Question: Weird Jumps in Stocks?

Imperial Sugar (IPSU) is a stock that has a terrible track record. They are losing money every year and are slowly moving to the brink of bankruptcy. In their 2011 earnings, they have lost lots more money. However, it has jumped 71% as stock price.

Considering the stock market is based on supply and demand, why did this stock jumped up so high? Did everyone want to buy this stock or was it one person that wanted to buy this stock that pushed the price so high.

I don't understand and I would appreciated it if someone can give me some insight to why some Stocks that have nothing good about it suddenly increased so much.

Answer:

Gulf Coast Sugar Companies can't compete with Sugar Cane growing near the Equator,..Year Round,..And cheap Labor...My Guess it's being manipulated like a Penny Stock..
They get Subsidies,..and will always be near Bankruptcy..

The rumor is they are about to sell off a division of the company.

Given the news today, it is not surprising that the stock price jumped.

They released earnings before the market opened. While they still had a loss, the loss was probably much less than most people expected. The Wall Street Journal said "Imperial Sugar’s fiscal first-quarter loss narrowed significantly and the bottom-line result beat analysts’ expectations."

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/02/…

The company also had a conference call today, and it appears investors liked what they heard. In particular, they probably liked that the company is "close" to a deal to sell an asset (their stake in a joint venture) in order to address their liquidity problems. That moved them one step away from the brink of bankruptcy reducing, but certainly not eliminating, the chance that they will go bankrupt in the near future.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/imperia…

The stock was also listed as one of "3 Turnaround Stocks To Consider Now" at a relatively popular site today.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/354221-3…

It is also likely that some other analysts had positive comments about the company today.

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Note that I am answering your question about why the stock price jumped. I am not saying that I think the size of the increase was or was not justified. It is not uncommon for momentum to drive the price of a stock past a fair valuation.