Visa and MasterCard Surge on Fed’s Fee Cap

Here’s what’s hot in the market today: Visa and MasterCard dipped just a little after enjoying a big late trading boost on Wednesday following the Fed’s announcement of a new cap on debit-card transaction fees. TrustCo Bank saw high active trading after pricing its latest common stock offering. Canon got a boost after being highlighted by Business Insider. Mercer International fell after suffering from overexposure.

Visa (NYSE: V) fell nearly 2% with close to 16 million shares trading. The payments company surged more than 9% on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised the cap on debit-card transaction fees. The Fed’s ruling gives banks more wiggle room when determining pricing for card processing fees.

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was down almost 3% on nearly 2 million shares. MasterCard benefited as much as Visa from the new Fed-mandated cap on debit-card fees climbing from a share price of around $275 on Wednesday to a 52-week high above $309. Shares had settling to around $301 this morning.

TrustCo Bank Corp. (NASDAQ: TRST), the savings-and-loan company, was down nearly 2% on nearly2 million shares midday. TrustCo announced it was pricing an offering of nearly 14 million common shares at $4.60. Shares were trading near $4.90.

Mercer International (NASDAQ: MERC) fell about 4% on more than 1 million shares. Mercer is a significant supplier in the paper industry. A number of analysts have highlighted Mercer as undervalued in recent weeks, especially after the company posted strong first quarter earnings in May. Shares were trading above $10 by midday.

Canon (NYSE: CAJ) was up a fraction after it was named one of the “15 Most Innovative Companies of All Time” by Business Insider on Thursday. Nearly 500,000 shares in the camera and technology company were exchanged by midday. Shares were trading just below $48.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2011/06/visa-mastercard-ma-v-caj-trst-merc/.

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