Tsunami News & Photos

SOME INVESTORS never miss a chance
(this type of Crisis Investing never works for me)

Speculation fuels 'tsunami stocks'
By Mark Cotton, CBS.MarketWatch.com

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Investors rushed Tuesday to snap up shares of companies expected to see a surge in demand for their products after the devastation caused by tsunamis across the Indian Ocean.


Companies benefiting from the speculation ranged from the makers of instruments to detect natural disasters to the suppliers of water-testing or food-irradiation technology -- and not all of them agreed with that speculation.

Some investors also think governments will tighten building codes to ensure any new construction is better protected against earthquakes. The tidal waves were caused by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.

A large-scale relief effort is now under way to deliver food, supplies and rescue crews to areas hit by the deadly waves that wreaked havoc along the coasts of 11 countries. See full story.

Benthos, Sutron surge

Shares of Benthos Inc. (BTHS: news, chart, profile), a maker of oceanographic products and electronic inspection equipment, rose $1.81, or 11.7 percent, to $17.30. Volume of 1.9 million shares traded was about 63 times the stock's average full-day volume of 27,000 and exceeded the stock's free float of just 1.4 million shares.

Company spokesman Peter Zentz said the gain appeared to stem from talk that the company makes a component of a tsunami warning system.

"We make underwater modems, which are used to transmit data," he said. "If there is any interest in governments installing these systems in locales that hadn't had them before, there could be an effect on us."

For similar reasons, shares of Sutron Corp (STRN: news, chart, profile) climbed $1.67, or 19.7 percent, to $10.17. Volume was also heavy, with over 600,000 shares exchanging hands compared with an average daily trading volume of just over 19,000.

The Sterling, Va. company makes tide stations, which monitor the seas and can detect storm surges and tsunamis.

The two companies' gains came after shares of Taylor Devices Inc. climbed more than 100 percent in Monday trading. Investors piled into the stock on expectations the North Tonawanda, N.Y., company could see a jump in orders for its earthquake protection technology in the wake of the disaster.

"We're anticipating an upsurge in demand from the countries which were affected by the earthquake," Douglas Taylor, the company's chief executive officer, told CBS MarketWatch.



Taylor Devices (TAYD: news, chart, profile) shares retreated to end down 48 cents, or 7 percent, at $6.27.

Volume of 2.8 million shares traded was more than 10 times the stock's average daily turnover.

Relief rally

Other companies saw their share prices surge because they offer products that could be useful in the disaster relief effort.

Shares of Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (SDIX: news, chart, profile) climbed 58 cents, or 17 percent, to $4, as investors surmised its test kits for food safety and water quality would be in much demand. Once gain volume was heavy with 1.8 million shares traded against an average 121,400.

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