The Closing Bell, 11/3: Garmin advances with earnings due out early Wednesday

Area investors will get an early dose of earnings news Wednesday when Garmin Ltd. reports before the opening of trading on the stock market.

The Olathe-based maker of navigational devices is scheduled to release its fiscal third quarter results around 6 a.m.

Analysts estimate the comapny will earn from 56 cents a share on the low end to 89 on the high, with a consensus of 69 cents. The earnings outlook was recently raised, posssibly reflecting better-than-expected results.

According to a report on the istockanalyst.com Web site, Garmin's third quarter revenue in the last four years has "trended down over second quarter revenues. The trend is likely to continue."

Shares in Garmin closed Tuesday at $31.45, up 95 cents.

Among other regional stocks, the biggest advance came from Kansas City Southern,which closed at $25.79, up $1.71, as most rail stocks gained in light of the $44 billion buyout of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. by Berkshire Hathaway.

On Wall Street, stocks ended back-and-forth trading mostly higher Tuesday as a spike in the price of gold and corporate dealmaking extended an advance from Monday. The gains in commodity prices helped stocks pare early losses.

Financial stocks fell after the British government injected more money into Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and Lloyds Group PLC. That fanned worries about the troubles with bad debt still facing many banks.

Traders have been uneasy in recent weeks, wary about whether the economic recovery can maintain its third-quarter growth once government stimulus measures are removed. The Commerce Department said last week the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent during the summer.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.53, or .18 percent, to 9,771.91.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 2.53 points, or .24 percent, to 1,045.41.

The Nasdaq composite index added 8.12, or .40 percent, to close at 2,057.32.

An early reading of the KansasCity.com index of 145 regional companies showed a gain of 2.15 points, or .36 percent, to 592.89.

Among Kansas City area companies of interest:
I Cerner Corp. closed at $776.33, up 19 cents.

I Capitol Federal Financial closed at $30.10, up 8 cents.

I Commerce Bancshares Inc. closed at $38.48, down 17 cents.

I DST Systems Inc. closed at $42.31, up 51 cents.

I Garmin Ltd. closed at $31.41, up 95 cents.

I Great Plains Energy closed at $17.10, down 5 cents.

I H&R Block Inc. closed at $18.33, down 21 cents.

I Kansas City Southern closed at $25.79, up $1.71.

I Sprint Nextel Corp. closed at $2.94,up 7 cents.

I UMB Financial Corp. closed at $39.75, down 4 cents.

I Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. closed at $28.81, up 31 cents.

I YRC Worldwide Inc. closed at $1.23, down 9 cents.

The Closing Bell is compiled from staff and wire reports by Steve Rosen. Call him at 816-234-4879 or send e-mail to srosen@kcstar.com. A recap of the day’s markets activity is available in the Business section of The Kansas City Star.