After dropping Friday, Wall Street turned up Monday and cable industry sector stocks went along for the ride, posting solid gains.
Buoyed by a revival in the credit market and comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that more government intervention to stimulate the economy is on the way, the Street rallied Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pushing up 413.21, or 4.7%, to 9,265.43.
All of the U.S. publicly traded cable operators saw their stock prices improve on Oct. 20. Cablevision Systems Corp. recorded the biggest gain, up $1 each to $19 per share. Comcast shares were up 64 cents apiece to $15.97, while Time Warner Cable was up 48 cents each to $20.29 per share. Mediacom increased 17 cents per share to $4.39, as Charter added a nickel to 46 cents per share.
The two major satellite distributors showed greater amelioration than their cable competitors. DirectTV added $1.40 per share to finish the session at $22.27 million. Dish Network, which closed Friday at $15.40 per share, added $1.08 to finish Monday at $16.48 per share.
Among the programmers, most of the action was to the upside. The Walt Disney Co. saw its per-share price improve $1.80 to $26.55. The other gains were more modest: Viacom added 79 cents per share to finish at $19.64; Discovery closed with a 74 cents-per share gain to $13.61; News Corp’s stock increased 66 cents to $9.93 per share; World Wrestling Entertainment saw the Street pin a 63 cent per-share advance to $14.92 on each of its shares; and Outdoor Channel Holdings added 29 cents to close at $8.18 per share.
On the down side: Crown Media Holdings, parent of Hallmark Channel, sustained a 13-cent per share dip to $3.56, while Playboy lost a nickel to $1.75 per share each.
