Corning, Intuitive Surgical, Somaxon: U.S. Equity Preview

Shares of the following companies may have unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and prices are as of 7:45 a.m. in New York.

Allied Irish Banks Plc (AIB US) fell 4.8 percent to $1.98. The Irish lender was removed from the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index, Stoxx Ltd. said.

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT US) lost 0.4 percent to $10.55. The world’s largest producer of chipmaking equipment was cut to “moderate underperform” at First Global, which said sales growth will slow.

Corning Inc. (GLW US) rose 2.2 percent to $16.07. The world’s biggest maker of glass for flat-panel televisions was raised to “outperform” from “perform” at Oppenheimer & Co.

Dynegy Inc. (DYN US): The U.S. power producer that agreed this month to be acquired by Blackstone Group LP gained after Sparkspread.com reported that a private-equity firm is considering making a competing bid.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG US) gained 1.1 percent to $272.01. The maker of systems that control surgical instruments during surgery was upgraded to “outperform” from “market perform” by Wells Fargo & Co., which also raised its share valuation range to $340 to $360 from $285 to $325.

Northern Oil and Gas Inc. (NOG US): Board member Lisa Meier sold 22,314 shares of the exploration and production company focused on the U.S. Rocky Mountain region at $14.39 each, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (PSUN US): The athletic apparel retailer forecast a third-quarter loss of as much as 16 cents a share, wider than the 11 cent loss estimated on average by 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SOMX US) rose 34 percent to $4.50. The San Diego-based drugmaker said it and Procter & Gamble Co. have entered into a co-promotion agreement for Silenor, an insomnia treatment.

Procter & Gamble (PG US) rose 0.7 percent to $60.10.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY US) advanced 2.6 percent to $23. The provider of electronic payment technology raised its fiscal 2010 profit forecast to as much as $1.27 a share, higher than the $1.15 average of seven estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney Kisling in New York at wkisling@bloomberg.net.

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Kirk Hartman, chief investment officer at Wells Capital Management, speaks about his strategy for investing in U.S. stocks. U.S. and Japanese stocks fell, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to the lowest in 17 months and the yen surged to the highest versus the dollar since 1995 as a record plunge in home sales stoked concern the economy may relapse into a recession. Hartman speaks from San Francisco with Bloomberg's Susan Li. (Source: Bloomberg)