk Shipping Stocks Index and view related performance charts and metrics at tickerspy.com.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Upgrades-Power-Dry-Bulk-indie-15291525.html?.v=1
hmm i must have been dreaming lol
DRYS is constructive talks and Dry Bulk may be poised for comeback.
8:59 (Dow Jones) A sustainable recovery in dry bulk shipping may be underway
after last year's huge plummet, according to Dahlman Rose & Co. Rising Chinese
steel prices have pushed Capesize rates to more than $35,000 per day, firm
says, helped by Chinese government stimulus supporting its steel industry. Dry
bulk stocks are substantially leveraged to an improvement in steel demand
outside China, which Dahlman sees as likely during 2H09. Depressed vessel rates
could rise 20% on recent improvements in charter rates, firm says, which would
help balance sheets. Upgrades Diana (DSX), Eagle (EGLE), Genco (GNK), Safe
(SB), Star (SBLK) to buy and Excel (EXM) to hold. (EBW)
upgrade? i saw something on my streamer... bdi up again today! go egle
missed vnda. watched the entire thing though lol..
i think this move has a lot more to do with trial results..
Avanir Pharma [AVNR: 0.96, 0.00 (0.00%)]: AVNR completed targeted enrollment on 3/16/09 of patients into the STAR trial, a pivotal Phase 3 trial of Zenvia (dextromethorphan/quinidine) in patients exhibiting signs and symptoms of pseudobulbar affect. The randomized, multi-center, international STAR trial is designed to compare the effects of Zenvia 30/10 mg, Zenvia 20/10 mg and placebo on involuntary crying/laughing episodes rates. AVNR expects to release topline data no later than end of 3Q09 and plans to submit a complete response to the FDA approvable letter during 1H10.
positive Zenvia PBA trial results is the word.. the next VNDA?? :) that would sure be nice. bought 5k shares today at 1.08
woo hoo! HOD 1.35..
anyone picking up etfc here?
move over a buck today? i think so;)
anyone picking up shares here at 10.70?
I want some shares here too... waiting a little bit.
nice buy 6.40 now
good support in 5.50 range. and that's right at the 50MA now. if we get there ill buy again.
agreed. im looking for under 5.00 if im lucky. im in. "At quarter’s end, the company’s backlog was $1.18 billion, with $341 million in the PV segment and $836 million in the polysilicon segment."
$$$$$$$$
wow up in the mid 3's friday. time to start watching again bud. maybe a good short position here? nice move in may
ok selling here .36. quick 1200 booo ya. waiting for a gap fill to get back in if it happens..
well i jumped back in here at .30 pm with profit from last week. y the big drop to .23 pm?
interesting..
really? no still waiting on thousands here... check back from time to time. i figure all my $$$ is somewhere lost in cyberspace..
loading up yesterday and today...im with ya.
out at .58. quick 1,900 bucks. ill get in if it dips at open...
otherwise looks like on to .70. never be greedy:)
sold this under 14.00 yesterday!! arggggggggggh
im in at .45... boooo ya
hmmmm la jolla makin moves again eh?
sold some at 8.60
looks like we're running again wow
hey! still watching this?
wow over 6 knew i should have held a bit longer:)
gonna be a big week..
strength on 10min jumped back in lets see 1.60's
sold my 10k shares at 1.52. nice little gain... i have a feeling it'll test support again soon. but banks seem to be holding ground. we'll see.